A Palace with a Traceable Dynastic Chain
Mounira Palace is unusually valuable because the Institut français d’archéologie orientale has reconstructed its ownership chronology from cadastral and property evidence. A palace is recorded here by 1892. In November 1896, Princess Amina Ilhami gave it to her daughter, Princess Nimetallah Tawfiq.
1898 — Prince Ibrahim Hilmi
Princess Nimetallah sold the palace to Prince Ibrahim Hilmi Pasha in 1898. IFAO’s research concludes that he probably constructed the present palace partly on the foundations of the earlier building and later added two wings between 1903 and early 1905.
From Dynasty to Scholarship
The property left dynastic ownership in 1906–1907. In May 1907, the French Ministry of Public Instruction, Fine Arts and Religions acquired the ensemble for the Institut français d’archéologie orientale. IFAO has occupied the palace ever since.
Why It Matters
Mounira is a model provenance record: the site carries successive architectural layers, several members of the Muhammad Ali dynasty can be identified by name, and the palace’s institutional afterlife is exceptionally well documented.