Alexandria Blogging

My Photos of the sumptuous El Salamlek Palace.

H.M. Khedive Abbas Helmi II built the el-Salamlek Palace, located in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1892 as a hunting lodge for his Hangro-Austrian Mistress, Countess May-Torok von Szendro. It was surrounded by woods stocked with game for the hunting pleasure of the Khedive and his guests. The Greek architect Dimitri Faricious Pasha actually designed the palace and undertook its construction.

Later, during the reign of H.M. King Fouad I, son of H.M. Khedive Abbas Helmi II, El-Salamlek served as a guesthouse. And later, under the reign of King Farouk I, El-Salamlek became a summer office and guesthouse for the king's most valued guests. When the Palace was turned into the El Salamlek Palace Hotel and Casino, nine years were spent renovating and decorating in order to recreate the luxury and glamour of the Royal era of Egypt.

A portrait of the former King Farouk and his second wife Narriman Sadek