Alexandria
Alexander'S City And The Hellenistic World'S Capital Of Learning, Where Almost All Of The Ancient City Lies Under The Modern One Or Under The Harbour; What Stands Is A Mamluk Fort On The Pharos Lighthouse Site, Roman Catacombs, A Modern Library Answering The Lost One, And The Best Seafood In Egypt · Alexandria, Alexandria
Alexander founded the city in 331 BC and for three centuries it was the intellectual capital of the Mediterranean world, with the Library, the Mouseion and the Pharos lighthouse. Almost none of that is left. Earthquakes, subsidence and two thousand years of rebuilding put the ancient city under the modern one and under the harbour, so what a visitor gets is a Mediterranean port with ancient fragments in it rather than an ancient city: a Mamluk fort standing on the Pharos site, Roman catacombs cut on three levels at Kom el-Shoqafa, a small Roman theatre, Pompey's Pillar on the Serapeum mound, and a vast modern library built in 2002 as a deliberate answer to the lost one. The real pleasure is the city itself - a long corniche, faded Italianate streets, the best seafood in Egypt, and a cooler, wetter, less hurried temperament than Cairo's. Two and a half hours by train, and a different country.
Along the Mediterranean corniche from Qaitbay Citadel to Montazah, with the catacombs and the Roman theatre inland, Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt
The Bibliotheca Alexandrina keeps museum hours and closes on Fridays around prayers and often Saturdays in part, which catches visitors out; it holds several museums inside it and they have their own tickets. Qaitbay Citadel, the catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa, Pompey's Pillar and the Roman theatre all keep daytime hours, shorter in winter, with separate admissions. Whether the Greco-Roman Museum and the submerged harbour sites are open to visitors has changed more than once, so confirm before building a day on either. The corniche and the beaches are open at any hour. Trains from Cairo take two and a half hours and run frequently; within the city the tram is slow and characterful and ride-hailing apps work well. Winter storms can close the corniche road with spray.