Alexandria

Alexandria إسكندرية Eskendereyya Ⲣⲁⲕⲟⲧⲉ Rakote
Alexandria in winter
Nickname(s): Pearl of the Mediterranean
Alexandria Location in Egypt
Coordinates: 31°12′N 29°55′E / 31.2°N 29.917°E / 31.2; 29.917
Country	Egypt
Governates	Alexandria Governorate
Founded	332 BC
Government
- Governor	Adel Labib
Area
- Total	1,034.4 sq mi (2,679 km2)
Population (2006)
- Total	4,110,015
	CAPMS 2006 Census
Time zone	EST (UTC+2)
- Summer (DST)	+3 (UTC)
Area code(s)	++3
Website	Official website

Alexandria during summer.

Alexandria (Arabic: الإسكندرية al-Iskandariyya; Coptic: Ⲣⲁⲕⲟⲧⲉ Rakotə; Greek: Ἀλεξάνδρεια; Egyptian Arabic: اسكندريه Eskendereyya), with a population of 4.1 million, is the second-largest city in Egypt, and is the country's largest seaport, serving about 80% of Egypt's imports and exports. Alexandria is also an important tourist resort.

Alexandria extends about 32 km (20 mi) along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in north-central Egypt. It is home to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (the new Library), and is an important industrial center because of its natural gas and oil pipelines from Suez, another city in Egypt. Alexandria was also an important trading post between Europe and Asia, because it profited from the easy overland connection between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.

In ancient times, Alexandria was one of the most famous cities in the world. It was founded around a small pharaonic town c. 331 BC by Alexander the Great. It remained Egypt's capital for nearly a thousand years, until the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 641 AD when a new capital was founded at Fustat (Fustat was later absorbed into Cairo).

Alexandria was known because of its lighthouse (Pharos), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World; its library (the largest library in the ancient world); and the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa, one of the Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages. Ongoing maritime archaeology in the harbor of Alexandria, which began in 1994, is revealing details of Alexandria both before the arrival of Alexander, when a city named Rhacotis existed there, and during the Ptolemaic dynasty.

History

Raqd.t (Alexandria) in hieroglyphs

Alexandria, sphinx made of pink granite, Ptolemaic.

An ancient Roman amphitheatre in Alexandria

Alexandria at sunset.

Alexandria was founded by Alexander in April 331 BC as Ἀλεξάνδρεια (Alexándreia). Alexander's chief architect for the project was Dinocrates. Alexandria was intended to supersede Naucratis as a Hellenistic center in Egypt, and to be the link between Greece and the rich Nile Valley. An Egyptian city, Rhakotis, already existed on the shore, and later gave its name to Alexandria in the Egyptian language (Egypt. Ra'qedyet). It continued to exist as the Egyptian quarter of the city. A few months after the foundation, Alexander left Egypt for the East and never returned to his city. After Alexander departed, his viceroy, Cleomenes, continued the expansion. Following a struggle with the other successors of Alexander, his general Ptolemy succeeded in bringing Alexander's body to Alexandria.

Though Cleomenes was mainly in charge of seeing to Alexandria's continuous development, the Heptastadion and the mainland quarters seem to have been primarily Ptolemaic work. Inheriting the trade of ruined Tyre and becoming the center of the new commerce between Europe and the Arabian and Indian East, the city grew in less than a generation to be larger than Carthage. In a century, Alexandria had become the largest city in the world and for some centuries more, was second only to Rome. It became the main Greek city of Egypt, with an extraordinary mix of Greeks from many cities and backgrounds.^[1]

Alexandria was not only a center of Hellenism but was also home to the largest Jewish community in the world. The Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, was produced there. The early Ptolemies kept it in order and fostered the development of its museum into the leading Hellenistic center of learning (Library of Alexandria) but were careful to maintain the distinction of its population's three largest ethnicities: Greek, Jewish, and Egyptian.^[2] From this division arose much of the later turbulence, which began to manifest itself under Ptolemy Philopater who reigned from 221–204 BC. The reign of Ptolemy VIII Physcon from 144–116 BC was marked by purges and civil warfare.

