Mohamed Ali Pasha Statue

• 16 / 5 / 2023

It is worth noting that the four lions on the Khedive Ismail Bridge in Cairo - Qasr al-Nil Bridge now - were originally intended to be placed around the statue of Muhammad Ali Pasha in Consul Square in Alexandria, where it was to be smaller in size to give the statue more luxury and strength. However, the plan was changed after the outbreak of a state of anger among the Alexandrians at the time against the placement of the statues to deprive them of their point of view, as a result of which Khedive Ismail ordered the transfer of the statues of the four lions to be placed on the famous bridge in Cairo, so “Jackmar” modified its dimensions to suit its new location, and it was placed in its location The current one on the bridge in the center of Cairo in 1875.

Since 1865, Khedive Ismail has been thinking of erecting a statue of his grandfather, Muhammad Ali Pasha, and it was initially scheduled to be erected in the city of Ismailia, and then he finally decided to erect it in Muhammad Ali Square in Alexandria. On April 7, 1869, Count Neuderkick wrote to the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, informing him that the cost of the statue would be about two hundred thousand francs, to be paid to the maker of the statue, Monsieur Jacquemar.

On Safar 5, 1286 AH / May 17, 1869, an amount of eight thousand pounds was transferred to a bank in Paris in the name of Monsieur Lecomte Nieuwerkiek, superintendent of the School of Arts and Crafts in Paris, to spend on making this statue, and the example was assigned to Jacmar with this work.

Jacmard completed the work of the statue in July 1872, and it was displayed for a month on Champs-Elysees Street near the Palace of Industry, and Jacmard sent his friend, the architect Ambroise Baudry, to Egypt to confirm to the Egyptian government that the statue had already been completed.

Bodry designed the base of the statue of marble, and on its sides were two small marble shoulders, between which there was a decorative unit of metal in the form of a crescent and a star. The statue arrived in Alexandria, and in August of the same year, the statue was placed on the base designated for it.
 On December 19, 1872, the official ceremony was held in the center of Muhammad Ali Square.

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