Shubra Palace is a royal palace in

Taif, Saudi Arabia Taif ( ar, , translit=aṭ-Ṭāʾif, lit=The circulated or encircled, ) is a city and governorate in the Makkan Region of Saudi Arabia. Located at an elevation of in the slopes of the Hijaz Mountains, which themselves are part of the Sarat M ...

. It was one of the royal residences until 1995 when it was transformed into a museum.

History

The building was originally constructed in 1858 as a two-storey house. It was rebuilt by Ali Pasha, former

sharif of Mecca The Sharif of Mecca ( ar, شريف مكة, Sharīf Makkah) or Hejaz ( ar, شريف الحجاز, Sharīf al-Ḥijāz, links=no) was the title of the leader of the Sharifate of Mecca, traditional steward of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina and ...

, and completed in 1905. It was named after a palace built in

Cairo, Egypt Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo me ...

. Following the capture of the city by Saudis the Shubra Palace was used by

King Abdulaziz Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud ( ar, عبد العزيز بن عبد الرحمن آل سعود, ʿAbd al ʿAzīz bin ʿAbd ar Raḥman Āl Suʿūd; 15 January 1875Ibn Saud's birth year has been a source of debate. It is generally accepted ...

as summer residence. Two of his sons, Prince Talal and Prince Nawwaf, were born there. It is where King Abdulaziz died in 1953. King Faisal used the Shubra Palace as a summer residence. The palace was also used as the office of

Crown Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wife ...

Sultan. In 1995 the palace was made a

heritage museum A heritage centre, center, or museum is a public facility – typically a museum, monument, visitor centre, or park – that is primarily dedicated to the presentation of historical and cultural information about a place and its people, and ofte ...

Layout and style

The building consists of four floors and four uniform facades with gardens. and The windows and balconies have a criss-crossed pattern of strips of wood, known as

latticework __NOTOC__ Latticework is an openwork framework consisting of a criss-crossed pattern of strips of building material, typically wood or metal. The design is created by crossing the strips to form a grid or weave. Latticework may be functional &n ...

. The interior of the building is designed with marble from

Carrara, Italy Carrara ( , ; , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, in central Italy, of the province of Massa and Carrara, and notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some Boxing the compass, west-northwest o ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shubra Palace 1905 establishments in the Ottoman Empire History museums in Saudi Arabia House of Saud Architecture in the Ottoman Empire Palaces in Saudi Arabia Royal residences in Saudi Arabia