The city that eventually became a beacon of civilization started as an obscure village near the island of Pharos, just off the coast. The Greeks joined Pharos to the mainland by creating a land bridge called the Heptastadion, which over time was enlarged to form the curved western arm of the Eastern Harbor. At the tip of that arm was the Pharos, the mammoth lighthouse that Herodotus listed among his Seven Wonders of the World.

The light-house – was build at the south-east of Pharaoh island, that's why it's know as a Pharaoh light-house. The construction of the building was started at the reign of Ptolemy the 1 st and finished under Ptolemy II. It said that the height of the light-house was 135 meters. It consisted of 4 floors. The 1 st one was made in square shape and was 60 m high. The 2 nd one was octagonal and 30 m. The 3 rd - was circular and around 15 m. The last one had 18 columns with a dome over them. The height of dome with column was 23 m. It was a stature of Poseidon over the dome made of pure bronze. The light-house contained 300 rooms on the 1 st floor and it was used to store materials for fire like wood. Also it had rooms for workers and guards. Under the ground it was tank for drinking water.
At the last floor between columns was pan with oil and wood surrounded by glass that reflected the light to the ships. Some ancient historical said that if to sit behind this glass it is possible to see something more than with normal eye. Maybe they discoed lenses or something in this way. Also it was a lift between 1 st and 4 th floors to transport fire materials. This light-house was used till the Arab conquest and long long after it. At Tulunid & Ayubid times it was a restoration of the building. But after time of Ayubid a chain of earthquake happened in Egypt that destroyed 4 th and 3 rd floors of the light-house. Another earthquake destroyed 2 nd floor. The remains of the1 st floor was used in Mamluk times to observe the coast line. In the 13 th centaury a mosque was build over the remains of this house. One more earthquake destroyed the light-house completely. In 1480 sultan Quitbay built a fortress along the coast line to protect Egypt against ottoman empire. One of this fort is still seen in Alexandria and bears the name of its founder. To build his fortification Quitbay used stones from the ruins of the light-house.

The Pharos is long gone, toppled in an earthquake, but its place is marked by the fifteenth-century Fort Qaitbey, a beautiful example of Mamluk military architecture at its finest. It is considered as one of the most important defensive strongholds not only in Egypt but also in the Mediterranean Sea coast. It formulated an important part of the fortification system of Alexandria in the 15th century AD. This citadel was established by the sultan Al Ashraf Abou Alnasr Seif Eldin Qaitbay Alzahiry and is situated at the entrance of the eastern harbor on the eastern point of the Pharos Island. Parts of the remains of the lighthouse can be seen in the construction of the old fort. The blocky fortress houses a marine museum and weaponry recovered from sunken ships from Napoleon's fleet.

The city was designed as a capital, a trading seaport and an impregnable fortress to protect the country against potential sea invasions. The original site took advantage of the shelter provided by the Pharos Island. Alexandria was a model walled city, built according to the Hellenistic girdiron plan of the architect Dinocrates. Alexandria remained the seat of government through the Ptolemimic and Roman eras. One century after its foundation, it turned into the largest in the ancient world. In the Second Century BC , Alexandria was the first city in human history with a population ranging between 100,000 and 150,000 from different nationalities. The city was divided into three separate quarters: the royal Greek quarter lying on the harbour, the Egyptian national quarter in the west and the Jewish quarter in the east.

Palaces occupied about a quarter of the city area, in addition to a huge stadium, amphiteatre, gardens and two obelisks named after Cleopatra (at present in London and New York ). Alien residents, notably Greek and Jewish, were encouraged to settle and to contribute to the professions and commerce.

After Alexander the Great, Ptolemy maintained Alexandria as a capital of his kingdom. Ptolemy I Soter (the Saviour) 323 BC-283 BC, gathered a galaxy of prominent scientists and intellectuals, turning Alexandria into a centre of Greek culture. He set up two important institutions: the Muscion (the University) and the Library of Alexandria which had a major impact on the intellectual and scientific movement in Alexandria.

