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Alexandria City

Alexandria is known as the “Pearl of the Mediterranean.”

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.

Location of Alexandria City

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.

History and Attractions in Alexandria

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 City is well-known for

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.

Egypt is a great place to visit for vacations.

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.

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