Egypt Travelogue - Alexandria Part 1

The walk and the camel ride in Giza made us to crave for food. We enjoyed a great dinner with Falafel, Khosheri (lentils cooked with rice) fresh salad and dates.  We managed to go around the shopping mall near Hilton and enjoyed the Nile walk.  Our plan is to visit Alexandria the next day. Again it was quite an excitement to talk about the ancient city Alexandria which kindled memories of childhood when our Mother used to tell us about the great library of Alexandria, Ptolemy, Alexander, and the burning of the library.  There is always some connection some expectation about Alexandria as if I have lived in the past centuries as a scholar walking through the aisles of that ancient library. The hotel arranged a personal tour guide with the van to take us by road the next day.

Sharp at 7.00am we started our trip from Cairo. The driver took the desert road which again makes you think about the caravans of the olden days and the exotic tales of the desert and the people. Now, the desert is getting modernized. We could see the tech city with its glamorous corporate offices and a huge military training ground on one side and on the other side palatial farms and villas. The desert is shrinking.  Wayside rest area called Transit is clean. Remember to keep some Egyptian pounds in small denomination as there is a fee to use the rest rooms. Alexandria was built by Alexander the Great in 331 BC. We also passed through the modern toll gate to enter the city like the old caravans from the south did centuries ago.


The Mediterranian breeze welcomed us when we entered the city. The first stop is to look at the catacombs. This area used to be the ancient port of Alexandria. The tour guide told us an interesting story about how a donkey cart fell down into a hole and thus the catcombs were discovered. However there are different theories on that from the scholarly circle. Leave that contorversy aside, the catacombs are created from solid limestone rock in three levels. The dead bodies used to be lowered into the stairwell by ropes. The inner chamber or the rotunda is supported by eight pillars. The sarcophagi or a offering room where the food was kept for the dead and the visiting families used this as a dining room. The catcombs dates back to 2nd century AD and one can find both Egyptian and Roman influence in the carvings around the chamber. Around the rotunda in the hallway are the numberous burial chambers. Photography is not allowed inside the catcombs.

The Pompey's pillar and the Roman Theatre are the next attractions. The pillar is made up of pink granite and there are three sphinxes guarding the acropolis. This area used to be a temple dedicated to the Roman God  Serapis. The pillar is roughly about 30 M tall. More excavations are going on. In the 2nd century Alexandria has accomodated the Pharonic Egyptian, Hellenistic, Jewish, Roman, Coptic and later centuries by Islamic groups.  The Theatre shows the murals and the seatings. It is not extensive like the Greek Theatre found in Epidarus but still one can imagine the vast field with galleries in the ancient times.

We had lunch in a restaurant with the view of the mediterranean sea. I was thinking perhaps Marcus Aurelius, Cleopatra, and Ptolemy would have seen the same sea from their fort too. The Mediterranean sea with its turquoise blue water was gently sending waves as if nothing happened in the past and everything is fresh like its cool breeze.

The citadel or the Fort Qaitbey is the location of a naval museum and defense complex. The fort was built in the 14th century and also subsequently Sultan Al Ghoury constructed the outer walls.  The fort's main tower was built on the site where the ancient lighthouse tower once stood.  We found many stray cats near the pier, Who knows may be they have a royal ancestry of one of those Cleopatra's cats!!

Oh..h it is getting late. We have to go to the Library of Alexandria.