The library of Alex - was established by Ptolemy I and the goal of the library was to serve the scholars who lived in museum. Fist kings of the dynasty paid too much attention to the library and brought a lot of books from all over the world. Each write created something important and worth reading had to donate a copy of his work to the library. The library was situated in the royal area, because the city itself was divided into several aeries. It was said to contain 500 000 volumes of books and papyruses. The books of library were divided into 8 subjects : poetry, prose, philosophy, history, logic, tragedy & novels & the last one was devoted to sciences (mathematic, geography and so on). The biggest part of the library was burned in 48 BC when Cesar decided to burn his navy but the fire extended till the library and destroyed most of it. The rest of the library was destroyed by emperor Uralion, who came to Alex and destroyed the royal area and transported books of the library to Rome. Some books were transferred to a small library of Serapium's temple. Since the 4th century nothing was mentioned in historical books about the library of Alexandria. So there is no reason to accuse Amr ibn al-Ass in burning off this library because he conquered Egypt in 640 AD.

Together with the library Ptolemy I established the museum that is used now like a university. It was a place where scholars spent their time making their researchers but without being teachers, also they got salary for their researches. Kings of that dynasty paid too much attention to this museum and spent a lot of money for it so that it became the most famous place and so many famous scholars and scientists worked in ths museum. The director of ths museum was a priest appointed by the Ptolemaic king himself and later by roman emperors. He and his successors, including Cleopatra, introduced many architectural, cultural and economic additions, of which one came to considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, namely the Alexandria lighthouse.

The Roman Amphitheatre - the only Roman amphitheater in Egypt, dating back to the second century AD was discovered by chance in 1960 by Egyptian-polish expedition in Kom el-Dekka. It was found when team of this expedition was trying to remove some remains of Napoleon's times. The theatre dates back to the 1st -2nd century BC. During times this place was changing its plan and function until in 6th century it became a place for celebration of religion feasts.
The theater consists of 2 main parts: AUDITORIUM – lecture-room & SKENE – show-hall. Between these 2 parts there was a special place for orchestra. Diameter of the theatre was 42 meters. It's impossible to identify exactly how many steps it had till the 6th century. After it became 33,5 meters in diameter and had 16 steps. At the same century it was decided to change the open theatre into a close celebration hall. In the beginning it was a semi-circular auditorium with number of seating rows and a skene in the middle. Then it was decided to remove 3 steps (rows) up and prolong the auditorium. Also 6 columns on two rows were made to cover the theatre and support a dome which was planed to put on the body of the theatre (steps) and 6 columns. But after construction the dome collapsed because of the wrong scientific calculations. After that time the theatre was not in use any more.
Till now you can see some remains of mosaic-flooring that covered one day all the floor of the scene. Steps of the theatre are made of white marble except for the lower one that is made of rose granite. The site is also home to the Villa of the Birds - four well-preserved floor mosaics which depict birds; rather than risk damaging the mosaics by moving them, a museum was built over the artwork to protect it from the elements.

Pompey's pillar or ship mast - this pillar was constructed in honor of Diocletian in 292 AD. On its base you can find an inscription “Postumas a governor of Alexandria erected this pillar in honor of a just emperor Diocletian”. Crusaders gave the name to this pillar “Pompey's” because they wrongly thought that the head of Pompey was buried on the top of it. But Pompay himself was killed at the year 48 BC and the column was erected later at the year 292 AD. Originally this column was taken from a magnificent temple of Serapis. It's made of rose granite, has a Corinthian style capital and it was with its base 26,85 meters high , it's diameter at the bottom is 2,7 m & at the top - 2,3 m.
Around this column you can easily find the following monuments:
Scarab - made of rose granite, the 2nd hugest one in Egypt. It doesn't have any inscription but from the way of construction we can assume that it belongs to the new kingdom & exactly to the 18th dynasty.
Three statues of sphinx - the 1st & the 3rd one are made of rose granite, they belong to times of Ptolemaic the 4th or the 6th. In the middle there is one more sphinx made of black granite with the missing head. These sphinx bears a hieroglyphic inscription with the name of Hormoheb – the last king of 18th dynasty.
There human statues – the 1st one is made of rose granite and belongs to Ebsmatik - the founder of the 26th dynasty. It shows the king kneeling. The upper part of the statue misses now. On the back and the base of this statue there is a hieroglyphic inscription with the name of Ebsmatik. The 2nd statue is also made of rose granite and represents Ramses the II. He sits on his throne holding haka – scepter in one hand and in another one – nekhekh - flail. His heads missed and on the base of the statue we find both names of Ramses - wser ma'at ra step en ra, ra mes su. The 3rd one made of granite also belongs to Ramsess the II holding in his both hands nawous (shrine). The upper part of the statue missed. It's known, that Cleopatra the 7th brought these 3 statues from Heliopolis to decorate Serapis temple.

