28 October 2023

Alexandria Egypt - dream city for residents & tourists.

Alexandria was founded by Al­ex­­ander the Great (356-323 BC). It is Egypt’s sec­ond city and boasts a thriving port on its 32 ks coast­line along the Mediterranean Sea. Even with the high rise buildings and ind­us­t­ry, the sunset over the hor­izon is wonderful, breathing fresh air, watching fishing-boats pull into port and seeing seagulls fly over­head. The Corn­iche’s fam­ous Fish Market has been here for 200+ years with many port­r­aits of famous celebrities there, encour­aging visitors to join in. The seafood rest­aur­ants are ocean-to-table.

The Corniche

The Corniche waterfront promenade runs 20 km length. One of the most beautiful views of the city skyline can be found on a ship sail­ing around the harbour, and tourists can hire a small boat. Walking along the Corniche is most pop­ul­ar with lo­c­als at sunset: couples strolling, people serving cof­fee, fish­ermen looking for dinner, friends meeting for drinks. It is lively but ex­tremely safe.

A library was built in 246 BC, holding c400,000 scrolls at its peak. All the world’s scripted knowledge was held in this, the Great Library of Alex­andria. It was the largest and most fam­ous lib­rary in the world before it was destroyed in a great fire, after Jul­ius Caesar was bes­ieged! Caesar was captur­ed in 48 BC with his sold­iers setting fire to his ships. The fire sp­read to the city, sadly including the library.

The Old Library was a cultural learning centre for the arts and phil­os­ophy, paving the way forward for worldly ed­uc­at­ion in scripture, thought, mind and human existence - a pl­ace of un­derst­anding of people globally. Visit the Old Library of Alexandria now, but all that is left of this great learning centre are the storerooms under the extr­em­­ely dark ruins of the Serapeum. Recently Alexan­d­ria dec­id­ed to hon­our its ancient library by building a new one, Bibliot­h­eca. Opened in 2002, it’s the largest learning centre in the Middle East.

Modern Bibliotheca

The Citadel of Qaitbay is a 1480 castle fortress on the edge of the Med­it­erranean sea, a very important defence stronghold built during the rule of Sultan Al-Ashraf Qa’it Bay. Qaitbay citadel has an int­er­esting history that links it to the unique Lighthouse of Alex­andria, completed 270 BC. The Lighthouse was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It helped guide Nile River ships around the city’s busy harbour, until the Arab Conquest, and then nat­ur­al dis­asters (eg C11th ear­thquake) changed the lighthouse’s shape. They built a mos­que on the top of the lighthouse, but it too was destroyed.

Qaitbay Citadel was built on the exact site of Pharos Island Light­house, to protect Alexan­d­ria from crusaders who attacked by sea and to defend ag­ainst Turks in the Ottoman Emp­ire. Climb up the 4 fl­oors, each fl­oor having a great ocean view with waves cr­ash­ing on rocks and fisher­man claiming their catch. Be­yond the Cit­ad­el, on Pharos Island near the entrance, are very col­ourful murals us­i­ng recycled sea­shells made into mosaics, an art representing the city.

Royal Jewellery Museum
Daily News Egypt

The Royal Jewellery Museum is valuable, hosting the treasures of the last royal family of Egypt. Mohamed Ali Pasha Khedive Ismail hired skil­ful Egyptian & foreign artists to create the royal gold­en jewellery. After the Egyptian revolution (1952), the treasures were in government storage until a comm­it­tee established the Royal Jewellery Museum in the stunning C19th palace of Princess Fatema El Zahraa. An elegant foyer connects the two suites of the palace, featuring Eur­opean histor­ical scenes and legends.

mosaics

Some attractions like the Montazah Palace and Gardens, Pomp­ey’s Pill­ar and the Catacombs are more distant from the cen­tre of the city. The Catacombs of Kom El Shoq­afa started in C2nd AD. Apparently it was only in 1900 that a donkey-and-cart fell down a hole und­er­ground, lead­ing to the catacombs’ discovery! The name referred to the heaps of broken pot­tery found in a mix of Egypt­ian, Roman and Greek carving styles. It’s still an active dig, so descend the spiral staircase to see stat­ues, sarcophagus and murals carved out of the bedrock below.