The city passed formally under Roman jurisdiction in 80 BC, according to the will of Ptolemy Alexander but only after it had been under Roman influence for more than a hundred years. It was captured by Julius Caesar in 47 BC during a Roman intervention in the domestic civil war between king Ptolemy XIII and his advisors, and usurper queen Cleopatra VII. It was finally captured by Octavian, future emperor Augustus on August 1, 30 BC, with the name of the month later being changed to august to commemorate his victory.
In 115 AD, vast parts of Alexandria were destroyed during the Greek-Jewish civil wars which gave Hadrian and his architect, Decriannus, an opportunity to rebuild it. In 215 AD the emperor Caracalla visited the city and, because of some insulting satires that the inhabitants had directed at him, abruptly commanded his troops to put to death all youths capable of bearing arms. On 21 July 365, Alexandria was devastated by a tsunami (365 Crete earthquake),^[3] an event two hundred years later still annually commemorated as "day of horror".^[4] In the late 4th century, persecution of pagans by newly Christian Romans had reached new levels of intensity. In 391, the Patriarch Theophilus destroyed all pagan temples in Alexandria under orders from Emperor Theodosius I. The Brucheum and Jewish quarters were desolate in the 5th century. On the mainland, life seemed to have centered in the vicinity of the Serapeum and Caesareum, both which became Christian churches. The Pharos and Heptastadium quarters, however, remained populous and were left intact.

Alexandria: bombardment from British naval forces.

In 619, Alexandria fell to the Sassanid Persians. Although the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius recovered it in 629, in 641 the Arabs under the general Amr ibn al-As, captured it after a siege that lasted fourteen months. Alexandria figured prominently in the military operations of Napoleon's expedition to Egypt in 1798. French troops stormed the city on July 2, 1798 and it remained in their hands until the arrival of the British expedition in 1801. The British won a considerable victory over the French at the Battle of Alexandria on March 21, 1801, following which they besieged the city which fell to them on 2 September 1801. Mohammed Ali, the Ottoman Governor of Egypt, began rebuilding the city around 1810, and by 1850, Alexandria had returned to something akin to its former glory. In July 1882 the city came under bombardment from British naval forces and was occupied. In July 1954, the city was a target of an Israeli bombing campaign that later became known as the Lavon Affair. Only a few months later, Alexandria's Mansheyya Square was the site of a failed assassination attempt on Gamal Abdel Nasser.

The most important battles and sieges of Alexandria include:

• Siege of Alexandria (47 BC), Caesar's civil war
• Battle of Alexandria (30 BC), Final War of the Roman Republic
• Siege of Alexandria (619), Byzantine-Persian Wars
• Battle of Alexandria, French Revolutionary Wars
• Siege of Alexandria (1801), French Revolutionary Wars
• Alexandria expedition of 1807, French Revolutionary Wars

Geography

Climate

Alexandria has an semi arid Mediterranean climate / Subtropical characterized by mild, variably rainy winters and hot, dry summers. January and February are the coolest months with daily maximum temperatures typically ranging from 12°C (53°F) to 18°C (64°F). Alexandria experiences violent storms, rain and sometimes hail during the cooler months. July and August are the hottest and most humid months of the year with an average daily maximum temperature of 30°C (87°F). Autumn and spring are the ideal seasons to visit Alexandria, with temperatures averaging about 22°C (71°F).

Alexandria from space, March 1990

Layout of the ancient city

Greek Alexandria was divided into three regions:

Brucheum

the Royal or Greek quarter, forming the most magnificent portion of the city. In Roman times Brucheum was enlarged by the addition of an official quarter, making four regions in all. The city was laid out as a grid of parallel streets, each of which had an attendant subterranean canal;

The Jewish quarter

forming the northeast portion of the city;

Rhakotis

The old city of Rhakotis that had been absorbed into Alexandria. It was occupied chiefly by Egyptians. (from Coptic Rakotə "Alexandria").

Two main streets, lined with colonnades and said to have been each about 60 metres (200 feet) wide, intersected in the center of the city, close to the point where the Sema (or Soma) of Alexander (his Mausoleum) rose. This point is very near the present mosque of Nebi Daniel; and the line of the great East–West "Canopic" street, only slightly diverged from that of the modern Boulevard de Rosette (now Sharia Fouad). Traces of its pavement and canal have been found near the Rosetta Gate, but remnants of streets and canals were exposed in 1899 by German excavators outside the east fortifications, which lie well within the area of the ancient city.

Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Alexandria consisted originally of little more than the island of Pharos, which was joined to the mainland by a mole nearly a mile long (1260 m) and called the Heptastadion ("seven stadia" — a stadium was a Greek unit of length measuring approximately 180 m). The end of this abutted on the land at the head of the present Grand Square, where the "Moon Gate" rose. All that now lies between that point and the modern "Ras al-Tiin" quarter is built on the silt which gradually widened and obliterated this mole. The "Ras al-Tiin" quarter represents all that is left of the island of Pharos, the site of the actual lighthouse having been weathered away by the sea. On the east of the mole was the Great Harbor, now an open bay; on the west lay the port of Eunostos, with its inner basin Kibotos, now vastly enlarged to form the modern harbor.