After the defeat of Cleopatra and her ally Mark Anthony by the Romans in 31 BC, Egypt came under the domination of the Roman Empire. During that era, Christianity spread widely in Alexandria at the hands of Saint Mark the Apostle and the Church of Alexandria gained increasing importance.
In 617 AD, Egypt was occupied by the Persians and was later recaptured by the Romans through long years of fight over the control of Alexandria.

Roman bathes - In Alexandria existed two different kinds of bathes – private and public. Private bathes can be divided into 2 kinds: 1. Foot bath that was used for a simple washing. It was a deep basin made of stone. Anyone can enter it taking just one or two steppes down. 2. Bath – most of the time rich people used such kind of bath and it looked like the modern one that is in use nowadays. Sometimes it was used as a coffin after the death of its owner. A stone cove was made to covered the bath.
Public bathes were not only a place for taking bath but most of all it was a place for recreation, reading, relaxation and so on. Such bathes were built of bricks, but just public arias. Other rooms for staff and store rooms were made of lime-stone. As a rule these bathes consisted of 3 rooms: cold water room, hot water room and steam or fire room. A small door separated a cold-water room and a hot-water room but a big one separated steam room and hot-water room. The floor of the hot–water room was a little bit higher than the ground standing on brick piers. Over these piers stone tiles were put to let the heat pass through it and warm the hot-water room.

Black-head temple Ras al-Soda - When the feet of Roman knight Isodorus was cured after the fall from his chariot, he decided to build a temple in honor of the god Isis. This temple was build at the 1st or 2nd century and it's the only private temple of Alexandria. It was situated at the Ras al-Soda aria and later it was transported to Bab Shark. Temple itself consists of a platform to which you can come taking some stairs. There are 4 Aionic columns at the corners of the temple. And in the center of the platform there is a votive feet made of marble. There are 5 statues at the back side of the platform. The 1st one is the statue of Herpocrat, 2nd – Herma Anubis, 3rd –Isis, the biggest one from all of them, that's why it's possible to assume that the temple is dedicated to the goddess Isis, the 4th & 5th statues – the god Osiris in canopic form. On one side of the platform stairs lead down where we find two rooms behind each other. The 2nd room is higher and has something like mastabas on its 3 sides. The exact function of the room and these mastabas is unknown but we can assume that the room was used by priests of the temple.

Tombs - In Alexandria tombs are situated in 2 main arias to the East of Alexandria - al-Shatby tomb and Mustafa Camel. To the West you'll find al-Anfushi and Kom el-Dekka. Eastern tombs date back to Ptolemaic times, they are more ancient. Western tombs date back to Roman times.
Greeks were used to cremate dead people and put the ashes in a pot (urn). But Egyptians 1st mummified a dead person and then put the body in the coffin. At the time of Ptolemaics a new way of burring was found – loculus/i – a room was dug under the ground, then a small hall was made in the wall where a urn was placed. Then the hall was closed.

Royal tombs – the tomb of Alexander the Grate was considered to be the core of all royal tombs. The tomb was situated at the intersection of (in the middle of the crossing point ) two main streets. When came Ptolemy IV he removed all tombs of his predecessors and build a new cemetery with tombs placed at the same distance of each other and paralleled to each other and to the tomb of Alexandr the Grate. Till Ptolemy VI it was common to burry the body of kings. It's known that the last queen of this dynasty Cleopatra VII was mummified and it's still unknown what had exactly happened with the bodies of the kings between these 2 periods of time wether they were buried or mummified. Ptolemy IX changed the coffin of Alexander the Grate and used its gold to pay salary to Greeks mercenaries.

The tomb of Alexander the Grate is still undiscovered. Some believe that Alexander the Great himself is buried in Soma quarter. The tomb of Alexander the Grate consists of entrance & stairs leading down to the courtyard. The courtyard has 2 rooms one after another. The back room contains a couch with the massive golden coffin of Alexander with his mummy inside. Over the tomb a small temple to worship Alexander the Grate was erected. Roman emperors respected a lot this tomb and so many visited it. Octavianus Augustus put a golden crown over the head of the mummy of Alexander. The conqueror never saw his dream capital in life; he left its construction to Ptolemy I and went off to Asia, where he was killed in battle. Excavations near the El-Nabi Daniel Mosque have revealed ancient Greek and Roman monuments, and there is speculation that Alexander's tomb may be hidden beneath the mosque itself.

