About Alexandria

Founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC, Alexandria became the capital of Graeco-Roman Egypt, its status as a beacon of culture symbolized by Pharos, the legendary lighthouse that was one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
From the 19th century Alexandria took a new role, as a focus for Egypt's commercial and maritime expansion. Generations of immigrants from Greece, Italy and the Levant settled here and made the city synonymous with commerce, cosmopolitanism and bohemian culture.

Old Alexandria

Of modern Alexandria, the oldest section is along the causeway which links what was once Pharos island with the mainland and includes the districts of  Gumrok (the oldest dating to about the 16th century and known as the customs district) Anfushi, and Ras el-Tin (Cape of Figs). The latter two districts date to about the period of Mohammed Ali (1805-49).  Collectively, these districts are known to westerners as the Turkish Quarter. The area forms somewhat of a T-shape, dividing the Eastern Harbour from the Western Harbour. Where the Pharos Lighthouse once stood, is now occupied by the Fort of Quit Bay out on the area that circles up around the top of Eastern Harbour forming the eastern section of the top of the T. 

Central Alexandria

The Underwater Discoveries

Relatively new discoveries in the Eastern Harbour involve two different sites.  Around Fort Qaitbey the site has unearthed hundreds of objects, including what experts believe are the remains of the Pharos Lighthouse, one of the ancient wonders of the world.  
  In the south east part of the harbours archaeologists have apparently found the Royal Quarters, including granite columns and fabulous statues, including one of Isis and a sphinx with a head thought to be that of Cleopatra's father.

Heading towards the mainland past the Abu El-Abbas Mosque and connecting with Shari Faransa street leads to the Suq district.  In the Suq district, one finds Alexandria's only surviving wakalas, which is a part of the El-Shorbagi Mosque complex founded in 1757.  This was also the area where Alexandria's Jewish community lived, but most have now migrated to Israel.

However, Midan Tahrir, popularly called Manshiya, has considerable history.  This area was once home to Diplomats and known as Place Des Consuls, but after the statue of Mohammed Ali was placed here in 1873 the name was changed to Midan Mohammed Ali.  In 1882, it was bombarded by the British and all but destroyed.  The Alexandria Stock Exchange was once located here, and it was from the midan that Nasser announced the nationalization of the Suez Canal.

The street named Al-Horreya (Tariq abd el-Nasser) which transverses the area from east to west was in ancient times the Canopic Way with the Gate of the Sun at the eastern end and the Gate of the Moon at the western end.  At that time, there were probably columns lining the road. The main north to south street, now Sharia el-Nebi Daniel, ran from the East Harbour all the way to Lake Harbour on Lake Mariout.  

Wondering along el-Nebi Daniel are several other attractions, including the French Cultural Centre, and nearby the Eliahu Hanabi Synagogue, which is the only active synagogue in Alexandria and houses the combined treasures of the seven former Alexandrian synagogues.

Midan Saad Zaghlul

Midan Saad Zaghlul is the entertainment heart and nerve centre of Alexandria. Here, as terminals and train stations provide a backdrop for cinemas, restaurants and night spots.  It was the setting of Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria Quartet and the famous Alexandria coffee houses. The square is dominated by an impressive monument dedicated to Saad Zaghlul, a former national leader.

The Mahmudiya Canal

A walk along the Mahmudiya Canal brings one face to face with the working class and industrial districts of Alexandria.  Here, the poet Callimachus lived and taught, and in 640 AD, Pompilius prvented the King of Syria from capturing Alexandria.  But less then a year later, Amr Ibn el-As camped here, before taking the city. The well known Water Traffic Circle is also in the area.

Here one finds the Zoological Gardens, the small Museum of Natural History and the Fine Arts Museum in the Moharrem Bey area, and a Rose Garden.  The beautiful public gardens extend into the surrounding area where the Antoniadis Palace is located, and there is even a nearby Roman tom

Archaeological sites

The Graeco-Roman Museum

The museum was first built in 1892 as a small building located on Horreya Road. In 1895 it was transferred to the present site near Gamal Abdul Nasser Road. It started with eleven galleries, and has been gradually enlarged in later renovation stages. The 25th gallery was inaugurated in 1984. It contains a very big variety of coins from different countries, chronologically arranged, and dating back from 630 BC to the Ottoman period in the 19th century. The collection, which covers the period from the 3rd century BC to the 7th century AD, is a fascinating record of civilization in the process of change as religions merged and society evolved.