In Strabo's time, (latter half of 1st century BC) the principal buildings were as follows, enumerated as they were to be seen from a ship entering the Great Harbor.

1. The Royal Palaces, filling the northeast angle of the town and occupying the promontory of Lochias, which shut in the Great Harbor on the east. Lochias (the modern Pharillon) has almost entirely disappeared into the sea, together with the palaces, the "Private Port," and the island of Antirrhodus. There has been a land subsidence here, as throughout the northeast coast of Africa.
2. The Great Theater, on the modern Hospital Hill near the Ramleh station. This was used by Caesar as a fortress, where he withstood a siege from the city mob after the battle of Pharsalus
3. The Poseidon, or Temple of the Sea God, close to the Theatre
4. The Timonium built by Marc Antony
5. The Emporium (Exchange)
6. The Apostases (Magazines)
7. The Navalia (Docks), lying west of the Timonium, along the seafront as far as the mole
8. Behind the Emporium rose the Great Caesareum, by which stood the two great obelisks, which become known as “Cleopatra's Needles”, and were transported to New York City and London. This temple became, in time, the Patriarchal Church, though some ancient remains of the temple have been discovered. The actual Caesareum, the parts not eroded by the waves, lies under the houses lining the new seawall.
9. The Gymnasium and the Palaestra are both inland, near the Boulevard de Rosette in the eastern half of the town; sites unknown.
10. The Temple of Saturn; site unknown.
11. The Mausolea of Alexander (Soma) and the Ptolemies in one ring-fence, near the point of intersection of the two main streets.
12. The Musaeum with its famous Library and theater in the same region; site unknown.
13. The Serapeum, the most famous of all Alexandrian temples. Strabo tells us that this stood in the west of the city; and recent discoveries go far as to place it near “Pompey's Pillar” which was an independent monument erected to commemorate Diocletian's siege of the city.

Location of Alexandria on the map of Egypt

The names of a few other public buildings on the mainland are known, but there is little information as to their actual position. None, however, are as famous as the building that stood on the eastern point of Pharos island. There, the The Great Lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, reputed to be 138 meters (450 ft) high, was sited. The first Ptolemy began the project, and the second Ptolemy completed it, at a total cost of 800 talents. It took 12 years to complete and served as a prototype for all later lighthouses in the world. The light was produced by a furnace at the top and the tower was built mostly with solid blocks of limestone. The Pharos lighthouse was destroyed by an earthquake in the 14th century, making it the second longest surviving ancient wonder next to the Great Pyramid of Giza. A temple of Hephaestus also stood on Pharos at the head of the mole.

In the first century, the population of Alexandria contained over 180,000 adult male citizens (from a papyrus dated 32 CE), in addition to a large number of freedmen, women, children, and slaves. Estimates of the total population range from 500,000 to over 1,000,000, making it one of the largest cities ever built before the Industrial Revolution and the largest pre-industrial city that was not an imperial capital.

Ancient remains

Pompey's Pillar

Very little of the ancient city has survived into the present day. Much of the royal and civic quarters sank beneath the harbor due to earthquake subsidence, and the rest has been built over in modern times.

"Pompey's Pillar" is the best-known ancient monument still standing today. It is located on Alexandria's ancient acropolis — a modest hill located adjacent to the city's Arab cemetery — and was originally part of a temple colonnade. Including its pedestal, it is 30 m (99 ft) high; the shaft is of polished red granite, 2.7 meters in diameter at the base, tapering to 2.4 meters at the top. The shaft is 88 feet high made out of a single piece of granite. This would be 132 cubic meters or approximately 396 tons.^[6][7] Pompey's Pillar may have been erected using the same methods that were used to erect the ancient obelisks. The Romans had cranes but they weren't strong enough to lift something this heavy. Roger Hopkins and Mark Lehrner conducted several obelisk erecting experiments including a successful attempt to erect a 25 ton obelisk in 1999. This followed two experiments to erect smaller obelisks and two failed attempts to erect a 25 ton obelisk.^[8][9] The structure was plundered and demolished in the 4th century when a bishop decreed that Paganism must be eradicated. "Pompey's Pillar" is a misnomer, as it has nothing to do with Pompey, having been erected in 293 for Diocletian, possibly in memory of the rebellion of Domitius Domitianus. Beneath the acropolis itself are the subterranean remains of the Serapeum, where the mysteries of the god Serapis were enacted, and whose carved wall niches are believed to have provided overflow storage space for the ancient Library.

