ALEXANDRIA (EG)
A Great City, the city of Alexander the Great. Alexandria is the 2nd largest city and the main port of Egypt. It is located to the west of the Nile Delta, built on a long narrow isthmus between Lake Mareotis and the Mediterranean Sea.Modern Alexandria has developed into a major sea freight hub and serves about 80% of Egyptian imports and exports. It is also a famous tourist destination and an important industrial center due to the oil and gas pipelines that start from Suez.

MY OPINION:
After several hours on the bus and after we had left Cairo early in the morning, we arrived at the city of Alexander the Great. And arriving at the entrance of this “Great” city, the first thing you see is the inscription Alexandria in Greek. This is something that makes you feel immediately familiar, if you belong to Hellenism and that’s how I felt too. So I was in Alexandria and of course I had a plan, clearly my first visit would be the Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and then the house of the famous Greek poet Costas Cavafy, which today is a museum.

And after I had fulfilled my “tama”, implementing my program as I mentioned above, immediately afterwards I ran to see what else I could see of this historic and huge city. The library, the lighthouse and the cornice of Alexandria were must visits. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see enough because Alexandria is not just for visiting. It is a city that even a week to devote to it is not enough!

ALEXANDRIA’s HISTORY
It was founded in 331 BC. by Alexander the Great and is the second capital of modern Egypt after Cairo. In ancient times it was the most important port and capital of the country, while in its heyday it was the largest economic center of the whole of North Africa and one of the most prominent centers of culture in the world, famous for its library and its lighthouse, one of the seven wonders of of the world, built on the homonymous island.

HELLENISM IN ALEXANDRIA
The story of Hellenism in Alexandria goes back more than two millennia and starts by the placement of the foundation stone in 331 BC by Alexander the Great. The presence of the Greek element through time is sometimes leading and sometimes less. In later years it becomes the “Favorite City” of our great poet C.P. Cavafy, the space and the past of Hellenistic time in most of his historical poems. In the neighborhoods of the same state unfolds the plot of the Bat, the third book of the trilogy “Drifting States” of Stratis Tsirkas. “What summed up the word thyself: Alexandria? … Five races, five languages, a dozen religions, five fleets slot the waters…And only the Greek demotic seems to stand out…” writes Lawrence Durrell.

The presence of Greeks in Alexandria, is still evident and characteristic. In the city the eye of the traveler falls into shops with Greek names, in prestigious neoclassical buildings of Greek architects, in street names or even entire neighborhoods. Most of the Europeans and especially the Greeks arrived in Alexandria in the 18th century and intensified in the 19th, during the government of Mohamed Ali, who was a reformer of the country and founder of modern Egypt. It is then, shortly after the Greek revolution, which starts a growing wave of immigration to Alexandria and begins the period of the so-called European and cosmopolitan history of the city. The port, main hub of the country, is one of the greatest and most famous ports in the Mediterranean.

The Greeks excelled in countless economic sectors, such as cultivation, the invention of the most important varieties, production, processing and trade of cotton, tobacco and grain, the beverage industry, the financial sector, as well as a multitude of economic and commercial activities. The Community members kept most of the shops, restaurants, theater and cinemas, nightclubs, hotels, greengrocers, grocers, baker, pastry shops, print shops, photo studios, and many workers worked in various projects for the building of the city. In the early twentieth century the number of Greeks in Alexandria exceeded the one hundred and twenty thousand. The Greek community was the largest foreign community in Alexandria at the time. Its members had a large number of clubs, sports clubs, groups of artistic activities, literary publications.

The Greeks distinguished particularly in literature, the visual arts and in many scientific fields (medicine, pharmacology, agronomy, architecture, etc.).

MUST SEE – Bibliotheca Alexandrina
One of the best things to do in Alexandria Egypt is to visit the legendary Bibliotheca Alexandrina. This is the modern rendition of the ancient Library of Alexandria, which was said to have held more knowledge and books than anywhere else in the ancient world. The ancient library was lost however when the city was burnt to the ground by Julius Ceasar during the wars with Rome. Although the scrolls and books were consigned to history and Alexandria fell from grace, the city’s reputation as a place for learning has never diminished. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina is a huge cultural project that pays homage to the ancient library but at the same operates as a marvelous place of learning in its own right. Although it was only opened in 2002, the library has already amassed hundreds of thousands of books, while the museums on site see thousands of visitors passing through their doors each week.

PLACES TO VISIT:
1. Cleopatra’s Palace
Nothing can quite beat the Ruins of Cleopatra’s Palace in Alexandria, and not just because this is an incredibly important Archeological site, but because the ruins are actually Underwater. Nowhere else shows visitors the scale of change that has swept through Alexandria through the ages more than Cleopatra’s Palace. She was the infamous last Queen of the city and met her demise at the hands of the Romans. Her once glorious palace was destined to be swept beneath the waves after a huge earthquake struck the coast, an ignoble end to the last Queen of Egypt’s legacy. Today, you can join Scuba diving tours that head into the harbor to explore the fascinating underwater ruins. 

2. Tour the Citadel of Qaitbay 
The Citadel of Qaitbay is another of the best things to do in Alexandria Egypt, and it will give you the chance to again explore the city’s more recent history. Recent in this instance is the 15th century when the fortress was constructed by Sultan Qaitbay to guard the entrance to the important harbor at Alexandria. 

3. The Stanley Bridge
It is one of the most iconic sights in Alexandria, and walking across this wide work of exceptional engineering is a must-do while you are in the city. The 400-meter long bridge is complete with huge towers and plenty of viewing areas. It’s best seen at night, but it does get busy as half of Alexandria seems to turn up for a walk across the bridge. 

4. Souk El-Attarine
This is a maze of shops selling tea, spices, quirky antiques and handmade furniture. Souk El Attarine is one of the most famous commercial districts of El Attarine District in Alexandria, and has long been full of perfumery shops. However, its activity has turned recently to paintings, antiques, artistic antiquities, home furnishings, and Najaf. It is a place that will surprise and impress you by offering you unique images and experiences.

5. The Palaifate Patriarchate of Alexandria
Third in line after the Patriarchates of Rome and Constantinople, the Palaifate Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa, was in its heyday one of the most brilliant Christian churches of the East.

The Patriarch of Alexandria is second in the embassies of honor of the patriarchs after the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and holds the title “Pope and Patriarch of the great city of Alexandria, Libya, Pentapolis, Ethiopia, all the land of Egypt and all Africa, Father of Fathers, Shepherd of Shepherds, High Priest of High Priests, third and tenth of the Apostles and Judge of the Universe”.

The Patriarchate is located in the district of Attarin, Alexandria, near the place where the Great Greek poet Constantine Cavafy once lived. The Patriarch is an important element of the remaining Greeks of Egypt.

#travellingisaknowledge
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