Catacombs of Kom El Shoq­afa 

Pompey’s Pillar was originally built by the Romans as a victory col­umn, built in c300 AD to honour Emperor Dio­c­letian’s win over a city rev­olt. It was one of the largest ancient monoliths ever raised: 27 ms high. Alongside the column, see 2 Roman copies of the sphinx statue

Pompey’s Pillar

Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue
built 1850, renovated recently
 
Montazah Palace (1892), a resid­en­ce of the former royal family, was opened to the public after the 1952 Revolution. A historical text Montazah: The Royal Palaces and Gar­d­ens noted that c580 cabins were built on the property’s beaches i.e Aida, Nefertiti, Cleo­patra and Semiramis, near the water sports. Montazah Gardens cover 150 acres, full of palm-trees, is­l­ands, royal palaces, tower and lighthouses! The best part is walking to Tea Palace Island, an island linked by bridge with its restaurants and boat club.

The form­er Salamlek Palace (1892) was converted into a 5-star hotel with lux­ur­ious rooms a la royal family, with plush an­t­iques and chand­eliers. The beautiful Haramlek Palace has also been us­ed as an off­ic­ial guest house, joining the group of Egypt’s president­ial pal­aces. Then other entertainment facilities were added eg a casino.

Montazah Gardens and tower

Montazah Gardens and King Farouk Palace

After the Jan 2011 Revolution, several tourist facilities were estab­lished to serve park-goers, including integrated restaurants, chalets and cafés. In 2013, some cabin tenants on Aida and Cleopatra Bea­ch­­es failed to pay their rent so President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi ord­er­ed redevelopment of the area. He created a new tour­ist destination, and the historic cabins were demolished.

The Cecil Hotel (1929) is very fine, right in the middle of the Cor­niche. With a wide view of the Mediterranean, the hotel occ­up­ies Saad Zaghloul Square where Cleopatra’s Needle stood until being taken to London. The colonial facade of the post-WW1 era constantly welcomed famous guests eg Winston Churchill and Omar Sharif! Despite modern­is­ation, the hotel has stayed true to its roots eg its histor­ic­al bird­cage el­ev­ator! The massive rooms have high ceilings, and bal­con­ies with stun­ning views of the oc­ean, Corniche and Citadel of Qaitbay.

Mosque of Abu Abbas al Mursi

My son married into a family from French-speaking Alexandria who believed it was the most beautiful city in the universe. As wonderful as Melbourne was, after they arrived in 1957 their memories never faded. 



27 comments:

Jo-Anne's Ramblings said...

I have heard of Alexandria and knew it was founded by Alexander the Great but that is about the limit of my knowledge so thanks for this post I liked it

roentare said...

This is such a detailed descriptions of the places I have yet the courage to visit. The ancient history of it all is just incredible.

Mike@Bit About Britain said...

I'm similar to Jo-Anne. That was fascinating, Hels; you've made me want to jump on the next bus to Alexandria! Is that you in the photos?

Train Man said...

Eliahu Hanavi Synagogue is magnificent. I hope it is protected.

Margaret D said...

Interesting indeed, I enjoyed reading about about the area and the lovely buildings you have shown. What a beautiful drive that must be along by the sea.

jabblog said...

The Catacombs are interesting. What else is left to discover, I wonder, that will add to our knowledge?

Andrew said...

I wonder if the Rolls Royce Corniche took its name from Alexandria.
I was a great cereal packet reader as a child and one cereal packet educated me about the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World, one being the Alexandria lighthouse.
Otherwise, thanks for the education about Alexandria.

Hels said...

Jo-Anne

I thought my formal learning would end with school and university, but there is so much more to learn, isn't there? I don't mean in subjects I know nothing about (eg physics, astronomy, chemistry) but I subjects I like to think I know a lot about (eg history, literature, art). I am grateful to other bloggers for their information, and to the reading I have to do for my own blog :)

Hels said...

roentare

we need courage to travel in a lot of countries *nod*. I was very cautious about travelling in Greece during the military junta from 1967-74 or in Iran when Ayatollah Khomeini was the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 on. However I was happy in Egypt, as long as our group was always chaperoned by a qualified guide.

Has Egypt become dangerous again?

Hels said...

Train Man

Yes sir! The Eliyahu Hanavi synagogue, with gorgeous stained glass windows and impressive marble columns, was re-built in its current form in 1850, on top of the original medieval building. But the huge Jewish population had decreased such that by 1917, there were only 25,000 Jews in Alexandria. This was one of 12 synagogues in the city when Eliyahu Hanavi was built, but today it is the only extant synagogue.

If I can find a perfect photo, I will add it to the post.

Hels said...