In Alexandria, Graeco-Roman and Pharaonic religions mingled in the cult of Serapis; the shift from pagan religions to Christianity can also be seen in the exhibits which include mummies, Hellenistic statues, busts of Roman emperors, Tangara figurines, and early Christian antiquities.

Kom Al-Shuqafa Catacombs

These tombs were tunnelled into the bedrock in the age of the Antonine emperors (2nd century A.D.) for a single wealthy family still practicing the ancient religion. As a privately financed project, it is an engineering feat of some magnitude. These tombs represent the last existing major construction for the sake of the old Egyptian religion. They are alone worth the trip to Alexandria. Though the funerary motifs are pure ancient Egyptian, the architects and artists were schooled in the Greco-Roman style. Applied to the themes of Ancient Egyptian religion, it has resulted in an amazing integrated art, quite unlike anything else in the world.

A winding staircase descends several levels deep into the ground, with little chapels opening from it, furnished with benches to accommodate visitors or mourners bringing offerings. They consist of three levels cut in the rock 100 feet deep.

Vestibule and Central Tomb Chamber are the main chambers. They are lit by a single electric light bulb that throws the chamber into green, a perfect staging for that composite art. In the centre of the facade, the familiar solar disc is carved below frieze of serpents. Left and right are two serpents wearing the crowns of upper and lower Egypt. These are not the lithe cobras of Saqqara or Thebes. They seemed to be designed as modern book comics. In the Tomb Chamber, the dead lies on a lion-shaped bier attended by Horus, Thoth, Anubis, and other familiar funerary deities and funerary equipment: Canopic jars, the priest in his panther skin, and the king making an offering to the deceased in the form of Osiris. These figures are rendered in Greco-Roman style. To the traditional scenes are added bunches of grapes, Medusa heads, and a variety of Greek and Roman decorative devices. The overall impression conveyed is not easily analyzed and yet is unmistakable.

Pompey’s Pillar

The pillar dates from the third century and is made of granite, approximately 25m red Aswan granite column with a circumference of 9m was constructed in honour of the Emperor Diocletain. Originally from the temple of the Serapis, it was once a magnificent structure rivaling the Soma and the Caesareum. Nearby are subterranean galleries where sacred Apis bulls were buried, and three sphinxes. After his defeat by Julius Caesar in the civil war, Pompey fled to Egypt where he was murdered in 48 BC; mediaeval travellers later believed he must be buried here, and that the capital atop the corner served as a container for his head Diocletain captured Alexandria after it had been under siege. The Arabs called it "Amoud el-Sawari", Column of the Horsemen. The Pillar is the tallest ancient monument in Alexandria.

The Roman Amphitheatre

A small amphitheatre recently discovered in the area of Kom Al-Dekka near the Roman museum. It consists of 12 rows of semi-circular marble seats and considered the only relic of its kind in Egypt.

Modern Sites

Alexandria New Library

The Old Alexandria Library established since 2300 at  Ptolemic era during the reign of ‘Ptolemos Filadfos”. The library was media to all scientists and a source of knowledge to the Mediterranean region.  Now the Old Alexandria Library renewed by established the New Alexandria Library to be one of the greatest cultural and scientific centres specialised in the affairs, civilisation, literature, sciences and arts, to attract scholars from all over the world to Alexandria as a world centre for culture and knowledge.

The new Alexandra Library located at Shatby includes: The central Library, Youth Library, Library for the blind, Planetarium, Science Museum, Scripts Museum, Antiquities Museum. The International Institute for Information studies, Conference centre and its services.

The inauguration of the New Alexandria Library was 16 October 2002 and was attended by some of the world leaders and heads delegation for 80 countries.