Cheap Flights to Alexandria

Alexandria, an ancient seaport city, is the second-largest city in Egypt (2006 population 4,110,015). Serving about 80% of Egypt's imports and exports, Alexandria is also an important tourism destination. Situated along the Mediterranean Sea, the city was once home to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (the Library of Alexandria) -- the largest library in the ancient world. In ancient times, Alexandria was one of the most famous cities in the world. Founded around a small paranoiac town in 334 BC by Alexander the Great, Alexandria remained the capital of Egypt for nearly a thousand years. Ongoing underwater archaeological excavations in Alexandria s Harbour reveal insights into the city before and after the arrival of Alexander the Great, when a city named Rhakotis existed during the Ptolemaic dynasty. Rhakotis is believed to have been a town filled with fishermen and pirates. The great Lighthouse of Alexandria, no longer standing today, was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Alexandria is also the birthplace of the famous Cleopatra, who made strategic political moves and relationships throughout her life for the protection of her beloved Alexandria.

Very little of the sophisticated ancient city has survived, and much of the royal and civic quarters sank beneath the Harbour due to earthquake subsidence, and others having been built over in modern times. Pompey's Pillar is the best-known ancient monument still standing in Alexandria today. Located on Alexandria's ancient acropolis, it was originally part of a temple colonnade. Constructed from a single piece of granite, the pillar is approximately 396 tonnes. The original structure was demolished in the 4th century, when a bishop declared that Paganism must be erased. Alexandria's catacombs (discovered accidentally in the 1800's) are a short distance from the pillar, and consist of a multi-level labyrinth, reached via spiral staircase. The catacombs feature dozens of chambers adorned with sculpted pillars, statues, burial niches and sarcophagi, and a large Roman-style banquet room where relatives of the deceased would conduct memorial meals. Visit the Alexandria National Museum, which contains approximately 1,800 artifacts that narrate the story of Alexandria and Egypt. The museum displays mummies, archaeological underwater findings, the Coptic, Islamic and Modern eras.