Alexandria Travel Guide / Egypt

Alexandria Travel Guide / Egypt. Alexandria which in times gone by was known as the Bride of the Meditteranean is one of the most striking Cities in Egypt. And was constructed by Alexander the Great in 323 BC. At the time the Island of Pharos and the Village of Redkoda were linked together by extending the water from Island of Pharos to Rakoda. Alexandria carried on being the Capitol of Egypt for approx.. a Thousand Years, and was famous in the days gone by for it’s multiple Landmarks . Alexandria is divided into Nine Districts with an approx.. population of more than Four Million. Alexandria is famous for it’s mild climate and Beaches wich extends along the Medittereanean Sea which is in the North of the Country for an approx.. distance of up to Seventy KM from East to West.. Alexandria which is Egypt’s Second City is heavily populated with Six Million people and is located on the Medittereanean Coast of the Western edge of the Nile Delta. Whilst Cairo is virtually impossible to have any rivalry with in respect of Historic architecture and Monuments, Alexandria could actually be one of the few Cities in the World that holds more of a storied History. Alexander the Great who was the founder of the City in 331 BC, which makes it approx.. One Thousand Four Hundred Years older than Cairo, and very quickly became one of the Richest, largest and most Cultured Cities in the World. Now in the Present Day Alexandria appears to have little to show for it’s recognizable past, with natural disasters, many conquests and sieges plus the fact that the City has been rebuilt many times, has managed to remove much of the Ancient and Historical Alexandria from view, but it still remains a very striking and Magical City with immediate access to the Beautiful Beaches of the Medittereanean. In 331 BC, when Alexander the Great took power of Egypt, he decided to construct a New Capitol that would connect the Nile Valley to the Sea and his native Greece. The City which he constructed and personally laid out was given his name and became the Seat of Power in Egypt until the Arab conquest which took place in 642 AD. The City straight away benifitted from the influence of Greek Culture after Alexander’s conquests and it’s strategic geographic Location, within One Hundred Years of it’s founding Alexandria became Second only to Rome in terms of population and it surfaced as a centre of economic and cultural influence. Alexandria which was under the Ptolmies became known as the single greatest detail of knowledge in the World, home of the legendary Library of Alexandria. In addition it was also home to one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Pharos or the Lighthouse of Alexandria, which is said to have towered one Hundred and Thirty Eight Meters which converts to Four Hundred and Fifty Feet, over the busy Harbor of the City. Unfortunatl;ey neither of the Historic Library of Alexandria or the Pharos still stands today. Including the Palaces of Alexandria and from the Greek-Roman Period and other important constructions, both were destroyed by a series of disasters. Tsunamis and Earthquakes have changed the Alexandria Coastline, making the Lighthouse to fall and the Royal Palace to collapse into the Sea, however the Great Library was destroyed by a Fire. Alexandria’s importance was not only to be found in it’s wealth and architecture, being the Capitol of Egypt under the Greeks, Alexandria was a varied City, which was home to vast populations of Greeks and other Cultures. Alexandria became home to the largest population of Jews, and the Septuagint, the only Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible that has pulled through to the Present Day. The City in addition also became important to the Egyptian Christians as the Cultural and Political Centre of Egypt throughout the Rise of Christianity. The Seat of the Coptic Orthodox Papacy is still Located in Alexandria to the Present Day. Even though it has endured destruction from natural disasters and wars, many times in it’s History, most recently much of the Heart of the City was destroyed in 1882 during a three day bombardment that marked the British seizure of power in Egypt. Fortunately the City recovered and became a flourishing and cosmopolitan Port again from the late Nineteenth Century through to the Middle of the Twentieth Century. This period of the History of Alexandria is memorialized in Lawrence Durrell’s Alexandrian Quartet, which he describes the City as a decadent and vibrant place with five races, five languages and a dozen creeds. This Period of Alexandria’s History came to an end, however with the nationalist and socialist revolution of the Free Officers in 1952. This new Government which would not allow non Egyptians from owning Property or Businesses, plus the influence of Arab Nationlism , led to the exodus of Alexandria’s large Jewish and Internation Communities and the taking apart of the Multicultural Society that flourished there for Centuries. Modern Alexandria. In the Present Day, Alexandria’s population has escalated and Modern construction has built over many of the Buildings from it’s cosmopolitan and Ancient Pasts. Like most Modern Cities in Egypt, Alexandria suffers from traffic jams, and noise, but both it’s Ancient and more contemporary past still shows through. Most of the archeological wealth of Alexandria is buried under the very Streets that People use Today and construction Projects consistently show up new findings. In spite of the destruction of many of the the physical remains of Alexandria’s History, the City still offers an expanding show of impressive sites. Along the Coastline in the Centre of the City, you can still see the remains of Lawrence Durrell’s Alexandria Cecil Hotel, and the Great Synagogue, which is now unused after the departure of all but a handful of approx.. One Hundred Thousand Jews, that reffered to Alexandria as home less than a Century ago. On a Peninsular which stands out from the Corniche stands Qaitbey Citadel, a Fifteenth Century Construction, which is built ontop of the Foundations of the fallen Pharos Lighthouse. From there the striking Modern Construction of the Bibliotheca Alexandria can be seen. It is a vast Library, research centre and Cultural position, which is constructed on the Site of the Ancient Library as a memorial to Alexandria’s past. As you journey further inside there several imposing Sites from the Greco - Roman Period, which includes the Kom Al Shoqata Tombs, considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages. You will find a little piece of every era of Alexandria’s unique History to be found hidden within Todays Modern City.