Monument to visit

Hosh El Bacha or Mohamed Ali’s family cemeteries were erected over a rectangular surface. The western façade or the main entrance, is overlooking El Imam Elleith street, behind El Imam El Shafei mausoleum, in El Imam El Shafei zone, accessible through public transportation from El Sayeda Eisha square, El Tahrir square, Ramses square, El Falaki square direction El Imam El Shafei the last off station

The western façade, overlooking Elleith Street, the main and only entrance to the cemeteries is divided into three sections. The first and third sections include three rectangular windows with two wooden shutters from the outside each richly decorated with geometrical forms. The inner side of the window is provided with wooden shutters shaped in a semi-circular arch used to be covered with glass. A rectilinear raw of joined stones with motif decorations surmount the window followed by a ribbon beautifully decorated ending up with a Cornish of en relief stones. The second section is a recess with a rectangular entrance that is a five-sided arch.

Located in the center of the main façade, the entrance block is en relief through two towers that consist of five sides each bearing at the lower part a spiral decoration intercalated with circles shaped as the Arabic letter M. The two corners of the base are partly delimited. A lobed dome surmounts each tower.

The main entrance leads to a vestibule paved in marble and topped with a dome supported by four transitional areas

Cenotaph

Mohamed Ali bought in 1220 AH/1805 AD an enclosure in order to erect a cemetery for his family. A simple building of two domes was then constructed to bury members of his family and some high ranked officials.
In 1231 AH/ 1816 AD, after Toussoun’s death (Mohamed Ali’s son), a cenotaph was erected over his tomb surrounded by a bronze grille, he also built in the occasion a sabil known as El Wesseyah Sabil or El Sabil El Ahmar. Mohamed Ali ordered the renovation of the aqueduct that enabled the water to reach El Imam El Shafei area and the cemetery as well. Two domes were then newly built during the period from 1231 AH/ 1815 AD to 1238 AH/ 1815 AD

In 1238 AH/ 1815 AD, new cenotaphs in marble were imported to cover Ismail Pasha’s tomb and Amina Hanem, Mohamed Ali’s wife. In 1237 AH/ 1821 AD, other cenotaphs were constructed for Halim Beck, Mohamed Ali’s son and his daughter Fatma Hanem buried in El Nabi Daniel, Alexandria. In 1246 AH/ 1830 AD, two mausoleums including fifteen tomb were constructed followed by another large room built under the two domes probably erected by Abbas Pasha I including two cenotaphs for the Pasha Abbas I and his wife with other cenotaphs. In 1301 AH/ 1883 AD, Khedive Tewfiq ordered the construction of a new room surmounted by a dome to be his mother’s tomb accessible through a vestibule specially built in front of the room. The main entrance of the cemeteries, the entrance dome, the vestibule leading to the cemeteries with the following corridor are the main architectural elements built under king Farouk’s reign who also ordered the erection of a surrounding wall built in stone.