Castle Map

Palace

Beshtak Palace

Egypt · 14th century

Founded
c. 1350
Style
Mamluk architecture
Heritage status
part of UNESCO World Heritage Site
Location
Cairo Governorate
Coordinates
30.0504°, 31.2616°
Links
OpenStreetMap · Wikimedia Commons
Open on the map →Wikipedia ↗
Beshtak Palace in Egypt
Photo: Casual Builder · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Description

The Beshtak Palace or Qasr Bashtak ("Palace of Bashtak") is a historic palace and museum in Cairo, Egypt, built in the 14th century by the Mamluk amir Sayf al-Din Bashtak al-Nasiri. It is located on Shari'a al-Mu'izz (Muizz Street), in the area known as Bayn al-Qasrayn ("between the two palaces", in reference to the great Fatimid palaces that formerly stood here).

In 1262, Sultan al-Zahir Baybars transferred parts of the Fatimid palaces of Cairo to the property of the state treasury, allowing thenceforth for the sale and redevelopment of property in this central area of the city. In 1334-1339, Bashtak, a powerful amir (i.e. an officer or lord in the Mamluk hierarchy) who was married to a daughter of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad and held the prestigious court position of the Sultan's Master of the Robes, built a residence and stables over part of the Eastern Palace adjacent to the main street.

The remains of the palace were restored in 1983 by the German Archaeological Institute and constitute a rare surviving example of 14th century domestic architecture in Cairo.

Only part of the palace remains today. However, the edifice was originally five stories tall, and featured running water on all floors. Outside, at street level, the building had openings for shops whose revenues would have contributed to the amir's income, possibly following a model from Roman times. The most impressive surviving part of the palace is the large qa'a or reception hall. The hall features a coffered wooden ceiling, stucco windows of coloured glass, and a fountain of inlaid marble in the centre, which were decorative elements typical of the time and found in other buildings from the same era, like the nearby Mausoleum of Sultan Qalawun.

The north and south sides of the hall also feature mashrabiyya (i.e. latticed wood screen) windows on the upper floors, allowing for women or other members of the household to privately watch events or festivities happening in the hall below.

Text adapted from “Beshtak Palace” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

In the rankings

Beshtak Palace ranks #3,884 of 9,902 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #22 of the 37 mapped in Egypt. Founded c. 1350, it is older than 55% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 797 atlas entries founded in the 14th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 870 times in the last 60 days, more than 50% of the atlas. 16 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Cairo, 3 km away. See how Egypt compares in the castle statistics.

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