Alexandria City

Alexandria City Overview

Alexandria City is one of the most famous tourist attractions in the world, it is considered one of the few cities in existence that can reflect the purest definition of the word beauty. Alexandria City never lost its glamour and elegance over the countless centuries since its construction in 331 BCE by Alexander the Great, in a village called Racotis, during his visit to Amun Temple in Siwa. He ordered his chief architect, Dinocrates to build a city that will reflect his supreme vision and immortalize his legacy against the deadly oblivion!

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Alexandria City Location

The charming pearl of the Mediterranean Alexandria City extends 32 km on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It’s 138 km (114 mi) Northwest of Cairo on the Western edge of the Nile Delta. The city, also, acts as the second largest city after the current capital, "Cairo", with a population of 3.5 million people on a 2,679 km²!

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Alexandria City As An Old Capital of Egypt

Alexandria City became the most important center for Hellenistic civilization. Also, it was mainly responsible for transmitting the culture to the rest of the world, as well as being the capital of Egypt during the Ptolemaic (323-30 BC) and Roman periods (30 BC-640 AD) for almost 1,000 years. It was not until the Muslim conquest in 641 A.D, that another capital of Egypt was brought into existence called El Fustat!

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The Developments & Reinforcement the City Underwent Until This Very Moment

During the Hellenistic period, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was constructed, alongside the mysterious Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa, a necropolis that’s One of the Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages! During the Roman Period, Alexandria City was the most powerful city after Rome in the ancient Mediterranean region. The Islamic Rule didn't leave any memorable landmarks in the City of Alexandria.

As the Mamluk and Fatimid Dynasties spend most of their time in Cairo and settled on transforming Alexandria City into a naval port and a shipping port. When Alexandria became part of the Ottoman Empire, it lost all meaning of beauty, glory, and elegance. However, in 1805, under the rule of Muhammad Ali, the city regained its lost hypnotic beauty and became one of the world's most attractive destinations.

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Best Historical Attractions of Alexandria City

Aside from the history of Alexandria City that we hung over its every detail throughout the past lines, comes the history that takes the city’s luxuriously ancient and unique landmarks as its axis! The city’s milestones have a history of gold on their own, starting from many centuries with roots extending to different cultures, civilizations, and emperors. It is fair to say that every milestone the city displays sculpted a part of its terrific essence that’s a rare one with no match. It’s an essence that we highlight in the following:

1. Alexandria Lighthouse

The Legendary Lighthouse of Alexandria, A.K.A. Pharos of Alexandria, was built by the Ptolemaic Dynasty in 280 BC, at a height of 120-137 m (394-449 ft). The construction was brought into life to provide the ships with the needed guidance in the sea! As, if there’s anything that gained the Light House of Alexandria its fame in history will be the way it was constructed to save an insane number of sailors from losing their ways!

It became the second tallest construction directly after the Great Pyramids of Giza. Unfortunately, it was destroyed by a series of earthquakes, between 1303 and 1323 AD. Hence, it still leaves an unerasable trail on the minds due to how it looked surrounded by the extending waters, that once caught lots of heads!

2. Qaitbay Citadel

The Qaitbay Citadel is one powerful fortress that was constructed in 1477 by Qaitbay and went through renovation processes in 1805 by Muhammad Ali Pasha. It, also, witnessed fine restoration processes in 1984 by the Egyptian Antiquities Organization! Every stone that created the fortress was put aiming at strict safety and providing high power to the rulers! It’s a replacement for the Alexandria Lighthouse, one of the Medieval Ages’ World Wonder, and has sent the travelers in a state of appreciation and astonishment, yet pride!

3. Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa

The Catacombs were welcomed to the world back during the second century! It, also, is a necropolis that was the final resting place for a Greek noble family, during the Greco-Roman Period. It combines Greek and Ancient Egyptian art in the finest and most majestic manner. It’s a unique magical site that’ll give you a taste of multiple cultures all in one setting, which travelers have treasured! The way in which this exact burial site showcases its catacombs will unveil to you hidden details of Greek Civilization combined together with other ones!

4. Alexandria Library

Alexandria City was also once known for containing various authentic groups of books, like the First Greek Translation of the Hebrew Holy Book. The Ancient Library of Alexandria City was the source of enlightenment, infinite knowledge, and a center for art and science across the Mediterranean. It contained millions of scrolls and books on every possible subject. It was constructed in the 3rd century BC, in the Ptolemaic Dynasty, during the reign of Ptolemy II, between 285-246 BC. It was, unfortunately, destroyed by a fire in 48 BC, and a new library by the name of Bibliotheca Alexandria was constructed in 2002. The new library commemorates the spirit of the original ancient library!

