Alexandria is the second largest city in Egypt, an important seaport in Africa, a historic city, and a summer resort on the Mediterranean coast. In 332 BC, during the reign of Alexander I of Greek Macedonia, the city was founded and named after him as the capital. From 305 BC to 30 BC it became the capital of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt. Cleopatra was born in 69 BC in cleopatra at the Egyptian Palace in Alexandria. At that time, Alexander was a center of trade and cultural exchanges between the Mediterranean and Eastern countries, attracting merchants, scholars, literati, etc. from all over the world.
Alexandria Gabeyi Castle
Due to the influence of the sea, Alexandria City here has no severe cold in winter, no heat in summer, full of sunshine and fresh air, and is a world-famous summer resort, known as the "Pearl of the Mediterranean". The 26-kilometre-long Promenade is known as a symbol of the city's character, with high-rise buildings, supermarkets and restaurants abounding. On the one hand, the vast Mediterranean Sea is the surface, and on the other hand, the modern buildings are scattered, lined with trees, flowers and plants, and the scenery is charming. At the eastern end of the Promenade is montazah (also known as the Summer Palace) and at the western end is the Las Edin Palace (also known as the Winter Palace).
Mediterranean exoticism
The Corniche – old and modern
The oldest tram system in Africa
The Pompeii Column is the most famous relic left over from the city today. The emblem of Alexandria, Egypt, the Pompeii Column (Savali Stone Column), also known as the Knight's Column, is a 27-meter-high granite stone column built around the time of the Roman Emperor Diocletian around the first century AD, and the pillar is topped with a flower-shaped pillar head, which was originally part of the Temple of Sarapion. The columns are dotted with works of art from the Pharaonic period as a foil, such as two black granite Sphinx statues from the end of the 18th Dynasty (with their heads damaged), two red granite sphinxes from the Ptolemaic Dynasty, and nearby statues of Ramses II and Samtic I.
This article is written with Pompeii Pillar
The symbol of Alexandria, the Pompeii Column
For hundreds of years, Pompeii has left behind many anecdotes. The Crusader generals mistakenly believed that the ancient Roman general Pompeii (106-48 BC) was defeated by Caesar, fled to Egypt, died at the hands of the Egyptians, and his ashes were stored in the urn at the top of the column, so Europeans and Americans still call it Pompeii pillar. For more than 1,000 years, Alexandria has experienced vicissitudes, and many famous monuments have either become ruins or disappeared, but The Pillar of Pompeii stands majestically and is now the symbol of Alexandria.
Historical sites around the Pompeii Column
The Lighthouse of Alexandria is one of the Seven Architectural Wonders of the Ancient World. The ruins are on the island of Faros on the outskirts of Alexandria, Egypt. The lighthouse was built around 280-278 BC and destroyed by a major earthquake of 1326. The giant 135-meter-high lighthouse stood for more than 1,000 years before it was destroyed by an earthquake. In 1477, the Egyptians built a castle on the site, The Castle of Gabey. In 1966, the castle was opened as the Egyptian Maritime Museum, exhibiting paintings, models, objects, etc., introducing Egypt's shipbuilding industry and maritime history.
Gabeyi Castle
Founded in the 3rd century BC, the Library of Alexandria was the largest, most literate and most complete library in the world at that time, with a collection of 900,000 volumes in its heyday. In 391 AD, the Roman Bishop of Afiro in Egypt ordered the burning of the library of Alexandria. This marked the end of Egypt's classical cultural period and the beginning of the medieval cultural period in Europe. Designed by Norwegian architects, construction began in 1995 and was fully completed in 2001. The main building of the library is cylindrical in shape, and the top is a semicircular dome, which has a strong visual impact. The most distinctive part of the building is a sloping roof made of aviation steel and glass that plunges diagonally into the ground and into the pool that surrounds the library. The library covers a total area of 85,000 square meters, including a conference center, a science museum, a planetarium and an information research school.
library
Scenery around the library
Montaza Garden(Montaza Garden), also known as "Egyptian Summer Palace", "Taza Garden", etc., is located at the eastern end of the Corniche, is the former king and royal family members to escape the summer palace, so also known as the summer palace, is a Florentine style garden building.
Montazah Palace
Montazah Palace Gardens
The main buildings of Alexandria are concentrated in the more than 20 kilometers long corniche
The main buildings of Alexandria are concentrated in the Mediterranean bay area of more than 20 kilometers, and it is a diverse city that combines ancient and modern, and traditional Islamic customs and Western civilization are intertwined. The construction of the Gaybeyi Castle, the Winter and Summer Palaces on the site of the Alexander Lighthouse, as well as numerous Greco-Roman historical sites and libraries, make the city of Alexandria full of classical and nostalgic atmosphere.
Sun Keqin wrote and photographed