Alexandria's catacombs, known as Kom al-Soqqafa, are a short distance southwest of the pillar, consist of a multi-level labyrinth, reached via a large spiral staircase, and featuring dozens of chambers adorned with sculpted pillars, statues, and other syncretic Romano-Egyptian religious symbols, burial niches and sarcophagi, as well as a large Roman-style banquet room, where memorial meals were conducted by relatives of the deceased. The catacombs were long forgotten by the citizens until they were discovered by accident in the 1800s.

The most extensive ancient excavation currently being conducted in Alexandria is known as Kom al-Dikka, and it has revealed the ancient city's well-preserved theater, and the remains of its Roman-era baths.

Antiquities

Persistent efforts have been made to explore the antiquities of Alexandria. Encouragement and help have been given by the local Archaeological Society, and by many individuals, notably Greeks proud of a city which is one of the glories of their national history.

The past and present directors of the museum have been enabled from time to time to carry out systematic excavations whenever opportunity is offered; D. G. Hogarth made tentative researches on behalf of the Egypt Exploration Fund and the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies in 1895; and a German expedition worked for two years (1898–1899). But two difficulties face the would-be excavator in Alexandria: lack of space for excavation and the underwater location of some areas of interest.

Since the great and growing modern city stands immediately over the ancient one, it is almost impossible to find any considerable space in which to dig, except at enormous cost. Also, the general subsidence of the coast has submerged the lower-lying parts of the ancient town under water. This underwater section, containing many of the most interesting sections of the Hellenistic city, including the palace quarter, is still being extensively investigated by the French underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio and his team.^[10] It raised a noted head of Caesarion. These are being opened up to tourists, to some controversy.^[11] The spaces that are most open are the low grounds to northeast and southwest, where it is practically impossible to get below the Roman strata.

The most important results were those achieved by Dr. G. Botti, late director of the museum, in the neighborhood of “Pompey's Pillar”, where there is a good deal of open ground. Here substructures of a large building or group of buildings have been exposed, which are perhaps part of the Serapeum. Nearby, immense catacombs and columbaria have been opened which may have been appendages of the temple. These contain one very remarkable vault with curious painted reliefs, now artificially lit and open to visitors.

The objects found in these researches are in the museum, the most notable being a great basalt bull, probably once an object of cult in the Serapeum. Other catacombs and tombs have been opened in Kom al-Shoqqafa (Roman) and Ras al-Tiin (painted).

The German excavation team found remains of a Ptolemaic colonnade and streets in the north-east of the city, but little else. Hogarth explored part of an immense brick structure under the mound of Kom al-Dikka, which may have been part of the Paneum, the Mausolea, or a Roman fortress.

The making of the new foreshore led to the dredging up of remains of the Patriarchal Church; and the foundations of modern buildings are seldom laid without some objects of antiquity being discovered. The wealth underground is doubtlessly immense; but despite all efforts, there is not much for antiquarians to see in Alexandria outside the museum and the neighborhood of “Pompey's Pillar”. The native tomb-robbers, well-sinkers, dredgers, and the like, however, come upon valuable objects from time to time, most of which find their way into private collections.

Modern city

Alexandria at night

Districts

Modern Alexandria is divided into six districts:

• al-Montaza District: population 1,190,287
• Sharak (Eastern Alexandria District: population 985,786
• Wassat (Middle Alexandria) District: population 520,450
• al-Amriya District: population 845,845
• Agamy (Western Alexandria) District: population 386,374
• al-Gomrok District: population 145,558

There are also two cities under the jurisdiction of the Alexandria governorate forming metropolitan Alexandria:

• Borg Al-Arab city: population 186,900
• New Borg Al-Arab city: population 7,600

Neighbourhoods

Statue of Alexander the Great riding Bucephalus and carrying the Angel of Peace facing the entrance to the Greek corner of Alexandria and the Ancient Kom el Dekka neighbourhood

