© IMARET – Institute Mohammed Ali for the Research of the Eastern Tradition © IMARET – Institute Mohammed Ali for the Research of the Eastern Tradition © IMARET – Institute Mohammed Ali for the Research of the Eastern Tradition © IMARET – Institute Mohammed Ali for the Research of the Eastern Tradition


Name of Monument:

House of Mohammed Ali

Other name of the Monument:

Mohammed Ali Museum

Location:

Kavala, Greece

Responsible Institution:

IMARET – Institute Mohammed Ali for the Research of the Eastern Tradition (under contract with the Egyptian Waqf Organization)

 About IMARET – Institute Mohammed Ali for the Research of the Eastern Tradition, Kavala

Date of Monument:

Construction: between 1750 and 1770; restoration: 2001–2004

Architect(s) / Master-builder(s):

Unknown

History:

According to local tradition, the building was the house of the local representative of the Ottoman administration or, later, the house of Mohammed Ali, founder of modern Egypt, who was born in Kavala in 1769. An inscription erected outside the house in 1883, almost 35 years after Mohammed Ali’s death, states that the building is among his charitable works, together with Imaret. It seems therefore possible that Mohammed Ali acquired the house, the finest one in town, and made it part of his Waqf, on the occasion of his visit to Kavala on his way back to Egypt from his only visit to Istanbul (August 1846). Currently, the House operates as a Museum and the seat of I.M.A.R.E.T. - Institute Mohammed Ali for the Research of the Eastern Tradition.

Description:

The House of Mohammed ‘Ali is a typical example of the so-called ‘broad-fronted, two-floor traditional dwelling’ with a row of rooms leading to the main living area on the first floor and a covered courtyard on the ground floor. Today, it is the only remaining example of vernacular architecture from the Ottoman period in the Balkan area, which still preserves the distinction between the male (Selâmlık) and female (Haremlik) quarters.

Citation of this web page:

I.M.A.R.E.T. "House of Mohammed Ali" in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monuments;AWE;gr;2;en

Prepared by: I.M.A.R.E.T.

MWNF Working Number: GR 002

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