Tomb of Mustafa Camel - it dated back 250 BC and it was discovered by chance in 1933 when a first level of a playground was under construction. Four tombs divided into 2 kinds were found: 1st kind are tombs №3 & №4; they are half buried under the ground and another half over and are not so good preserved. The 2nd kind are tombs №1 & №2 which are completely under the ground. The most important one from this group of tombs is tomb №1.It has water system and some frescoes. They were drown on wet lime. The tomb consists of entrance, stairs down leading to the courtyard in the middle of which there is an altar. Outer walls of the courtyard are decorated with Dorian columns and to the left of the entrance there are 3 rooms. The rooms №2, 4 contain some loculi. And in the room № 3 is just one loculus. There is a water system between rooms №2 and 3, it consists of the well that is on the ground of the room №2. A pool is set in the wall in front of the well and it's connected with the help of clay tubes to 2 small tanks of water situating in the room №3. These two small tanks are connected to a big one that is situated at the courtyard, the most of the time the last tank is empty it fills with water only in the case if other two small tanks are already full.
On the other side of the entrance there are 3 small chambers №5, 6 & 7. Each chamber contains locali and fortunately the walls of these rooms preserve their colours: veined yellow is an imitation of alabaster and dotted red – imitation of granite. To the right side of the main entrance there are 3 sub-entrances A, B, C leading to the corridor №8. Every entrance has a sphinx-guard made of limestone. They are small and some of them are damaged. Behind corridor we find rooms № 9,10,11. Room 9 & 11 contain some locali and at the end of the room 10 there sa a klime (couch).
There are some groups of Greek names, written on the entrance wall of the room 11. It's unclear if these are names of people who were buried inside or just names of visitors of the tomb.

Catacombs of Kom-Shukafi – these tombs were discovered by chance in Karmoz aria in 1900 after 12 years of searching. One day a leg of the donkey fell in the mouth of a wheel, when workers tried to make the animal free they discovered the tomb. The tomb dated back to the 1st or 2nd century and consists of 4 underground floors. The 1st and the 3rd floors are completely under the water. The most significant feature of this tomb is the existence of paintings on its walls which represent the overlap of three different kinds of art – Egyptian, Greek and Roman.

Tomb of al-Shatby – this tomb was discovered behind St. Mark school in 1904 in al-Shatby aria. This is the oldest tomb of Alexandria dating back to 300 BC. There are 2 kinds of tombs in this aria. The 1st one called surfaced tomb that has a covered by sand pit with urn inside. Over the pit we find marble stares with monument which crowns the triangle – a symbol of Greek temple. Unfortunately this 1st kind of tombs disappeared completely.
The 2nd kind is a tomb dug under the ground in the style of Greek house but has one more small corridor than the real house. The tomb consists of the entrance leading to stairs and a big corridor then a smaller one that leads to a courtyard.

In 641 AD ( 21 AH ), the Arabs conquered Egypt and later started a siege for 14 months of Alexandria. Local Coptic residents welcomed and supported the Muslim Arab army against the Roman garrison in Alexandria, hopefully to save them from Roman oppression. The second Islamic conquest of the city was completed four years later. Over time, they recognized the tolerance of the new religion and fair treatment by the Muslim rulers and therefore the majority of the population turned to Arab/ Islamic traditions.
Alexandria flourished throughout the early Islamic, Fatimid, Ayyubidand Mameluk eras.

Al- Bardees Monuments - These comprise four Ayyubid- style column bases made of marble or limestone covered with turine. Dating back to the Roman era, these monuments were found in 1929 beneath Sidi abder-Razeq al-Wafai'e Mosque in al-Bardees Street.

However, Alexandria was reborn during the 19th century, primarily through Muhammad Ali's efforts to modernize Egypt as a whole. He established a harbour for the country as well as Al-Mahmoudiya Canal as a means to provide the city with fresh water and also as a waterway connection with the Nile. In 1865, a railway between Alexandria and Cairo was erected. Thus, Alexandria regained its position as Egypt's first trading port.

