EGYPT ALEXANDRIA

HISTORIC ALEXANDRIA

Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great in about 331BC. The Pharos (lighthouse) of Alexandria was one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World and once stood by the harbor. The 40 metre high structure was the tallest on earth, but was destroyed in the middle Ages. A 15^th century fort now stands on its foundation. Among surviving Greek and Roman ruins are the Catacombs of Kom al Shuqafa and Egypt’s only Roman Amphitheatre. Famed for the library of Alexandria, the ancient world’s largest, the city is now home to striking, glass roofed Bibliotheca Alexandria library, inaugurated in 2003.

MUSEUMS AND PALACES

Former royal palace Montazah, built by the last Khedive of Egypt in 1892, is set in gardens used occasionally for concerts and theatre performances in summer. The former palace of Fatma El- Zahara is now the Royal Jewellery Museum and contains a collection of gems from the 19^th century dynasty of Mohamed Ali. While little of ancient Alexandria survives, relics from the period from the 3^rd century BC to the 7^th century AD chronicle the city’s heyday in the Graeco-Roman Musuem. The Museum of Fine Arts contains a collection of architectural pieces, art and sculptures.

EAST OF ALEXANDRIA

The ancient city Rosetta, 65 km east of Alexandria, is famed for being where the Rosetta stone was discovered. The Rosetta stone, now housed in the British Museum, was created in 196 BC and written in hieroglyphics, another Egyptian script and classical Greek. It was discovered by the French in 1799 and helped unlock the secrets of the previously undecipherable hieroglyphics.

Rosetta became the principle port on Egypt’s northern coast following Alexandria’s decline after the Ottoman conquest in the 16^th century. It is noted for the Delta –style Ottoman architecture of its restored merchant’s houses, built with distinctive, moulded bricks.

The beautiful sands of the west of Alexandria are becoming beach, sun and water sports destinations. One time coastal village El- Alamein is now a burgeoning resort destination with luxury hotels. The scene of a decisive Allied victory in World War II, there also a war museum and cemetery. 

Nearby Porto Marina became an upmarket tourist resort in 2005 and continues to expand. Marsa Matruh is becoming popular for its soft, white beaches, azure seas and rock formations. The Rommel Museum is here. Siwa Oasis, 300 km south of Marsa Matruh in the Sahara, can be visited on a tour.