The second largest city in Egypt is Alexandria City, with a population of 6 million. It is located on the Mediterranean coast on the western edge of the Nile Delta. It’s hard to beat Cairo regarding historical buildings and monuments, but Alexandria may be one of the few cities in the world with a more exciting past.
In 331 BC, Alexander the Great built the city. This was nearly 1,400 years before Cairo, and it quickly grew into one of the world’s richest, largest, and most cultural cities. Today, there isn’t much left of Alexandria’s famous past for you to see. Natural disasters, frequent conquests and sieges, and the fact that the city has rebuilt itself several times have made it difficult to see much of Alexandria’s ancient and historical past. However, it is still a beautiful and charming city with easy access to the beautiful beaches of the Mediterranean.
The most famous landmarks of Alexandria City:
Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa:
The Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa are believed to have been built by a single wealthy Roman family in the second century AD. But the complex grew a lot and continued until the fourth century AD. It has many tombs, including a mass grave with animal and human bones, which is believed to be the result of a mass execution in Alexandria in 215 AD by the Roman Emperor Caracalla.
The tombs were built around a spiral staircase in the middle descending several levels. The lower floors were flooded, but the walls of the tombs accessible to people were beautifully decorated. The fact that there was a strange mixture of Greek, Roman and Egyptian symbols appeared when it was built.
Alexandria Library:
The Library of Alexandria is a vast and impressive piece of modern architecture from the 21st century, but it looks like it could have been built long ago. The Library and cultural centre were opened in 2002 as part of a significant project to honour Alexandria’s history as an ancient centre of learning and culture for people worldwide.
The Great Library of Alexandria was built in the third century BC, shortly after Alexander the Great made Alexandria the new capital of Egypt. It is believed to be one of the best legacies of Alexandria, as the Library and Mouse, the more prominent educational institution to which the Library belonged, is supposed to have kept most of the knowledge of the ancient world.
The modern complex attempts to restore the intellectual brilliance of Alexandria. The Library’s main reading room is vast and beautiful, holding nearly 9 million books. There are also several smaller specialty libraries, a convention centre, art galleries with permanent and temporary displays, and a planetarium in the complex.
Qaitbay Citadel in Alexandria:
In the 14th century, Sultan Qaitbay built this beautiful castle to prevent the Ottomans from taking over Alexandria. Since the Ottomans captured Egypt in 1512, all his efforts were in vain, but the court remained. It is strategically located on a thin arm of land extending from the Corniche to the port of Alexandria.
Qaitbay Citadel is not what it used to be. It was severely damaged when the British bombed Alexandria in 1882 during a nationalist uprising against British rule, and it was rebuilt at the turn of the twentieth century.
Qaitbay built the fort here because there was already a foundation there. The base of the legendary Pharos lighthouse was destroyed by earthquakes in the 13th century and turned into ruins.
Alexandria Montazah Park:
From 1892 to 1914, Khedive Abbas II was the Khedive ruler of Egypt and Sudan. He built the park on the coast of Alexandria as a summer house.
Since the Free Officers Revolution of 1952 that got rid of the ruling dynasty, the Montazah palaces and gardens are no longer as exclusive as they once were. The gardens are now a very nice public park near the sea and well kept. It is the best place in Alexandria for walking and relaxing, and its price does not exceed 50 piasters.
There were two palaces on the site. The first was built in 1892 as a hunting lodge for the Khedive and his friends, called Salamlek. In the 1970s, the palace was restored so the president could live in it during the summer.