Palaces of Muhammad Ali's Dynasty:

Ras Al–Teen palace .
Located in Alexandria, Egypt, enjoys an outstanding historical position since it is one of a few palaces that witnessed the initiation of Mohamed Aly's dynasty. It was also where the departure of the ex-monarch Farouk, the family's last heir, took place. A number of foreign engineers, among others, Yezi Bek, his assistant La Vial and Mrs. Le Veroige, were assigned for the construction of the palace. Building activities began in 1834, taking eleven years, until it was completed in 1845. However, complementary work and establishment of additional wings continued until 1847 when it was officially inaugurated.
Ras Al–Teen Palace, which initially took the shape of a Roman fort characteristic of several round pillars and Italian ornaments inspired by the renaissance, is considered the oldest among existing palaces. It was erected on an area of around 17 thousand square meters surrounded by a marvelous garden of 12 Feddans. Fig (teen) trees were planted in the site where the palace was constructed, due to which; it was called Ras Al-Teen (fig). The palace remained, during the reign of different kings, to be used as the government headquarters, to which, they moved during the summer. Different rulers made several changes to the palace, which was totally reconstructed, by King Fouad I, using modern design turning it to be similar to, but smaller than Abdeen Palace in Cairo. The reconstruction activities supervised by Italian engineer Veroci cost L.E 400,000.
The palace included a swimming pool attached with a large hall and covered with glass. Ex-Monarch Farouk, after World War II, built instead on the wave breaker a marine pool. The pool was linked to Ras Al-Teen palace with a long pavement. In order to arrive to the pool by land, a jeep had to be used passing through the wave breaker with great difficulty. The royal rest house built near the pool consisted of a bedroom, a fully equipped kitchenette as well as several rooms used for storing fishing equipment.

Palace of Fatma Zahra (HEDAR) 1919 – 1923.
Construction of the palace began in 1919 and finished in 1923. Total aria of the palace with its gardens was 4185 square meters. This palace represents an exotic style of European architecture and art. The palace consists of 2 wings: Eastern and Western. In the Eastern wing there are 4 qa'as (rooms, recreation halls) and a hall. This wing was built after western one. Two wings were linked together by a corridor with windows on each side. As for the western wing, it consists of 2 floors. On the 1st floor we find 4 qa'as, reception and a bathroom. On the 2nd floor – 4 qa'as with attached bathrooms and a hall in the middle, 3 bedrooms. Also on this floor a kitchen, bathroom and 3 rooms for the servants were situated.
The building itself as well as decorations inside the palace are masterpieces, they represent Byzantine style. There are a lot of paintings on the ceilings of qa'as' which revile Italian Renaissance.
The windows in the corridor between these two wings (great masterpieces) are made of coloured glass (stained glass) with رصاصد . All sides of the palaces are decorated with drawings, with different kinds of barrocco and rococo designs.
Now this palace hosts a Royal Jewelry Museum and is located in the Zizinia neighborhood. The museum houses major jewelry pieces and acquisitions of the Mohammad Ali dynasty, who ruled Egypt for about 150 years till the July 1952 Revolution. Following the Revolution, the remaining jewelry left over by the Royal Family were safe-kept until a decree by President Mubarak was issued in 1986 to assign Princess Fatima Al-Zahra' Palace in Alexandria as a special museum to house those pieces. Museum includes amazing quantity of the precious and rare jewelry related to the Mohamed Ali's Family.
Egyptian restorers and technicians are currently putting the finishing touches on the work. Also there is Russian artist who is expert in doing the restoration of the painted pictures on the walls and ceiling which used as museum and could reveal some repainting preceded before and remove some other substance stuccoes attached to the original painting, colours and those pictures which represent Greco-roman myths from the middle ages.

Alexandria abounds in religious monuments that reflect tolerance and stability. Since its rise, the city had a substantial Jewish community who coexisted peacefully with local population. The first church in Africa was established in Alexandria by St. Mark the Apostle. Religious monuments in Alexandria comprise the Jewish Temple, St. Mark's Church, Marmina al-"Agaibi's Monastery and az-Zogag Monastery. Islamic monuments comprise a conglomeration of mosques in al- Gomrok District, in addition to the mosques of al-Attareen, al- Mursi abul-Abbas, al- Bosairi and Sidi Bishr among many others.

The streets in place today are a contemporary take on an ancient past. The modern El-Nabi Daniel Street leads from Saad Zaghloul Square to the train station and a long-buried ancient city center known as Soma. The pride of this area is its numerous Roman, Coptic, Jewish and Islamic monuments. Next to the mosques of Prophet Daniel and Sidi Abdel Razek, there is the Eliahu Hanabi Jewish Temple.