5. Pompey Pillar

The Pillar of Pompey is the largest construction of its kind to be built outside the imperial capitals of Rome. It acts as a symbol of the wealth and power that Alexandria enjoyed under Roman rule! It was summoned to the world on behalf of emperor Diocletian by Publius praefectus aegypti in 298-303 AD! People wouldn’t have been honored to sense the limitless grace of the pillar if it wasn’t for a desire to celebrate the Roman emperor’s triumph as a way of gratitude! It’s a piece of Red Granite with two unique sphinxes guarding it, nonetheless, it has managed to bring many questions and reactions from travelers!

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Alexandria City Aesthetically

Apart from the ancient treasures that Alexandria City hosts, included also a wide variety of aesthetics that only it has owned! The city’s aesthetics take so many forms of magic with a wide reputation that did not just pop out of nowhere. If anything, those bunch of aesthetics was given birth to by the city’s legendary climate throughout the four seasons of the year. Not to mention the city’s activities, accompanied by the things to do there, and the luxurious dishes the city offers.

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The Weather of Alexandria City in Each Season

Alexandria City has a delightful climate with warm humid summers and rainy winters throughout the whole year. Spring, from March to May, is when the city is dominated by an average temperature of 11.6 °C (52.8 °F) and 25.2 °C. As for the Summer months, from June to August, the average temperature is 30 °C (86 F)! In fall, from September to November, the city comes to wash the travelers with its temperature scaling between 20 °C (68°F) and 26 °C (79°F)! And in the Winter month, from December to February, the average temperature is 15 °C (59.4 F). With Winter and Spring are the two seasons with the highest rate of newcomers while Fall and Summer follow behind!

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Best Activities & Things to Do in Alexandria City

You will get to watch enchanting different scenes of magic while enjoying the city’s activities! Further, you’ll be another witness among the other witnesses the city pulled around like a magnet, throughout the years with the significance it wraps around the travelers’ minds and hearts. During your trip there, the city will be all yours to tour its centers of entertainment and marvel over its dishes at restaurants and hotels. The city holds the majestic Corniche, the National Alexandria Museum, the Roman Theater, and more, which are sorted out into the following activities offered so you can pick from:

1. Have a Walk at The City’s Corniche

Alexandria has the Corniche, one milestone that feels like the city has devoted to giving travelers a way out of their stress with its fresh air and the serenity it spreads in their hearts! Further, it is a hand lent to whoever needed it to make the peace that travelers might have forgotten existed start to surface again to coat their minds with just one stroll! Especially with the sea’s waves covering the space overlooking it. It’ll feel ten times more heavenly touring the place at night for the stunt show the sea’s waves crashing against each other will produce to you! Not to mention the many cultural aspects of Hurghada will be unfolded to you with the locals scattering here and there and the humble vendors with their carts in the image!

2. Explore the Roman Theater

Among the ancient highly entertaining methods the ancient Romans sought back in time, were the so many performances the Roman Threat used to host! The Roman Threat is the place wherein the Romans lived their time to the fullest under the stunning impact of their musical shows there along with the different auditions offered to empower God that you’ll sense their trials still fresh, there! The site is decorated with granite substance in its own way, also 5 compartments, and limestone walls!

3. Try out Alexandria Food and Drinks!

The Bride of the Mediterranean was not called a banger coastal city for no reason! As for each coastal activity that the city engulfs the travelers in its charm, a number of Egyptian dishes are tucked underneath that can be found at the city’s hotels, restaurants, and even the streets! Alexandria dishes verify their taste and the flavors added to them, from the seafood ones and Mexican to the Italian and oriental that the city offers, and will make you treasure your trip even more!

4. Go Shopping at Alexandrian Main Souk Area

99.9% of travelers find that one way to hold their trips close to their hearts is to buy souvenirs, whether for their beloved ones back home or just as a validation of how blissful their trip was and how much fun they had there! Now you know how much value souvenirs can hold in them will make you include a shopping haul at Alexandrian Main Souk Area into your trip schedule! The area is a space of vitality that pulses with the everyday life of the locals!

It offers you, not only a bunch of souvenirs to grab back home but also a hint of the people’s lifestyle in general! There, you’ll find so many classic and novel pieces that you can bargain over, each of which presents a certain part of Egyptian Culture! From strong-scented original spices and Egyptian customs to ancient antiques and clothes, you can get the best deal out of them while wandering there!

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Conclusion

Our agency "Tours from Hurghada" has planned a collection of trips into the City of Alexandria, since 2004, with utmost time management, that has gotten travelers to feel like spending a whole lifetime exploring just one place! Even more, we are more than careful with the travelers’ needs in a cultural yet thrilling trip that makes them blend so easily with the locals there and act as one, so maybe you need to book a fabulous trip with us!