Agami, Amreya, Anfoushi, Assafra, Attarine, Azarita (aka Mazarita; originally Lazarette), Bab Sidra, Bahari, Bacchus, Bolkly (Bokla), Burg el-Arab, Camp Shezar, Cleopatra, Dekheila, Downtown, Eastern Harbour, Fleming, Gabbari (aka: Qabbari, Qubbary, Kabbary), Gianaclis, Glym (short for Glymenopoulos), Gumrok (aka al-Gomrok), Hadara, Ibrahimeya, King Mariout, Kafr Abdu, Karmous, also known as Karmouz, Kom el-Dik (aka Kom el-Dekka), Labban, Laurent, Louran, Maamoura Beach, Maamoura, Mafrouza, Mandara, Manshiyya, Mex, Miami, Montaza, Muharram Bey, Mustafa Kamel, Ramleh (aka el-Raml), Ras el-Tin, Rushdy, Saba Pasha , San Stefano, Shatby, Schutz, Sidi Bishr, Sidi Gaber, Smouha, Sporting, Stanley, Syouf, Tharwat, Victoria, Wardeyan, Western Harbour and Zizinia.

Squares

• (Ahmed) Orabi Square(Mansheya Square), in Downtown
• Saad Zaghlul Square, in Downtown
• Tahrir Square (formerly Mohammed Ali Square, originally Place des Consuls), in Downtown
• Ahmed Zewail Square, near Wabour El Mayah

Palaces

Stanley Bridge at sunset

• Montaza Palace, in Montaza
• Ras el-Tin Palace, in Ras el-Tin
• Presidential Palace, in Maamoura

Recreational

Alexandria Unknown Soldier Monument

• Montaza Royal Gardens
• Antoniades Park
• Shallalat Gardens
• Alexandria Zoo
• Green Plaza
• Fantazy Land
• Maamoura Beach, Alexandria
• Marina Village

Religion

Christianity

Latin Catholic church of Saint Catherine in Mansheya.

After Rome, Alexandria was considered the major seat of Christianity in the world. The Pope of Alexandria was the second among equals, second only to the bishop of Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire until 430. The Church of Alexandria had jurisdiction over the entire continent of Africa. After the Council of Chalcedon in 451 A.D., the Church of Alexandria was split between the Miaphysites and the Melkites. The Miaphysites went on to constitute what is known today as the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. The Melkites went on the constitute what is known today as the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria. In the 19th century, Catholic and Protestant missionaries converted some of the adherents of the Orthodox churches to their respective faiths.

Today, the patriarchal seat of the Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church is Saint Mark Cathedral in Ramleh. The most important Coptic Orthodox churches in Alexandria include Pope Cyril I Church in Cleopatra, Saint Georges Church in Sporting, Saint Mark & Pope Peter I Church in Sidi Bishr, Saint Mary Church in Assafra, Saint Mary Church in Gianaclis, Saint Mina Church in Fleming, Saint Mina Church in Mandara, and Saint Tekle Haymanot Church in Ibrahimeya.

The most important Greek Orthodox churches in Alexandria are Saint Anargyri Church, Church of the Annunciation, Saint Anthony Church, Archangels Gabriel & Michael Church, Saint Catherine Church, Cathedral of the Dormition in Mansheya, Church of the Dormition, Prophet Elijah Church, Saint Georges Church, Church of the Immaculate Conception in Ibrahemeya, Saint Joseph Church in Fleming, Saint Joseph of Arimathea Church, Saint Mark & Saint Nectarios Chapel in Ramleh, Saint Nicholas Church, Saint Paraskevi Church, Saint Sava Cathedral in Ramleh, and Saint Theodore Chapel. In communion with the Greek Orthodox Church is the Russian Orthodox church of Saint Alexander Nevsky in Alexandria, which serves the Russian speaking community in the city.

Churches that follow the Latin Catholic rite include Saint Catherine Church in Mansheya and Church of the Jesuits in Cleopatra.

The Saint Mark Church in Shatby, found as part of Collège Saint Marc is multi-denominational and hold liturgies according to Latin Catholic, Coptic Catholic and Coptic Orthodox rites.

Islam

Most of the citizens of Alexandria adhere to the religion of Islam. The most famous mosque in Alexandria is Abu el-Abbas el-Mursi Mosque in Anfoushi. Other notable mosques in the city include Ali ibn Abi Talib mosque in Somouha, Bilal mosque, El-Gamee el-Bahari in Mandara, Hatem mosque in Somouha, Hoda el-Islam mosque in Sidi Bishr, El-Mowasah mosque in Hadara, Sharq el-Madina mosque in Miami, El-Shohadaa mosque in Mostafa Kamel, Qaed Ibrahim mosque, Yehia mosque in Zizinya, Sidi Gaber mosque in Sidi Gaber, and Sultan mosque.

