Amir Bashtak Palace
Bashtak Palace is
one of the domestic households of the palatial period in the 14th century. Bashtak
Palace also is an Islamic museum. It was built by Prince (Amir) Bashtak
Al-Nasiri, one of the commanders of the Mamluk sultan, al-Nasir Muhammad ibn
Qalawun, and the husband of one of his daughters, in 1334 – 1339 on the site of
the Fatimid Eastern Palace (al-Qasr al-Sharqi).
The palace consists
of three floors and a ground floor that has a stunning hall (Qa’a), stables,
stores, and servant rooms. The second floor consists of bedrooms and a hall for
celebrations and special occasions, and the last floor used to be a place for
women, but it was demolished.
The palace is one of
the Islamic architectures with a unique structure, especially the mashrabiyya
screens on the windows, in addition to the stained-glass windows of the pointed
arches on the second floor, with their gilded and painted wooden paneling.
The most attractive
part of the palace is the courtyard that consists of four iwans with a wooden
ceiling decorated with marvelous wooden Islamic ornaments, in addition to a
colored marble fountain in the middle of the hall.
In 2003, the Beshtak
Palace were restored as a part Historic Cairo restoration project
Bashtak
Palace as a creativity center
Batak Palace is also
home to the Arab Singing House, which is one of Cairo's creativity centers as
the Egyptian Culture Ministry aimed at turning these historic palaces and houses
into cultural centers to preserve and revive the Egyptian musical
heritage.
Arab singing House
was inaugurated as a part of the Culture Ministry's plan to raise the
intellectual and the cultural awareness of the Egyptians and to shed light on
the area of Historic Cairo so it would both a touristic destination to know
Cairo's great history and a cultural center to preserve the Egyptian singing
history in particular and the Arab singing identity in general.
Address: located on Al Mo’ez
li-Din Allah Street
