Cecil Hotel (Alexandria)
Encyclopedia
The 86 room, four-star Cecil Hotel in Alexandria
, Egypt
, was built in 1929 by the French-Egyptian Jewish Metzger family as a romantic hotel, at Saad Zaghloul square where Cleopatra's needles had been, in front of the Corniche
. Author Somerset Maugham stayed here, as did Winston Churchill
and Al Capone
. Moreover, the British Secret Service maintained a suite for their operations. It was seized by the Egyptian government after the revolution in 1952, and five years later the Metzger family expelled from the country. In 2007, after a lengthy court battle, legal ownership of the hotel was returned to the Metzger family, who subsequently sold it to the Egyptian government.. This hotel appears in the The Alexandria Quartet
, written by Lawrence Durrell
and the novel Miramar
by Naguib Mahfuz.
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, was built in 1929 by the French-Egyptian Jewish Metzger family as a romantic hotel, at Saad Zaghloul square where Cleopatra's needles had been, in front of the Corniche
Corniche (Alexandria)
The Corniche is a waterfront promenade corniche in Alexandria, Egypt, running along the Eastern Harbour. It is one of the major corridors for traffic in Alexandria...
. Author Somerset Maugham stayed here, as did Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
and Al Capone
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
. Moreover, the British Secret Service maintained a suite for their operations. It was seized by the Egyptian government after the revolution in 1952, and five years later the Metzger family expelled from the country. In 2007, after a lengthy court battle, legal ownership of the hotel was returned to the Metzger family, who subsequently sold it to the Egyptian government.. This hotel appears in the The Alexandria Quartet
The Alexandria Quartet
The Alexandria Quartet is a tetralogy of novels by British writer Lawrence Durrell, published between 1957 and 1960. A critical and commercial success, the books present four perspectives on a single set of events and characters in Alexandria, Egypt, before and during World War II.As Durrell...
, written by Lawrence Durrell
Lawrence Durrell
Lawrence George Durrell was an expatriate British novelist, poet, dramatist, and travel writer, though he resisted affiliation with Britain and preferred to be considered cosmopolitan...
and the novel Miramar
Miramar (novel)
Miramar is a novel authored by Naguib Mahfouz, an Egyptian Nobel Prize-winning author. It was written in 1967 and translated into English in 1978.-Plot summary:...
by Naguib Mahfuz.