Baron Empain had this eccentric mansion, with its facade bedecked with elephants and serpents and towers inspired by the temples of Angkor Wat and Odisha, built as his residence in 1911. Shuttered in 1997 due to "Satanists" allegedly holding rituals here (it turned out they were just a bunch of upper-class teenage metalheads) it reopened in 2020 after a US$10.9 million restoration.
Exhibits documenting Heliopolis's history are scattered throughout the rooms but the building itself is the real highlight.
The roof, with its panoramic views over Heliopolis, can be accessed for an extra admission fee.
The mansion's gardens are home to a cafe.
The palace is due east of Heliopolis Basilica, at the end of Nazih Khalifa St.
