Alexandria and the Mediterranean in Egypt

Alexandria - Alexandria is said to be the most beautiful Egyptian city. It has a mild climate both in summer and in the winter season, and offers beautiful beaches along the Mediterranean coast.
It is the second-largest city in Egypt - after Cairo - and is therefore considered the second capital of Egypt.

Alexandria owes its world fame to the Library of Alexandria, which held an enormous number of unique manuscripts and ancient writings from various fields of science and art.
Alexandria was chosen as the Capital of Arab Tourism 2010 thanks to its extremely rich history, reaching back to the times of ancient civilisations. Greek, Roman, Coptic and Islamic cultures brought the city prosperity and left behind many distinctive and unique monuments, such as the largest Egyptian sea port, Pompey Pillar (Amoud Al-Sawari), the Catacombs of Kom Al-Shuqafa, the Citadel of Qaitbay, the ancient Roman Amphitheatre, the Museum of Greco-Roman Art and the Royal Jewellery Museum. Alexandria is also known for places of religious worship, such as the Mosque of Abu el-Abbas el-Mursi and the Coptic Cathedral of St Mark.

If we want to set aside some time to relax, Alexandria offers a whole beautiful coastline. It stretches for more than 70 km, and the beaches run from Maamoura in the east to Agami west of Alexandria.

The lighthouse of Pharos, which stood at the entrance to the port of Alexandria, was listed among the Seven Wonders of the World.

Montaza Palace (the Montaza Gardens) is a remarkable, extensive garden in the Montaza district of Alexandria. The palace was built on a low plateau, overlooking the beach on the Mediterranean Sea.
The royal gardens belonged to King Farouk, the last king of Egypt. They tempt with wonderful vegetation; the grounds are adorned with countless flowers and trees.

The Library of Alexandria - probably the largest and richest library of the ancient world. It was opened during the reign of the Ptolemaic dynasty between 323 BC and 283 BC. It was built on a grand scale - there is room here for as many as 8 million books. Besides the bookshelves and reading room, the complex also contains specialist libraries - of maps and multimedia, one adapted to the needs of the blind and partially sighted, and ones for young people and children. In addition there is a conference centre, 4 museums, 4 art galleries with temporary exhibitions, 15 permanent exhibitions, a planetarium and a manuscript restoration laboratory.

The Citadel of Qaitbay - a fortress on the island of Pharos. It was built on the site of one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the lighthouse. Material from the ruins of the ancient lighthouse was used to build the fortress. The grounds also contain a Maritime Museum.

The Lighthouse of Pharos - an ancient lighthouse built around 280-279 BC. It is believed that the idea for its construction came from Alexander the Great. Because of its size and the splendour of its architectural form, it was considered one of the ancient Wonders of the World. The lighthouse stood on the island of Pharos in the Mediterranean Sea. It is estimated to have been a tower about 115-120 m high. Its lower storey had a square cross-section, above it rose another, octagonal, and a third with a round cross-section. The lighthouse was crowned with a dome supported on eight columns, on which stood a statue of Poseidon about 7 m high. In those days it was the tallest building in the world. The lighthouse was damaged by earthquakes in 1261, 1303 and 1323, and was finally destroyed by the earthquake of 1375. Its remaining ruins disappeared when, in 1480, the Sultan of Egypt used them to build a fort on the site. Today the Maritime Museum stands on the foundations of the lighthouse.