Judaism

Alexandria's once very flourishing Jewish community is now almost extinct after Nasser expelled them from Egypt. The most important synagogue in Alexandria is the Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue.

Education

Collège Saint Marc

Colleges and universities

Alexandria comprises a number of higher education institutions. Alexandria University is a public university that follows the Egyptian system of higher education. Many of its faculties are internationally renowned, most importantly its faculty of engineering. In addition, the Arab Academy for Science and Technology and Maritime Transport is a semi-private educational institution that offers courses o both high school and undergraduate level students. Université Senghor is a private French university that focuses on the teaching of humanities, politics and international relations, and which mainly targets students from the African continent. Other institutions of higher education in Alexandria include Alexandria Institute of Technology (AIT) and Pharos University in Alexandria.

Schools

Institution Sainte Jeanne-Antide

Lycée Al-Horreya, Alexandria

Alexandria has a very long history of foreign educational institutions. The first foreign schools date to the early 19th century, when French missionaries began establishing French charitable schools to educate the Egyptians. Today, the most important French schools in Alexandria run by Catholic missionaries include Collège de la Mère de Dieu, Collège Notre Dame de Sion, Collège Saint Marc, Ecoles des Soeurs Franciscaines (4 different schools), Ecole Gérard, Ecole Saint Gabriel, Ecole Saint-Vincent de Paul, Ecole Sainte Catherine, and Institution Sainte Jeanne-Antide. As a reaction to the establishment of French religious institutions, a secular (laic) mission established Lycée el-Horreya, which initially followed a French system of education, but is currently a public school run by the Egyptian government. The only school in Alexandria that completely follows the French educational system is Ecole Champollion. It is usually frequented by the children of French expatriates and diplomats in Alexandria.

English schools in Alexandria are fewer in number and more recently established, in comparison with the French schools. The most important English language schools in the city include Alexandria American School, British School of Alexandria, Egyptian American School, Modern American School, Sacred Heart Girls' School (SHS), Schutz American School, Victoria College, Kaumeya Language School (KLS) ,El Nasr Boys' School (EBS), and El Nasr Girls' College (EGC). Most of these schools have been nationalized during the era of Nasser, and are currently Egyptian public schools run by the Egyptian ministry of education.

The only German school in Alexandria is the Deutsche Schule der Borromärinnen (DSB of Saint Charles Borromé).

The most notable public schools in Alexandria include Gamal Abdel Nasser High School and Manar English Girls School.

Transport

Alexandria tram

Inside Misr Station

Airports

Alexandria is served by the nearby Alexandria International Airport, located 7 km to the southeast. Another airport serves Alexandria named Borg al Arab Airport located about 25 km away from city center. This airport has been in use since about 2003. It was a military airport before that, and until now there is a military section there.^[12]

Highways

• The International coastal road. (Alexandria - Port Said)
• The Desert road. (Alexandria - Cairo /220 km 6-8 lanes, mostly lit)
• The Agricultural road. (Alexandria - Cairo)
• The Circular road. the turnpike
• Ta'ameer Road "Mehwar El-Ta'ameer" - (Alexandria - North Coast)

Train

Extends from "Misr Station"; the main railway station in Alexandria, to Abu Qir.

Railway stations include:

• Misr Station (the main station)
• Sidi Gaber Station

Tram

An extensive tramway network was built in 1860 and is the oldest in Africa.

Other means of public transport

Double decker bus

Buses and minibuses.

Port

The port is divided into:

• The Eastern Harbour
• The Western Harbour

Culture

Libraries

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina,as seen from behind a Statue of Poseidon making Love to Athena

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina, a modern project based on reviving the ancient Library of Alexandria.

The Royal Library of Alexandria in Alexandria, Egypt, was once the largest library in the world. It is generally thought to have been founded at the beginning of the 3rd century BC, during the reign of Ptolemy II of Egypt. It was likely created after his father had built what would become the first part of the Library complex, the temple of the Muses — the Museion, Greek Μουσείον (from which the modern English word museum is derived).

It has been reasonably established that the Library, or parts of the collection, were destroyed by fire on a number of occasions (library fires were common and replacement of handwritten manuscripts was very difficult, expensive, and time-consuming). To this day the details of the destruction (or destructions) remain a lively source of controversy. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina was inaugurated in 2003 near the site of the old Library.

