Alexandria is a 3 hour drive from Cairo, on the Mediteranean coast. It is a much older city than Cairo with a population of around 5 million and is enjoyed as a costal vacation destination especially in the hot summers. The streets generally are very narrow and choked with cars, trucks, trams and donkey carts!

We were taken to see the Catacombs of Kom ash-Suqqafa (no photos allowed!), and then to Pompey’s Pillar (a 25m granite column in honour of emperor Diocletian located over the debris of the ancient settlement of Rhakotis (the original township out of which Alexandria grew). We then visited Fort Qaitbey guarding the entrance to the Eastern Harbour, built over the remains of the Pharos lighthouse in 1480. Finally we were taken to the new Alexanria Library, bill over the site of the famous ancient library established by Ptolomy in 283 BC and destroyed in the third and fourth century AD.

Tomorrow we visit the Egyptian Museum as well as Coptic Cairo and mosques and synagogues and finally the Khan El Khalili Bazzar before a late evening flight to Aswan.

Mosque in Qaitbey Fortress

Pompey’s Pillar 1

Pompey’s Pillar 2

Hoopoe at Pompey’s Pillar

Lins and Ahmad at Alexandria Library

L+P at Qaitbey Fortress

Alexandria street 1

Alexandria street 2

Grounds of Qaitbey Fortress

Eastern Harbour from Qaitbey Fortress

Qaitbey Fortress