On the other side of the street is the St. Markus Church, the oldest church in Egypt and Africa, built by the disciple Mark, who brought Christianity to the continent.

Across from the main train station is Kom EI-Dikka, the ancient neighborhood of Raktus. Here you will find On Tariq El-Horreyya (or Fouad Street, as it was called before the 1952 Revolution) is the National Museum of Alexandria housed in the Asaad Bassili Pasha Palace - an architectural monument in its own right.

Alexandria National Museum - The old ASSAD Bassili Pasha Palace.
Inside the splendid white Italian-style palace of the late Egyptian lumber trader Bassili Pasha, a collection of 1,800 objects is now on display. The objects span the numerous transformations of Alexandria from its humble beginnings in Pharaonic times to its development by Alexander the Great and through to the Islamic period under Mohamed Ali. To harmonies the museum's interior design and the artifacts on display, Italian designer Maurizzo De Paulo created sophisticated hanging diagonal showcases in which the artifacts are suspended. He painted the walls in each section of the museum in a different colour in order to create a suitable ethereal ambiance for each. The artifacts are exhibited chronologically as one ascends from one floor to the next, and a hall in the basement has been transformed into an audio-visual workshop where visitors can tour the museum via computer programmes that display each item from a variety of angles along with appropriate identification. The old garage of the building has been converted into a lecture hall and there is an open air theatre for evening performances.
The museum is housed in the old ASSAD Bassili Pasha Palace, one of the wealthiest wood merchants in Alexandria at that time, on Fouad Street (Tariq al-Horreyya), near the centre of the city, Construction on the site was first undertaken in 1926. The Palace covers an area of 3,480 square meters,. It is a white Italian-style museum sits in an expansive garden of rare trees and plants. The palace consists of four floors and an underground shelter, which was used during air raids during war. The Palace was designed by a French engineer who used the Italian styles in its construction. His three-storey palace was attracting the upper class people of Egyptian society, including notables such as Egypt's former Prime Ministers Ismail Sedqi Pasha and Ali Maher Pasha, and many others. This villa Sold first to the American Consulate in 1960, in 1997 the Ministry of Culture bought this real estate for about LE12 million.
You will find the philosophy of colours appears in interior design. As, you will notice The Pharaonic section features a dark blue wall representing the journey to an eternal afterlife, while the Graeco-Roman objects are set against a sky-blue (marble colour) backdrop, reflecting romance and lust for life. As Copts and Muslims share beliefs concerning heaven, the sections reserved for artifacts from these religious traditions were painted green. Also, you will notice that the museum's collection has never been exhibited before. The pieces were previously in storage in various museums, the Egyptian, Coptic and Islamic in Cairo, and the Graeco-Roman and Jewellery museums in Alexandria which are closed nowadays for renovation.
For example, a statue of the Roman Emperor Hadrian; a red granite statue of Emperor Caracala; a head of statue of the Pharaonic King Akhenaton (Amenhotep IV) and head for Pharaonic queen Hatshepsut, Female Pharaoh of Egypt, and 162 gold and silver Islamic and Graeco-Roman coins minted in Alexandria, also, artifacts from the sunken site of Heracleion include the famous Stele of Heracleion and a 2,20m statue of a Ptolemaic Queen dressed as Isis. From Alexandria's Eastern Harbour are displayed the Priest of Osiris holding a canopic jar and two sphinxes, one of which is a representation of Ptolemy XII, father to the Great Cleopatra VII. Other exhibits include ritual offerings, utensils, gold and jewellery. In addition to a replica of a tomb, similar to those in the Valley of the Kings at Luxor, contain one mummy with genuine funerary furniture. Canopic jars, anthropoid sarcophagi containing mummies, ushabti figures and the deceased's private possessions are all part of this mise-en-scène that offers a snapshot of the Ancient Egyptian world-view of burial and the afterlife.

Not far from the National Museum is the Greco-Roman Museum , consisting of 27 halls and a lush garden and offering an excellent introduction to the Greek and Roman art of Egypt. The museum is currently undergoing an extensive renovation.