Museums

• Alexandria Aquarium

The Alexandria National Museum

• The Graeco-Roman Museum
• The Royal Jewelry Museum
• The Museum of Fine Arts
• The Cavafy museum
• The Alexandria National Museum was inaugurated the 31st of December, 2003 by Hosni Mubarak and it's located in a restored Italian style palace in Tariq Al-Horreya Street (former Rue Fouad), near the center of the city.. It contains about 1.800 artifacts that narrate the story of Alexandria and Egypt. Most of these pieces came from another Egyptian museums.

The museum is housed in the old Al-Saad Bassili Pasha Palace, who was one of the wealthiest wood merchants in Alexandria. Construction on the site was first undertaken in 1926.

Related words

• al-Iskandareyya(h) (الإسكندرية) (noun) (formal): Refers to the city of "Alexandria", used in formal texts and speech. Its Egyptian Arabic equivalent is Eskenderreya or Iskindereyya(h). Iskandariyya(h) and Eskendereyya(h) are different in pronunciation, though they have the same spelling when written in Arabic. In Literary Arabic, Iskandariyya(h) always takes the definite article al-, whereas in Egyptian Arabic, Eskendereyya(h) never takes al-. The optional h at the end of both of them is called a ta' marbuta which is not usually pronounced, but is always written.

• "Alex" (noun): Natives of both Alexandria and Cairo who have a certain knowledge of English refer to Alexandria as "Alex", especially informally.

• Eskandarany (اسكندراني) (adjective): Means 'native Alexandrian' (masc.) or 'from Alexandria' in Egyptian Arabic.

Sports

Alexandria Stadium

A group of cyclists in Alexandria

The main sport that interests Alexandrians is football, as is the case in the rest of Egypt and Africa. Alexandria Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Alexandria, Egypt. It is currently used mostly for football matches, and was used for the 2006 African Cup of Nations. The stadium is the oldest stadium in Egypt and Africa, being built in 1929. The stadium holds 20,000 people. Alexandria was one of three cities that participated in hosting the African Cup of Nations in January 2006, which Egypt won. Sea sports such as surfing, jet-skiing and water polo are practised on a lower scale.

Alexandria has four stadiums:

• Borg El Arab Stadium
• Harras El-Hedoud Stadium
• Alexandria Stadium
• El-Krom Stadium

Other less popular sports like tennis and squash are usually played in private social and sports clubs, like:

• Alexandria Sporting Club - in "Sporting"
• Alexandria Country club
• El-Ittihad El-Iskandary Club
• El-Olympi Club
• Koroum Club
• Haras El Hodood Club
• Lagoon Resort Courts
• Smouha Club - in "Smouha"

Alexandria Cycling Carnival

There is also the Alexandria weekly cycling carnival, Organized by Cycle Egypt group, which is held every Friday, Cycling amateurs gather every Friday morning to cycle through El Courniche from El Montazah to El Qalaa.

Writings

• Novels
  • The Alexandria Semaphore by Robert Sole.
  • Academic Year (1955, set in late 1940s) by D.J. Enright.
  • The Alexandria Quartet (1957-60, set in 1930s) by Lawrence Durrell.
  • The Bat (part of the Drifting Cities trilogy) (1965, set in 1943-44) by Stratis Tsirkas.
  • Miramar (1967) by Naguib Mahfouz.
  • The Danger Tree (1977, set in 1942, partly in Alexandria) by Olivia Manning.
  • The Beacon at Alexandria (1986, set in 4th century) by Gillian Bradshaw.
  • City of Saffron (tr. 1989, set in 1930s) by Edwar Al-Kharrat.
  • Girls of Alexandria (tr. 1993, set in 1930s and '40s) by Edwar Al-Kharrat.
  • The Book on Fire (2009, urban fantasy) by Keith Miller.
  • No One Sleeps in Alexandria (1996, set during World War II) by Ibrahim Abdel Meguid.
  • Pashazade (2001) alternate history by Jon Courtenay Grimwood.
  • The Alexander Cipher (2007) by Will Adams.
  • Flow Down Like Silver, Hypatia of Alexandria (2009) by Ki Longfellow.

• History
  • Alexandria: A History and a Guide (1922; numerous reprints) by E.M. Forster.
  • Alexandria: City of Memory (Yale University Press, 2004) by Michael Haag.
  • Vintage Alexandria: Photographs of the City 1860-1960 (The American University in Cairo Press, 2008) by Michael Haag.

• Memoirs
  • Out of Egypt (1994; describes family history in Alexandria) by André Aciman.

