Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi Mosque in Alexandria, with ornate domes and minarets
Discover Alexandria and the Wonders of Ancient Egypt
Alexandria has spent more than 2,000 years facing the Mediterranean, gathering influences from ancient Egypt, the Greek and Roman worlds, Christianity and Islam along the way. That history appears beneath modern streets in Roman remains and ancient catacombs, beside the sea at the Citadel of Qaitbay, and in churches, mosques and museums spread across the city. Even the waterfront tells part of the story, from the site of the lost Pharos lighthouse to the striking modern form of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina., and in churches, mosques and museums spread across the city. Even the waterfront tells part of the story, from the site of the lost Pharos lighthouse to the striking modern form of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
The city also has a strong Greek legacy, preserved in the Church of the Annunciation, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, and a Greco-Roman Museum filled with thousands of objects connected with Egypt and Alexandria. Other collections reach beneath the Mediterranean itself, including finds recovered from the submerged palace associated with Cleopatra. Alexandria has never belonged to just one era, and that is what makes it so fascinating. From here, Egypt opens out on a much larger scale, with Cairo bringing you face-to-face with the Pyramids of Giza, the Great Sphinx, and extraordinary collections devoted to ancient Egyptian civilization, while El Alamein preserves the memory of one of the decisive campaigns of the Second World War in North Africa.
Celestyal Cruises to Alexandria
Alexandria cruise port highlights
Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa in Alexandria
Alexandria’s History, from Ancient Catacombs to the Modern Library
Alexandria’s past sometimes lies quite literally beneath your feet. The Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa descend through three levels of funerary chambers dating from the second century AD, one of the clearest reminders of the city’s long Roman period. Back at the waterfront, the Citadel of Qaitbay occupies a site with an even older story. It was here that the Pharos lighthouse once stood, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
The Bibliotheca Alexandrina could hardly be more different. Created as a modern successor to Alexandria’s celebrated ancient library, its contemporary architecture has become one of the city’s defining landmarks. Inside are collections including the Antiquities Museum and Scrolls Museum. Nearby, the Abu El Abbas El Mursi Mosque stands beneath four domes and tall minarets, adding another chapter to a city where ancient, Islamic, and modern landmarks often sit remarkably close together.
Great Sphinx of Giza with the pyramids in the background.
Cairo, the Pyramids, and Ancient Egypt
Few monuments carry the weight of history quite like the Pyramids of Giza. The Great Pyramid of Khufu is the only surviving Wonder of the Ancient World, standing on the plateau alongside the pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure. Below them, the Great Sphinx has watched over the complex for thousands of years.
Egypt’s ancient story continues inside two remarkable museums. The Grand Egyptian Museum houses more than 100,000 artifacts, including the complete treasure collection of Tutankhamun together with objects spanning prehistoric, Pharaonic, Greek, and Roman Egypt. In Fustat, the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization takes an even broader view, following Egyptian history from prehistory to the modern age and giving the country’s ancient kings and queens a powerful presence in the Royal Mummies Hall.
El Alamein War Cemetery
El Alamein and the Desert War
About 110 kilometers west of Alexandria, El Alamein marks one of the most important battlefields of the Second World War in North Africa. In 1942, Allied forces commanded by General Bernard Montgomery stopped the advance of Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps here, a victory that helped turn the campaign against the Axis powers.
The Military Museum brings the battle into sharp focus through weapons, uniforms, tanks, and accounts of the commanders and soldiers involved. Nearby, Commonwealth, Italian, and German cemeteries stand between desert and sea. Their ordered rows of graves make the human cost of the campaign impossible to overlook, giving this quiet stretch of Mediterranean coast a gravity very different from Alexandria’s busy waterfront.