Royal Jewelry Museum
๐ Location: Zizinia district, eastern Alexandria ย ยท ย ๐บ Focus: Royal jewellery of the Muhammad Ali dynasty ย ยท ย ๐๏ธ Tickets: ~200 EGP foreign adults
The Royal Jewelry Museum occupies the former villa of Princess Fatima al-Zahra, a relative of King Farouk, in Alexandria's leafy Zizinia neighbourhood. The villa itself is half the attraction: built in 1923 in an eclectic Italianate style, with painted ceilings, stained-glass scenes from European mythology, marble bathrooms, and even bathroom taps shaped as silver crocodiles. After the 1952 revolution the villa and its contents were confiscated; the museum opened to the public in 1986.
The galleries hold the jewellery, decorations and tableware accumulated by the Muhammad Ali dynasty between 1805 and 1952 โ diamond-studded chess sets, gem-encrusted narghileh pipes, the Order of the Nile in its full ceremonial form, Princess Shwekiar's tiaras, King Farouk's gold and ruby cufflinks, and a snuff box that once belonged to Muhammad Ali Pasha himself. Many of the pieces were made in Paris by Cartier, Boucheron or Van Cleef & Arpels for direct royal commission.
Highlights
- Princess Shwekiar's tiara (Cartier, 1925)
- The Order of the Nile in diamond and platinum
- King Farouk's enamel-and-ruby chess set
- Painted ceilings and stained-glass scenes in the villa itself
- The crocodile-tap bathroom โ a museum exhibit in its own right
Visiting
- Opening hours: 9 am โ 5 pm; last entry 4 pm
- Tickets: ~200 EGP foreign adults
- Best time: combine with a half-day in Zizinia and a seafood lunch at Anfushi
- Nearby: Alexandria National Museum, Stanley Bridge