Downtown DistrictAlexandria Governorate
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Arts & cultureMuseum of Fine Arts

Arts & cultureContemporary Alexandria

Museum of Fine Arts

In Moharram Bek, the Museum of Fine Arts brings together modern Egyptian art, European paintings and the history of the Alexandria Biennale.

Contemporary Alexandria
1954
Opening hours
Daily 9:00–18:00, Friday 12:00–18:00, closed Monday (summer 2026 schedule — please confirm)
Tickets
Free or nominal fee depending on the exhibition
Administrative section
Moharram Bek
Open in maps(External link)Its place in time

Image credits

What sets it apart

A 1950s building with galleries and a garden, hung with paintings by Egypt’s modern pioneers and European works.

8 documented memories

Its place in time

Contemporary Alexandria · 1950 – today

An age of discovery and rediscovery: the Roman theatre was uncovered by chance in 1964, and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina returned to the city’s shore in 2002.

  1. Fouad Street — the Canopic Way331 BC — the Canopic Way
  2. Roman Theatre at Kom El DikkaRoman era, most likely 4th century — uncovered in 1964
  3. Shallalat GardensOn the line of the 9th-century wall, under Ibn Tulun
  4. Remains of the Alexandria City Wall9th century — under Ibn Tulun
  5. Misr Railway StationThe railway from the 1850s — present building 1927
  6. Mahatet El Raml & Saad Zaghloul SquareFrom 1863 — the Ramleh line’s terminus
  7. The Alexandria Tram1863
  8. Eliyahu Hanavi SynagogueRebuilt in the 19th century — foundation plaque dated 1881
  9. Graeco-Roman Museum1892
  10. The Statue of Nubar PashaUnveiled in 1904, according to a museum record
  11. The Windsor Palace Hotel1906, by the hotel’s own account
  12. Cavafy MuseumCavafy’s home from 1907 to 1933
  13. The Lycée Al-Horreya1909–1910 — the Shatby building from 1913
  14. Sayed Darwish Theatre — Alexandria Opera House1921 — the Mohamed Ali Theatre
  15. Alexandria National MuseumLate-1920s palace — museum since 2003
  16. The Cecil Hotel1929
  17. Museum of Fine Arts1954
  18. Bibliotheca Alexandrina2002
  • Ancient Alexandria331 BC – 7th century AD
  • The Islamic centuries7th century – 1805
  • The Mohamed Ali revival1805 – 1860
  • The cosmopolitan city1860 – 1950
  • Contemporary Alexandria1950 – today
The façade of the Cecil Hotel on Saad Zaghloul Square, palms in front of it
Before it in timeThe Cecil Hotel1929
The tilted disc of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and its granite wall carved with the letters of the world’s alphabets
After it in timeBibliotheca Alexandrina2002

Highlights

  • 1Works by modern Egyptian pioneers
  • 2The history of the Alexandria Biennale
  • 3The Calligraphy Museum and the Fine Arts Library
  • 4The garden and activity halls

The story

  1. The museum’s story is usually traced to 1904, when Alexandria’s municipality received a collection of paintings from a German collector. In 1936 Baron Félix de Menasce gave the municipality a villa and its land in Moharram Bek for a library and art museum; in 1940, during the Second World War, a bomb hit the library and the villa was pulled down. The municipality, under its director Hussein Sobhi, then commissioned a new building, completed as the city’s art museum in 1954.

  2. Its 1,381 works, by the official count, include the pioneers of modern Egyptian art and European paintings in Baroque, Rococo, Romantic and Orientalist styles. Closed, according to the press, since 1981 except for the Biennale, the museum reopened on 8 January 2013. It now forms a complex with the Museum of Arabic Calligraphy, opened in 2015, and the Fine Arts Library of about 200,000 volumes, and has a garden used for activities.

  3. The museum is associated with the Alexandria Biennale for Mediterranean Countries, first held in July 1955. That connection adds a history of artistic exchange between the city and the Mediterranean to its collections. The Biennale paused after its 2014 edition; the Ministry of Culture announced its return for September 2026, with events spread across the city.

Memories of the place

Every memory is taken from a published, documented source.

  1. 1904

    Alexandria’s municipality received a collection of paintings from a German collector; according to one press account, he left it to the city on condition that a fine-arts museum be built.

  2. 1936

    Baron Félix de Menasce gave the municipality a villa and its land in Moharram Bek, to serve as a library and an art museum.

  3. 1940

    During the Second World War a bomb hit the library and the villa was pulled down; the library was rebuilt in 1948.

  4. 1949Sources differ on this date

    The municipality, under its director-general Hussein Sobhi, commissioned a new building for the Museum of Fine Arts.

  5. 1954

    The building was completed as Alexandria’s art museum. According to the museum’s account as reported in the press, the Revolution Command Council opened it on 26 July 1954, the second anniversary of the July Revolution.

  6. July 1955

    Under President Gamal Abdel Nasser, the first Alexandria Biennale for Mediterranean Countries opened here.

  7. 8 January 2013

    The museum reopened to the public after renovation; according to the press, it had been closed since 1981 except for the Biennale.

  8. 22 August 2015

    The Museum of Arabic Calligraphy opened in the complex; the Ministry of Culture describes it as the first museum in Egypt devoted to the history of Arabic calligraphy.

Around it

© OpenStreetMap

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