The city of Alexandria played the most important part in ancient history since it was linked with notable leaders such as Alexander the Great and Cleopatra, Ancient Egypt’s final active Pharaoh.
After being established by Alexander the Great himself in 332 BC to be the heart of Hellenistic civilization, the city was important for transferring Hellenic culture to the rest of the Mediterranean.
It was the capital of Egypt for almost a thousand years during the Ptolemaic, Roman, and Byzantine periods, until the Muslim invasion in 641 AD, when the city of Fustat became the official capital.
With a population of 3.5 million people and a land area of 2,679 km2, the city is also Egypt’s second-biggest metropolis after Cairo.
Alexandria, which stretches 32 kilometers along the Mediterranean Sea’s coast and is located 138 kilometers (114 miles) northwest of Cairo on the western border of the Nile Delta, has a pleasant temperature throughout the year, with hot, humid summers and wet winters.
It produces two-fifths of the country’s industrial output and serves as a showcase for art and beauty on a cultural level.
Because of the incredible quantity of monuments and levels of magnificence and attraction, Alexandria is a famous tourist destination.
During his visit to Amun Temple in Siwa in 331 BCE, Alexander the Great built it on a settlement called Racotis.
He commissioned Dinocrates, his principal architect, to construct a metropolis that would represent his vision and honor his memory.
The Legendary Lighthouse of Alexandria, also known as the Pharos of Alexandria, was erected under the Ptolemaic dynasty in 280 BC at a height of 120-137 m (394-449 ft), making it the second-highest structure behind the pyramids.
Unfortunately, it was destroyed by a series of earthquakes between 1303 and 1323 AD, and in 1477 AD, the formidable fortress of Quitbey was built on the same site using the lighthouse’s leftover blocks to safeguard the city from any foreign Naval invasion.
The city also has the fascinating Catacombs, which served as the ultimate resting place for a Greek Nobel family during the Greco-Roman period and are renowned for flawlessly mixing Greek and Egyptian art.
Alexandria was once known for housing a diverse ethnic population, including the world’s biggest Jewish community and the first Greek translation of the Hebrew sacred book.
The ancient library of Alexandria, which housed millions of scrolls and volumes on every subject imaginable, was a source of enlightenment and a hub for art and science throughout the Mediterranean.
It was built in the 3rd century BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty, during the reign of Ptolemy II between 285-246 BC, and was destroyed by fire in 48 BC. In 2002, a new library called Bibliotheca Alexandria was built to commemorate the original ancient library and keep the spirit of the original alive.
The Pillar of Pompey, which is the tallest structure of its kind outside of the imperial cities of Rome, shows the amount of prosperity and power experienced by Alexandria during the Roman administration.
The Serapeum of Alexandria is an ancient Greek temple built west of the Alexandria library by Ptolemy III Euergetes (246-222 BCE) during the Ptolemaic Kingdom to commemorate the Greco-Roman god Serapis.
The Mamluk and Fatimid dynasties spent most of their time in Cairo and settled on transforming Alexandria into a naval port and a shipping port. Additionally, there is the famous El-Mursi Abul Abbas Mosque, which is located near the Citadel of Qaitbay and was built in honor of the 13th century Murcian Andalusi Sufi saint Abul Abbas al-Mursi.
When Alexandria fell under Ottoman domination, it lost any sense of beauty, splendor, or elegance, but during Muhammad Ali’s reign in 1805, it recovered its lost attractiveness and became one of the world’s most appealing locations.
Check out our Egypt tour packages and book one of our Egypt tours to see Alexandria and some of the country’s most iconic attractions.
I never had a more positive experience and educational time than this tours. Learning about a variety of kings and queens was amazing! Tour guide was super nice and helped me and my friend every step of the way! Including bargaining for a few souvenirs! I will never forget this experience and the generosity of Egypts people and our guide! He is amazing and I highly recommend him for your tour guide!!
Egypt Fun Tours was contracted by our travel agency Lenka Travelers to arrange and guide us through parts of Eqypt and Jordon. They did a fabulous job. The hotels, restaurants, places we visited and transportation were the best. Our guide in Egypt, Mohammad was very knowable, spoke perfect English and made each stop we made interesting and alive. I’d recommend Egypt Fun Tour to anyone planning any tour in Egypt and or Jordan
We went on a full day trip to Wadi el Hitan and Wadi el Rayan with Mohamed (Hamada). Mohamed was a wonderful guide, always making sure we had plenty of water and enough to eat, and providing us with information about the area and Egypt more generally. He also gave us plenty of time to explore by ourselves. We would highly recommend Egypt Fun Tours and Mohamed.
we visited Cairo over a 15-hour layover. Egypt fun tours organize a customized and wonderful experience for us. We could not be happier. The day included a visit of all the great sites, the marketplace is, dinner and a boat ride on the Nile, and a host of other special request. I cannot recommend this company enough. In particular our tour guide Hosam Janel was a wonder, knowledgeable, kind, a great joy to be with. Ask for me!
We travelled to Cairo on Friday May 3, 2019 from Toronto. We landed at 0530 and was met by a representative of Fun Tours at the departure gate.
We were only on a layover of 6 hours and the tour company came with a private van, water, a driver and a guide. I was travelling with my husband and 12 year old daughter.
Our guide was Ahmed, he was excellent. Being a Friday in Egypt was good as it is a holiday and less traffic. They took us on a tour of old Cairo, we stopped for a falafel it was excellent.
Then to the Pyramids which open at 0730, was a good thing too as it was very warm by 0900. Ahmed took pictures of us and gave us a really great tour.
We went to the Bizarre right their for a few little gifts, post cards and we were on our way. We stopped at PHARAONIC PAPYRUS MUSEUM museum on the way back and bought a small picture after learning about the paper.
At about 10AM we were done, heat and an overnight flight wore heavily on my daughter and husband.
I highly recommend this tour group and Ahmed, they were quick at answering my husbands questions and the tour ran smoothly.
We also had no issues at the airport or while travelling.
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