Alexandria

Fort Qaitbey:

Probably the greatest attraction of Alexandria is the fortress Qaitbey where once stood the famous lighthouse "Pharos". Material of this unique historic building has been used for the construction of the walls and towers of the fort that you seem to recognize in some stones.

Around the year 1480, the Mamluks demolished the lighthouse to replace it with a fortified port on this peninsula - there was a large fort and a mosque. In the 19th century the fort was modernized by Mohammed Ali; reason why the fort now looks like a toy-Playmobil fort.

In the fort there is now a military museum with pieces from the Ottoman period, but also French weapons and equipment can be found from the year 1798 when the fleet of Napoleon was torpedoed by the British.

Alexandria city center

The most important contemporary place to hang out in Alexandria is the Corniche, the promenade along the coast. People who are looking for the mythical history that Alexandria have got need a very fantastic and deep imagination. The city of Alexander the Great and Cleopatra is at least 6 meters below the surface of the current center.

Occasionally something is found by archaeologists, which proves the uniqueness of this place. Rumors go where the world-famous library stood and where the palace of Cleopatra was located.

To date, there is no idea where the tomb of the city founder Alexander the Great should be. Sights of the city are the "Greco-Roman" museum, the pillar of Pompeius, the Roman amphitheater (Kom al-Dikka), the catacombs or Kom Ash-Shuqqafa and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.

The city is named after Alexander the Great, who established a world empire that also included Egypt. In his commission, the Greek architect Dinocrates designed and built the city from about 330 BC. Alexandria was one of the many cities that were founded by (on behalf of) and/or named after Alexander the Great but probably this is het most important and known.

He was also buried here. Alexandria was the capital of Egypt for almost 1000 years with a very important port. At the beginning of our era Alexandria (after Rome) was the second city of the Roman Empire, with perhaps about 400,000 inhabitants. The city had a very mixed population. The Egyptians were probably in the majority, but they were strongly inclined. There were also many Greeks, Syrians and there was a fairly large Jewish community. The general colloquial language was Greek rather than Egyptian. For a long time the city has also been the most important international center of culture, knowledge and learning during the period of Antiquity and early Middle Ages.

This was the work of the Greek dynasty of Ptolemies, which stimulated science and culture, to obtain prestige among the Hellenistic neighboring kingdoms. The Library of Alexandria was one of the most important libraries in history, if not the most important, with between 400,000 and 900,000 bookrolls. This was later destroyed, with an unprecedented wealth of knowledge lost. The city has also been known for a long time because one of the Seven World Wonders of Classical times was located in this city: the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

From 30 BC, when the last Ptolemee - the well-known Queen Cleopatra - died, Alexandria remained the capital of the provincial Alexandria et Aegyptus. This also remained so among the Byzantines. Alexandria became the seat of the Patriarchate of Alexandria. In the middle of the 7th century, the Arabs conquered Egypt and the rest of the Middle East.

The function of the capital was taken over in 969 by Cairo, founded by the Fatimids, and this remained so until the present day. As a result, the city gradually became less important until it was ultimately no more than a fishing village with only 4,000 inhabitants that took old stones away and earthquakes did the rest. 

In the 19th century Alexandria became a big city again, with a multicultural character. This is partly due to the policy of the Ottoman Viceroy Mehmed Ali, who considered a port accessible to ocean-going vessels to be of great importance for the development of his country. He had the silted port dredged and repaired and encouraged the European business world to invest in, for example, Egyptian cotton cultivation. This was a great success and by 1900 a quarter of the now 400,000 inhabitants consisted of Europeans. The conquest of Napoleon was also important, seeing the importance of the port city. Among the latter, the Greeks were the largest group. The Europeans controlled almost all higher-qualified jobs, while the Arabs mainly did unskilled labor.

Because of the rise of Arab nationalism under Nasser, most of these foreigners left Egypt between 1950 and 1960. Today Alexandria is with about 4 million inhabitants after Cairo, the largest city in Egypt. There is a major chemical industry and various technology companies. In the summer, many (richer) Egyptians live in their second home in this city because of the relatively cool and pleasant maritime climate in comparison with the hot interior. It is also a university city. In 2003, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina was opened, which has to fulfill the same international function as the former Hellenistic library. On 1 January 2011, a heavy attack on a Coptic church took place in the city. 23 people died.