6 Top-Rated Attractions & Things to Do in Alexandria
Alexander the Great founded it. It was ruled by Queen Cleopatra. Famous names have called Alexandria’s early history and birth a calling card.
This was the Mediterranean’s most dazzling jewel of an city. It was home to the Great Library of Alexandria, and the magnificent Pharos Lighthouse – one of seven wonders of ancient history.
More recently, Alexandria was a bohemian tourist attraction from the late 19th century to the 1950s. It hosted a cast of poets, writers, and artists who called the city home.
Alexandria, which is a great place to visit in Egypt, has few historic monuments or things to do today, but Cairo and Luxor have many.
Plan your trip with our list of the top attractions and things to do in Alexandria.
1. Explore the Museums of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina
This modern reimagining of Alexandria’s Great Library is a favorite destination for Alexandria visitors.
The Bibliotheca Alexandria is a cultural center of Cairo and one of Egypt’s most iconic landmarks. It is home to one of the largest libraries in the world and many museums that focus on Alexandria’s heritage and history.
Its architecture centers around a huge sun disk that looms above the waterfront Corniche. Eight million volumes can be stored inside the library’s main reading room and the massive main library.
The main tourist attraction for visitors is the beautifully curated exhibit spaces located below the main library.
2. Stroll the Corniche
The wide waterfront Corniche Road in downtown Alexandria is as iconic as any monument.
You can get a true sense of the time when this city was full of glamour and decadence by strolling along the Corniche, especially the section that runs from Midan Saad Zaghloul’s main shorefront square to Fort Qaitbey at the Eastern Harbor’s western tip.
Many of the architectural remnants from this period still stand along the Corniche. However, they are in disrepair and heavily demolished.
3. Head Underground at the Catacombs of Kom el-Shuqqafa
The Catacombs at Kom el-Shuqqafa were carved from the rock of a hill’s southern slopes in the Carmous region.
They are believed to be from the 2nd Century AD and offer a beautiful example of Alexandrian fusions of Egyptian, Greco-Roman styles.
They were discovered in 1900 by a donkey that fell into them.
To the ground, a spiral staircase leads to the bottom.main rotunda.
You can access the main from the rightBurial chamberAlso, theSepulchral ChapelWith 91LocusEach large enough to hold three or more mummies.
The large, well-known room is located to the left.Triclinium FunebreThis would have been used to host banquets in memory of the deceased.
4. Fort Qaitbey
Follow the long, shore-front Corniche road from the Eastern Harbor going west to arrive at Fort Qaitbey.
Although it is a poor replacement for the once mighty site,Pharos Lighthouse- One of the seven wonders in the ancient world that was destroyed by a powerful earthquake in 1303. But this squatfort has stood guard over Alexandria since 1480.
Fort Qaitbey was built in the effort to protect this important port in Egypt. It was built using rubble left over from the collapsed lighthouse.
You can explore the interior and climb to the roof for a view of the Mediterranean.
5. Kom el-Dikka
Nobody was aware of the rubble mound that once stood in central Alexandria. It was only in the 1960s that they decided to remove it to make room for new housing.
When work began, Kom el-Dikka (“Mound of Rubble”) revealed a host of ancient ruins beneath, including a small Roman Theater.
This small archaeological park preserves the remains of Alexandria’s Greco Roman period.
Neben dem Theater gibt es remnants from a Ptolemaic shrine, a Roman bathhouse and various Roman-era villas.
Excavation on the Villa of the Birds uncovered well-preserved mosaic floors of the 3rd century, which were preserved in situ.
6. Pompey’s Pillar
A hill near the Catacombs in Kom el-Shuqqafa lies in Carmous. It is home to the remnants of architectural fragments, ancient walls, and rubble that still preserves Alexandria’s only intact ancient monument.
Pompey’s Pillar rises above the ruins of an ancient and well-known Serapeion (Temple of Serapis), that was once used for storing the excess manuscripts of the Great Library of Alexandria.
This column of Aswan granite red with Corinthian capital rising to nearly 27 meters high, has nothing to do Pompey. It was actually built in AD 292 in memory of Diocletian who provided food for the starving people after the siege.
You can climb down some stairs to reach a substructure of chambers, but not much else is visible beneath.
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Abhijeet Johri
