Alexandria, Egypt
January 4 and 5, 2019
Alexandria was a nice break from almost two steady weeks of Ancient Egyptian history, it comes with history galore, but most of it during Roman times.
Alexandria is a port city located on the Mediterranean Sea in northern Egypt founded in 331 BCE by Alexander the Great.
After conquering Syria in 332 BCE, Alexander the Great swept down into Egypt with his army. He founded Alexandria in the small port town of Rhakotis. It is said that he designed the plan for the city.
The Bibliotheca Alexandrina was designed by Snøhetta. Construction work began in 1995 at a cost of USD $220 million it was officially inaugurated on October 16th 2002
The new library draws from the ancient library with water surrounding it. The carvings were done in collaboration with the artists Jorunn Sannes and Kristian Blystad
Alexandria was famous for its ancient library, begun under Ptolemy I (305-285 BCE) it was completed by Ptolemy II (285-246 BCE). In order to procure coveted works, all ships entering the harbor were searched. Every book found was taken to the Library where it was decided whether to give it back or confiscate it and replace it with a copy. No one knows how many books were held in the library at Alexandria but estimates have been made of 500,000.
What once was the library now sits under the water in the bay. How the library, and most of Egypt’s written history to that time, was destroyed is not completely understood. It had suffered from several wars that took place in Alexandria but In 272 AD, the emperor Aurelian fought to recapture the city of Alexandria from the forces of the Palmyrene queen Zenobia. During the course of the fighting, Aurelian’s forces destroyed the part of the city in which the main library was located. If the Library still existed at this time, it was almost certainly destroyed during the attack. If they did survive the attack, then whatever was left would have been destroyed during the emperor Diocletian’s siege of Alexandria in 297.
Pompey’s Pillar
Pompey’s Pillar is a Roman triumphal column and is the largest of its type constructed outside the imperial capitals of Rome and Constantinople. It is one of the largest ancient monoliths and one of the largest monolithic columns ever erected. It is located in The Serapeum, an ancient Greek temple built by Ptolemy III Euergetes (246–222 BCE) and dedicated to Serapis, who was the protector of Alexandria. It’s name has nothing to do with Pompey, it was actually built in 297 AD, commemorating the victory of Roman emperor Diocletian over an Alexandrian revolt.
The Roman Amphitheatre was discovered during excavations for a park in Kom el-Dikkah also known as Hill of Rubble. The theater dates to the 2nd century A.D.
I paid for an extra ticket to view the House of Birds which has a mosaic floor centered around this beautiful one of various birds
The city is teeming with Roman ruins because following Caesar’s assassination in 44 BCE, Marcus Antonius (Mark Antony) became Cleopatra’s consort and left Rome for Alexandria. The city was his base of operations for the next thirteen years until he and Cleopatra were defeated by Octavian Caesar at the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE. The next year, Cleopatra and Antony both committed suicide and, with her death, the Ptolemaic line ended. Octavian became the first emperor of Rome and took the title `Augustus’. Alexandria became a province of the Roman Empire under the rule of Augustus Caesar.
The Citadel of Qaitbay is a 15th-century defensive fortress located on the Mediterranean sea. It was established in 1477 AD by Sultan Al-Ashraf Sayf al-Din Qa’it Bay and is one of the few tourist attractions in Alexandria.
We were told that the stones used to build the Citadel came from one of the 7 Ancient wonders of the world the Lighthouse of Alexandria. The Lighthouse of Alexandria, stood approximately 450 feet tall and was built with light-colored stone and molten lead to create walls strong enough to withstand the crashing waves. The first level was squared shape, the middle level had an octagon shaped, and the top was circular. A reflective mirror on the top level would reflect the sunlight during the day to guide the ships. Whether what we were told is true or not, it does stand in the exact spot as the lighthouse.
The ceiling of the mosque inside the Citadel
Some of the Citadel’s exterior ramparts
The Al-Haramlik Palace, at the Montaza Palace complex in the Al-Montaza royal gardens.
The Al-Haramlik Palace and royal gardens were added to the Montaza Palace grounds by King Fuad I in 1932, as a summer palace. It is in a mixture of Ottoman and Florentine styles, with two towers. One of these towers rises distinctively high above with elaborated Italian Renaissance design details.
President Anwar El-Sadat renovated the original Salamlek Palace as an official presidential residence, but it was most recently used by former president Hosni Mubarak.
Sleeping Lion of a fountain that sits in the Montaza Gardens
An old windmill sits in the Montaza Palace Gardens
A structure built of palm trees in the Montaza Palace Gardens
A palm tree bridge
Scenes from around Alexandria, Egypt
Crashing waves on the breakwater
Beads for sale
Carnival rides
Horses in the carnival
One of the older buildings in town
Driving through the car parts part of town
Alexandria architecture
Outside the fish market
Bread sellers abound throughout Egypt
A hoopoe
Bridge in Montaza Park at sunset
Alexandria is a traffic-clogged, difficult to maneauver in city. To get out of that and enjoy the peace and quiet and the Mediterranean Sea I stayed at the Halnan Palestine Hotel in the Mantaza Palace Gardens, it was worth every penny.