Songs

• Songs in French:
  • Alexandrie by Georges Moustaki.
  • Alexandrie, Alexandra by Claude François.
• Songs in Greek:
  • Alexandrinos by Yannis Kotsiras.
• Songs in Arabic:
  • Shat Eskendereya by Fairouz.
  • Ahsan Nas by Dalida.
  • Leil Eskendereya by Moustafa Amar.
  • Ya Wad Ya Eskandarany by Moustafa Amar.
  • Ya Eskendereya by Mohamed Mounir (lyrics by Ahmed Fouad Negm).
• Songs in English:
  • Alexandria by Kamelot
• Songs in different languages:
  • Ya Mustafa reproduced Dario Moreno, Bob Azzam and many others - lyrics in Arabic, French and Italian

Tourism

Alexandria is a main summer resort in the Middle East, visited by people from all other cities to enjoy the sun and the sea. Beaches become full of umbrellas and families and the city is usually crowded in summer. There are both public beaches (which anyone can use for free, and are usually crowded) and private beaches (which can be used upon paying a small fee). There are also private beaches that are dedicated only to the guests of some hotels.

Notable people

• Ahmed Ramzy (Egyptian Actor)
• Ahmed Nazif (Egyptian Prime Minister)
• Ahmed Zewail- Winner of Nobel prize in chemistry
• Alypius (4th century BC) Greek writer on music
• Alexander Iolas (1907-1987) Greek art collector
• André Aciman (American writer)
• Antonis Benakis (1873-1954) Greek art collector
• Apollos (1st century, Acts 8:24) Early Christian Evangelist
• Arius (4th century) who sparked the Arian controversy
• Pope Athanasius the Apostolic (Champion of Christianity)
• Chaeremon of Alexandria (Stoic philosopher and grammarian)
• Claudius Ptolemaus - Soter (Egyptian Ruler) Started Ptolemaic Dynasty
• Cleopatra VII (Egyptian Ruler)
• Constantine P. Cavafy (1863-1933) Greek poet
• Cosmas Indicopleustes (6th century) Greek monk, geographer and writer
• Demis Roussos (Greek singer)
• Eric Hobsbawm (British historian)
• Euclid (Mathematician)
• Farida of Egypt (Former Queen of Egypt)
• Farouk Hosny (Egyptian Minister of Culture)
• Princess Fawzia (Egyptian princess)
• Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (Italian poet and artist)
• Georges Moustaki (Greek-French singer and composer)
• Gideon Gechtman (Israeli sculptor)
• Giuseppe Ungaretti (Italian poet)
• Haim Saban (American billionaire)
• Hend Rostom (Egyptian actress)
• Hypatia (4th-5th century AD) Greek philosopher
• Jean Desses (1904-1970) Greek fashion designer
• Konstantinos Parthenis (1878-1967) (Greek painter)
• Bayram Al-Tunsi (Egyptian poet)
• Mohamed Al Fayed (Egyptian businessman)
• Moustafa Amar (Egyptian singer)
• Nikos Tsiforos (Greek screenwriter and film director)
• Origen (Greek Christian Scholar)
• Omar Sharif (Egyptian actor)
• Pappus (4th century AD) Hellenized Egyptian Mathematician
• Penelope Delta (1874-1941) Greek author
• Rudolf Hess (German deputy fuhrer of the Nazi Party)
• Sayed Darwish (Egyptian music composer)
• Tawfiq al-Hakeem (Egyptian writer)
• Youssef Chahine (Egyptian film director)

Twin towns — sister cities

Alexandria is twinned with

• Bratislava in Slovakia^[13]
• Odessa in Ukraine
• Cleveland in United States
• Constanţa in Romania
• Kazanlak in Bulgaria
• Durban in South Africa
• St. Petersburg in Russia
• Shanghai in China
• Baltimore in United States^[14]

See also

• Alexandria Governorate
• Governorates of Egypt
• List of megalithic sites

Notes

• "Alexandria: City of Memory" by Michael Haag (London and New Haven, 2004). A social, political and literary portrait of cosmopolitan Alexandria during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
• Victor W. Von Hagen. The Roads that led to Rome The World Publishing Company, Cleveland and New York. 1967.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alexandria

• Official website
• Alexandria travel guide from Wikitravel
• Cairo and Alexandria guidebook from Wikitravel Press
• Expatriates in Alexandria
• British Council's Lawrence Durrell Celebration in Alexandria
• Richard Stillwell, ed. Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, 1976: “Alexandria, Egypt”
• Hidden Egyptian City Found Beneath Alexandria

Coordinates: 31°11′53″N 29°55′09″E / 31.198°N 29.9192°E / 31.198; 29.9192

• Alexandria in the First Century

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