Margaret

It is often suggested that the most romantic roads in the world travel along the coast in France and other countries along the Mediterranean - very long, dramatic views, fresh weather, thriving ports and beautiful beaches. Lucky Alexandrian citizens!

Hels said...

jabblog

The central spiral staircase goes down through several levels of the Catacombs, and visitors can see the intensive decoration on the walls of the tombs - a mixture of Greek, Roman and Egyptian iconography. Alexander's legacy remained!

I imagine there is still much to be learned about the carved figures, gods, Roman and Greek costumes, and Greek and Roman mythological figures.

Hels said...

Andrew

Italian-Egyptian architect Pietro Avoscani designed Alexandria's Corniche in 1870 so it is a relatively modern creation. It seems the Rolls Royce name came from the Grande Corniche, the touring road high above the Mediterranean between Nice and Monte Carlo. Very appropriate, I think.

Cereal packets can be correct :) The 7 wonders of the ancient world are normally seen as: Great Pyramid of Giza, Colossus of Rhodes, Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, Temple of Artemis, Statue of Zeus at Olympia and Hanging Gardens of Babylon, as well as the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

Parnassus said...

Hello Hels, The Alexandria library certainly conjures powerful "what-if" thoughts. In the 18th century, Harvard's library (even though it was not the same kind of master repository) similarly burned down, but a few books were miraculously saved by being out on loan. I wonder if even the tiniest vestiges of Alexandria's holdings remain. (I just read the interesting Wikipedia article, which suggests that the Alexandria library suffered a gradual decline, with a number of major "incidents."
.
The closest I ever came to Alexandria was in London when walking along the Embankment, I unexpectedly came across London's Cleopatra's Needle. Egypt is supposedly requesting repatriation of the obelisks--I certainly hope that never comes to pass, but I would support local conservation efforts.
--Jim

Hels said...

Parnassus

Countries can only claim their cultural items back if other countries stole or blackmailed the real owner. The Egyptians proudly presented Cleopatra's Needle to the British Government, to remember forever Lord Nelson's victory at the Battle of the Nile (1798) and Sir Ralph Abercromby's victory at the Battle of Alexandria (1801). Britain needing to protect and conserve the Needle is one thing; repatriation would totally be another.

Re the book treasures, noone will ever know. The majority of historians say some books survived the first destruction of the Old Library, but _nothing_ survived the Arab conquest of Egypt in 642 AD.

Jewellery Fan said...

Helen, remember I told you that the New Library is the most amazing library I have ever seen? But everyone knows that. What you may not know about is Alexandria's Royal Jewellery Museum. It is also amazing.

Fun60 said...

I have not visited Alexandria but would love to see some of those magnificent buildings.

hels said...

Jewellery Fan,
Thank you. Tonight I will add a photo of that stunning museum.

Hels said...

Fun60,
Of all the cities in the world to visit, we have to be alerted to gems like Alexandria via family and friends, travel magazine articles or history lectures.
Same with Salonika in Greece which I may not have found by myself.




diane b said...

It dioes sound like a beautiful city with an amazing ancient history. I have never been there so I enjoyed your tour.

Hels said...

diane

blogging is always great, but now readers are adding new sites that I didn't even include. This has been a great experience :)

Luiz Gomes said...

Parece uma cidade incrível e cheia de histórias. Obrigado pela excelente matéria.

Hels said...

Luiz

that is quite true. If you have an opportunity to travel, leave enough time to see your favourite sites. I normally stay for only 4 days in a city but Alexandria deserves a longer examination.

mem said...

Another place on my bucket list . I have met many Greeks who had to leave after the 1950s when the king was deposed . It seems that that was a period of great upheaval. So sad that so many cultures had to leave and for what ????

Hels said...

mem

that was so true!! and still is now probably. After the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, so many people had to flee to Australia and other countries. I would have eventually toured Budapest etc anyhow, but when my brother married into a Hungarian family, I put that beautiful city straight on my planned travel programme. My brother's inlaws were correct :)

Aailyah Adebayo said...

Embarking on an enchanting journey through Egypt was a mesmerizing experience! From the awe-inspiring Pyramids of Giza to the timeless allure of the Nile River, every moment felt like a step back in history. The expert guidance and seamless logistics provided by Ask Aladdin made this tour truly unforgettable. A perfect blend of ancient wonders and modern convenience!

Hels said...

Aailyah

As much as I do careful reading before travelling to Alexandria (or other places I am visiting for the first time), your recommendation of expert guidance is essential. Many thanks.