One of the world’s oldest carriage museums reopened at the end of 2020 after a lengthy restoration process. Before going out of business, the museum was established in the late 1800s under Khedive Ismail. The museum’s restoration began in 2001, but it wasn’t completed until late 2020 due to numerous delays.

Five distinct halls house various examples of royal vehicles and chariots from Egypt’s modern monarchy of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The original basalt floors from the late 1800s structure still remain in this historical building.

The carriages that were given to the royal family are kept in the Antikkhana Hall. The Alay chariot, a fine example of craftsmanship and elaborate decoration that Empress Eugenie, the wife of Emperor Napoleon III, gave to Khedive Ismail to commemorate the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, is notable in this hall. The Gamallon Hall also contains a number of other impressive and uncommon vehicles.

The carriages that the royal family used for various state occasions are housed in the Royal Events Hall, as are several oil paintings that depict the members of the family to whom the carriages belonged. The royal court’s stablemen’s and carriage workers’ costumes and clothing, as well as the decorative accessories that were used to adorn the horses, can be seen in the Hosan Hall.

Also, if you want to get away from cars and carriages for a bit, you can always go to the reception hall and look at a screen with related documentaries.

Since there are only four known examples of a museum of this kind that focuses on royal cars and carriages, this one-of-a-kind museum might be worth your time and interest while you are in Cairo.