Alexandria is a city of nostalgia, a city that once was. It was once the capital of Egypt, from its founding by Alexander the Great in 332BCE until the Arab conquest nearly 1,000 years later. It was once the site of the Pharos Lighthouse – considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world – the famed Royal Library, accidentally torched in an attack by Julius Caesar against Ptolemaic forces, and the two obelisks known as Queen Cleopatra’s needles which are now in New York and London. It was once home to a multi-ethnic community, with immigrants from Greece, Italy, France and the Levant. Today, a visit to Alexandria is a search for remnants of its glorious past – and luckily, these do exist.
1. Bibliotheca Alexandrina
Inaugurated in 2002, this modern reimagining of the city’s great ancient library stands grandly on the waterfront. While the idea originated from an Alexandria University professor in the 1970s, Norwegian architecture firm Snohetta won a UNESCO competition to design the $200 million library and cultural centre. The external wall of the angled, disc-shaped, 11-storey building is made of 6,000 blocks of grey Aswan granite inscribed with 4,200 letters in 120 different languages. Its ceiling is sloped at 16.5 degrees and slotted with “eyelashes” to provide the massive reading area with just enough indirect sunlight. Visitors who are expecting a building full of books won’t be disappointed – there are about 1.8 million available. But Bibliotheca Alexandrina is much more than a library: it includes four museums, most notably one holding antiquities covering Egypt’s long history and another displaying rare manuscripts – as well as 17 exhibitions filled with artworks, photographs, sculptures and memorabilia. Young visitors might enjoy the planetarium shows or the two children’s libraries. Make sure to buy the library-museums combo ticket and book the 45-minute tour online several days in advance, as it can get crowded, especially on weekends.
2. Graeco-Roman Museum
After 18 years of closure for renovation, the Graeco-Roman Museum finally reopened in October to rave reviews. Giuseppe Botti, who came to Alexandria in 1884 as director of the Italian school, had lobbied for a museum to house the Alexandrian antiquities that were constantly being transferred to Cairo. A modest museum opened in a rented apartment in 1892, before a proper museum built with a neoclassical façade representing a six-column Doric temple was inaugurated in 1895. The recent renovation added an upper floor, revamped the interior design and updated the display to cover 27 halls. The ground floor covers 12 themes, including Egypt and Greece pre-Alexander, Ptolemaic rule, Roman rule, the late Roman period, the Byzantine period and Coptic art. An open-air courtyard features an 11-metre, 25-ton statue of a Ptolemaic queen in the form of the goddess Isis, found in the 1960s by an Egyptian diver off the Alexandria coast. The upper floor covers the Nile, the economy and Alexandrian arts. The museum is a treasure trove of 6,000 artefacts – from sculptures of Cleopatra, Roman emperors and deities to stelae, mosaic floors, colossal statues, funerary masks, sarcophagi and objects of daily life.
3. Catacombs of Kom el-Shuqafa
The catacombs of Kom el-Shuqafa are one of three outdoor archaeological sites that are best understood and enjoyed with a tour guide. A local guide from Real Egypt Tours, Maha Ashour provided us with an excellent overview of the catacombs, the nearby Serapeum and the Kom el-Dikka site closer to downtown. Catacombs – underground tunnels used for burying the dead – are a Roman tradition that spread in the first three centuries. Kom el-Shuqafa is the name of the area in Arabic, meaning “mound of shards” because a huge amount of broken terracotta plates and jars were found here. It is believed that visitors to the deceased would consume food and wine in a banquet room and then break the tableware they brought with them. The subterranean structure was discovered in 1900, following excavation works that began when a donkey dragging a cart accidentally fell into a hole. Dating back to the first century, the tombs were initially dedicated to the burial of one prominent family and later used to bury many others, until the fourth century. The wall engravings are interesting because they show the intersection between Egyptian, Greek and Roman civilisations. For example, two male and female life-sized limestone statues stand in the Egyptian style with one foot in front of the other, but their hair and facial features are Roman. Visitors reach the complex via a spiral staircase winding downwards around the main tomb shaft.
4. The Serapeum and Pompey’s Pillar
The Serapeum in Alexandria was once the largest and best known of the temples dedicated to the Greco-Egyptian god Serapis, often represented as a old, bearded man, during Ptolemaic reign. However, nothing remains of the temple that was built in the third century BCE and the rectangular structure is left entirely to one’s imagination, based on a small rendering at the entrance. The temple was considered a pagan symbol and was destroyed by followers of Theophilus, leader of the Church of Alexandria, in 391AD. What does remain is a lone 27-metre high column made from Aswan granite dedicated to the Roman emperor Diocletian sometime between 298 and 302AD. Pompey’s Pillar is a misnomer and may have been due to a misreading of the inscription on the column, which actually referenced Publius, the governor of Egypt at the time. There is also a small library on the site, which used to contain copies and overflow from the Great Library of Alexandria. Today, it has a replica of a Serapis statue represented as a bull, the original of which is in the Graeco-Roman Museum.
5. Kom el-Dikka
This archaeological site is also referred to as the Roman Theatre, which was discovered in 1959 when developers began excavating to build new homes. The area had been covered with piles of rubble and sand that resembled benches, hence the name in Arabic: “mound of benches.” A Polish-Egyptian archaeological mission began work on the site in 1960 and, over several decades, uncovered a major civic centre with a university complex, Roman baths with cisterns and homes decorated with mosaics. They give insight into the city’s past, from the Ptolemaic period in the 2nd century BCE through the Islamic period until the 14th century AD. The 4th century AD theatre was in use for close to 300 years and is remarkably intact. The academic complex, comprised of 22 lecture halls, reflects the role of Alexandria as a leading centre for education in late antiquity. The baths exhibit a complex system of furnaces used to heat water. A highlight is the Villa of the Birds, an example of a wealthy urban villa decorated with a colourful floor mosaic depicting various birds. If you are touring this area on a Friday, make sure to leave before noon prayer as it can get particularly congested at this time.