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina is much more than a landmark it is a feat of modern architecture. Inspired by the original library of Alexandria, which was considered one of the greatest of classical institutions.
The new Library is located on the same site where the old Library was built 2300 years ago within the old royal quarter of Alexandria under the Ptolemies. It overlooks the Mediterranean in the north. The exterior architectural elements reflect the ancient history of the library and its contributions to the discovery of scientific theories. The planetarium had a globe-shaped design and the Library building a cylinder-shaped design and Conference Centre as pyramid-shaped design. Together they make up one whole combining a variety of geometrical shapes. From a lateral perspective, the building appears like the solar disc. The exterior granite-clad walls are ornamented with carved letters and symbols from extinct and live languages of the world.

Bibliotheca Alexandrina is planned to eventually house 8 million books and manuscripts. So far it has collected 200,000 books and 6700 rare manuscripts, some of which are adorned with precious stones. Notably, it contains a rare manuscript of a book by the famous historian Muslim al-Maqrizi hand-written by the author. The Library also contains 200,000 micro-filmed documents and CDs.
The Holy Quran was the first book to be placed in the Library with several copies written in Ottoman-style calligraphy. Other books of values first placed in the library were a copy of the first edition of the New Testament printed in Germany in 1456 by Johans Gutenberg. Also included is “Description of Egypt” (Description de l' Egypte) as an example of the historical writings and a manuscript of ‘Sahih Muslim' (anthology of prophet Muhammad's hadith or traditions compiled by Imam Muslim) written in 386 AH.
The 10-story library today has a light, airy reading room, an antiquities museum, an ancient manuscripts museum and a planetarium, as well as several other exhibits.

Suez Canal Collection - The Egyptian Cultural Office in Paris has agreed with the society of the friends of Suez Canal to furnish the Library of Alexandria with an electronic record comprising 300 rare historical photographs featuring the phases of the canal construction. Another agreement was made with the society to dedicate to the Library a copy of important documents relevant to Suez Canal. Some 25 micro films, containing maps, architectural and construction drawings of the Canal cities that did not exist before digging the Canal were all donated. These were accompanied by a collection of rare original books on the city of Port-Said. On the occasion of the Library inauguration, the society offered the Library 300 rare digital historical photographs reflecting different phases of the Canal.

Dedication by Mrs Suzanne Mubarak - In line with Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak's constant efforts in support of culture, she dedicated some of her personal acquisitions to the Library to be placed in the museum of acquisitions. Of these is a fascimile copy of the famous pharaonic “Book of the Dead” and two pieces of ancient golden coins.

The old Library was built on a variety of archeological elements dating back to the period from mid-third Century BC to late Greco-Roman era. To commemorate this site, a museum of antiquities was set up within the new Library. Major components of the museum include two magnificent mosaic flooring made of fine coloured stones, besides other items from Egyptian museums in the Delta and Upper Egypt, such as papyrus manuscripts and various pieces of antiquity amounting to 840 representing different epochs.

Rare Coins - Dr. Samir Shushan, Professor of sculpture at the Faculty of Fine Arts donated to the library 12 coins that date back to Greco-Roman eras. Of these, three belong to his father's time; three to Ptolemic era in Egypt; two to the Roman era; two to the Bizantine era and one to the Islamic era. The significance of this collection of coins lies in that it reflects a historical sequence of the evolution of coins.

Historical Paintings for Alexandria - The Library has a special gallery where 130 paintings and pictures of different sizes ranging between 30 cm and 150 cm featuring the history of the city of Alexandria are shown. These provide a panorama of events that took place in the city throughout the past three centuries as well as its corresponding antiquities.

The Corniche will take you to the Montazah Royal Gardens, but it's worth a little detour inland to the Antoniadis Palace, considered one of the most beautiful examples of European architecture in the country. In 1860, Greek Baron John Antoniadis commissioned French architect Paul Richard to build a miniature of the Palace Versailles on 50 acres in what is now the Smouha district. The meticulously landscaped palace gardens, dotted with priceless statues of great thinkers and explorers was the locale for the wedding and honeymoon of the late Shah of Iran and his bride Princess Fawzia.

About 15 kilometers east of the Eastern Harbor are the Montazah Royal Gardens. Built as a summer home for Khedive Abbas II, the palace on the grounds is currently used as a presidential residence and is off-limits to the public. However, the surrounding groves and gardens are open to visitors. Situated on a hill overlooking the sea, the 115-acre garden offers a great spot for family picnics.