Sheikha Shamma calls for balance between economic, environmental resilience

Sheikha Shamma calls for balance between economic, environmental resilience

CAIRO: The Baron Empain Palace in Cairo this week began receiving visitors, nearly 3 years after the beginning of a development project to restore the palace and create an exhibition space to tell the history of the Heliopolis district of Egypt's capital city.

Tickets, issued by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, sold out following the palace's official opening on June 29.

Tourism and Antiquities Minister Khaled El-Anany expressed his happiness that so many Egyptians visited the palace after its inauguration to learn more about Heliopolis and aspects of daily life in Egypt in the early 20th century.

The cost of the restoration was 175 million Egyptian pounds ($10.9 million).

In a statement, El-Anany said the palace would take visitors into the past, to when Belgian entrepreneur Baron Edouard Empain began construction of the Heliopolis district, one of the most famous in Cairo, and of his magnificent palace.

The palace consists of a cellar and two floors above the ground, decorated with Greek statues and decorations inspired by Indian culture.

The building contains a multitude of displays, including vintage cars that were driven around the streets of Cairo in the early days of the last century, helping give a real-life picture of Heliopolis during that period. An