6. Alexandria National Museum
A 15-minute walk down the street from the revamped Graeco-Roman Museum, the Alexandria National Museum that opened in 2003 appears a bit neglected in comparison, but is still well worth a visit. The restored Italian-style villa houses 1,800 pieces on three levels, covering the Pharaonic period in the basement, the Graeco-Roman period on the ground floor and the Coptic and Islamic periods on the top floor. The Pharaonic section is dark with black walls, signifying death, and includes the usual statues, stelae, amulets, sarcophagi and canopic jars. The Graeco-Roman floor includes a room dedicated to objects found by divers in the Mediterranean near the ancient lighthouse site between the 1970s and 2010. Notable pieces include a statue of Alexander the Great and a bust of Roman emperor Caracalla wearing a Pharaonic headdress. The top floor includes Coptic funerary icons from the 17th and 18th centuries and a mosque door from the 19th century, as well as weapons used during the Ottoman period.
7. Fort Qaitbay
The Mamluk sultan Al-Ashraf Abu Al-Nasr Qaitbay built this fortress on the sea between 1477 and 1479AD over the ruins of the lighthouse, which had been destroyed in earthquakes more than 100 years earlier. Made of limestone and spanning an area of approximately 17,550 square metres, the imposing structure served as the city’s defense against naval attacks. An outer wall with defense towers surrounds the building and an inner wall surrounds the citadel’s courtyard. The rooms are barren, used mainly as barracks and weapons storage. The only decorative feature is the geometric marble flooring of the mosque, which occupies more than half of the first floor area. Unlike the museums and other historical sites in Alexandria that close at 4pm, Fort Qaitbay is open until 7pm, making it a perfect visit for the end of the day to watch the sunset and admire the views. Have a seafood meal at the nearby Greek Club and grab an ice cream at Azza for dessert on the walk back from the harbour.
8. St Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral
St Mark the Evangelist, author of the second gospel, holds special significance to Copts because he is considered the founder of the Egyptian church. This beautiful cathedral sits on the site where he established his church in the mid-first century AD. He was martyred in 68AD when he refused to worship the Greco-Egyptian god Serapis. The seat of the Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria, known as the Holy See of St Mark, has been based here for centuries. The head of St Mark is believed to be buried here in a crypt, along with some 50 other popes. Outside the cathedral, a statue of St Mark with his symbol of the lion stand in front of a map showing his travels from Jerusalem to places like Alexandria, Rome and Venice. The inside features lovely mosaics of St Mark and Mary and Jesus. The church has been damaged, destroyed and rebuilt several times throughout history, but its current building dates to 1952. Only foreign passport holders and the Coptic community are allowed to enter.
9. Abu Al-Abbas Al-Mursi mosque
This huge mosque was built over the tomb of the 13th century Spanish scholar and Sufi saint Abu Al-Abbas Al-Mursi. It started as a small shrine but its current iteration dates back to the 1930s during the reign of King Fuad. The cream-coloured mosque is topped with a neon green light that reads “Remember God” and is intricately decorated inside with geometric and floral motifs. Dress modestly and leave your shoes at the door to enter.
10. The Corniche
The Corniche is Alexandria's main artery – for better or for worse. The street’s traffic congestion is as bad as Cairo's and the sidewalks are equally packed with people. Live like the locals and sit on the piled-up concrete blocks along the shore to gaze out at the sea. Take a walk from the statue of Egyptian revolutionary Saad Zaghloul, where one of Cleopatra’s obelisks once stood, to the Alexandria Naval Unknown Soldier Memorial, originally a memorial to Khedive Ismail built by the city’s Italian residents. Venture into the bustle of the street markets in the rectangular piazza behind the memorial, once called Al-Manshiyyah Square and now called Al-Tahrir Square.
11. Royal Jewelry Museum
This two-storey palace is ornate in every way – from its large European-style stained glass windows to its oil-painted ceilings and dangling chandeliers; it is perhaps the perfect setting to display the dazzling jewels of the ruling Muhammad Ali Dynasty. Constructed between 1919 and 1923, the palace belonged to Princess Fatima Haider before it became a museum, which was inaugurated in 1986 and re-opened after several years of renovation in 2010. The collection includes impressive diamond and gem jewellery, tiaras, glassware, crystal, China and even a gold chess set. It is walking distance from the Four Seasons hotel.
12. Montazah Palace and Gardens
Montazah is an area that once consisted of two royal palaces surrounded by lush gardens, estimated at 370 acres. Khedive Abbas Helmy II, who ruled between 1892 and 1914, built the Salamlik Palace as a summer getaway and hunting lodge. King Fuad commissioned an Italian architect to design the larger Haramlek Palace in the late 1920s and it served as the royal family’s summer residence until the 1952 military coup. There has been much change in the decades that followed. The palaces were briefly opened to the public but the Salamlik has now been converted into a five-star hotel and the Haramlek – more commonly known as Montazah Palace – is an off-limits presidential palace. The Palestine Hotel, constructed in 1964 to host the second Arab League Summit, still exists under Helnan management. There also used to be hundreds of beachfront family cabins where Egyptians spent their summer holidays, but these were demolished in recent years to make way for a comprehensive redevelopment. Various projects are still under construction, including a five-storey hotel, cabins in mismatched styles and a retail area. Visitors can pay an entry fee to picnic, stroll or rent bikes in the gardens and along the beach. The iconic Montazah Palace and gardens are a beautiful sight for now but could soon become an unfortunate casualty to overdevelopment.