Helwan Corner Museum
๐ Location: Helwan, southern Cairo ย ยท ย ๐บ Focus: Royal family memorabilia ย ยท ย ๐๏ธ Tickets: modest fee on-site
Few tourists ever get to Helwan, the once-fashionable spa town turned industrial suburb 25 km south of central Cairo. But the Helwan Corner Museum rewards the trip. The building was put up in 1942 by King Farouk as a small private pavilion on the bank of the Nile, deliberately designed to resemble a sailboat โ long, narrow, with a pointed prow facing the river. After decades of neglect it was carefully restored and reopened to the public in 2016.
The collection is small but pleasingly intimate: photographs, oil portraits, statuettes, gifts and personal souvenirs that belonged to the Muhammad Ali royal family โ including a set of replica furniture from Tutankhamun's tomb (the originals are in Cairo and at the new GEM). The real surprise is outside: the surrounding garden holds rare plants, including a stand of mango trees imported from Albania (a personal interest of King Zog of Albania, who exchanged seedlings with Farouk).
Highlights
- Sailboat-shaped pavilion (1942)
- Royal family photographs and portraits
- Replicas of Tutankhamun's furniture
- Rare mango trees in the garden
- Quiet riverside walk
Visiting
- Opening hours: 9 am โ 4 pm
- Tickets: modest fee on-site
- Best time: weekday afternoon โ Helwan is sleepy then
- Nearby: Helwan's old sulphur baths, Wadi Hof, Cairo metro Line 1 terminus