Alex the city that never met its founder
Foundations of Alexandria:
Alexandria, the city of beauty with all its magnificent history and design will take your heart and mind. And by mentioning the city’s history we can’t miss the story of its founder and foundations.
Alexander the great, who get his name by not losing any battle he entered, ordered to build Alexandria, which was named after him after entering Egypt and kicked the Persians out of it, Alexander announced the rumor of being the actual son of god Amun and announced himself as the official King of Upper and Lower Egypt in the famous Amun Temple in Siwa oasis (The Oracle Temple) and he was crowned by the priests themselves. After he completed his way to north of Egypt, he fell in love of the Egyptian shores from the first sight. Along the shores he found a fishing village called Rhakotis, he was resting with his army at the shores and while that he fall asleep and dreamed with his tutor Homeros telling him to build his city in this location so he felt it as a good Omen. Alexander was used to build a city in every place he entered and take. Immediately he ordered to build the city in the 7th of April 331 B.C and appointed Denocrates of Rhodes the architect of the project with the supervision of his viceroy Cleomenes of Naucratis. Denocrates of Rhodes chose the grid plan (Hippodamian grid plan) which was influential by the Hellenistic city planning. The Hippodame theme consisting of two main roads intersecting at right angles, while other sides streets were planned to be parallel to these perpendicular axes. Such a cityscape was widespread across Greek cities in the 5th century B.C. Denocrates also thought of building a bridge linking the main land with the Island of Pharos at length of 1300 meters named the Heptastadium which divided the main Harbor to two major Harbors, The Great harbor (currently the Eastern harbor) was designed for military vessels and The Moon Gate Harbor (currently the main port of Alexandria) was for commercial use.
The main city consists of five Quarters, bearing the first five letters of the Greek Alphabet. The five Quarters included; The Royal Quarter Brucheum for Greeks, The Jewish Quarter, The Rhakotis for Egyptians which was the poor Quarter where in fact the Egyptians were not welcomed in their own country and this was a very sad fact was going from the time of the 25th Dynasty and The Great Theatre in the middle of the town.
What are the unique things to visit in Alexandria?
In addition to being the richest city in Egypt for long decades as it was the main gate to Egypt, the city has its own charming style from the beginning with the Greek style of buildings as we can see in:
Pharos Lighthouse of Alexandria:
The Pharos Lighthouse of Alexandria was of the Ancient Seven Wonders of the World with a Length between 120 and 137 m. tall and a cost of 800 Talents (unit of weight used in ancient world to weight Gold and Silver) and was built on Pharos Island .
It was built in the time of Soter (Ptolemy I) and finished in the time of his son Philadelphus (Ptolemy II) and served as a prototype for all later lighthouses in the World.
Unfortunately, it was damaged by three earthquakes between 956 and 1323 AD.
The architect was Sostratos a Greek from Asia Minor, he leaved a dedication provides “Sostratos of Cnidus, Son of Dexiphanes, to the savior gods”
The lighthouse was a Tourist Attraction from the very beginning, as there was a platform where the visitors were able to get food and spend their day there.
The Roman Amphitheater:
The Roman Amphitheater with the unique design of the Roman theaters it said that there were 400 of them; it is located in Kom El-Dikka area nowadays.
It was built in the 4th Century A.D and was still in use till the 7th Century A.D.
It was said that theater was covered over by a roof supported by huge columns to mostly protect people from heat and rain. However, it was destroyed by the major earthquake that struck Alexandria in the 6th Century A.D.
Off of the theater portico, recent finds also include several auditoriums (auditoria); which are small lecture halls with stone seating of various designs, dating to the 5th and 6th Centuries A.D. there were not the first to be found, but they bring the number of the auditoriums around the theater to a total of 13.
The most prominent feature of all of these lecture halls is an elevated seat, placed in the middle of the stage, which was most probably intended for the lecturer.
Pompey’s Pillar:
A major restoration project of the site of Pompey’s Pillar in Alexandria was recently completed by the Super Council of Antiquities. So you will be relaxed while discovering this pillar with its weird rumor about the head of General Pompey.
It is now an impressive open museum and one of the finest archeological examples of the Greco-Roman period in Egyptian history. Pompey’s Pillar itself stands at the top of a hill in the oldest part of the city of Alexandria. Once the site of an ancient Egyptian village called Rhakotis, the area became known during Ptolemaic times as the “Alexandria Acropolis”.
The Catacombs of Kom El-Shoqafa:
It’s the 28th of September 1900, a normal day with a donkey hauling a cart full of stone, but suddenly made a misstep and disappeared into a hole in the ground. If that is right this poor thing has made one of the most astonishing discoveries in the archeological history.
Archeologists speculate that Kom El Shoqafa was started as a tomb for a single wealthy family, but was expanded to a larger burial site for unknown reasons. Most likely the facility was eventually run by a corporation which was supported by members who paid regular dues.
The catacomb consisted of three stories, each one has many burial openings to bury the bodies, and the body was get down with a rope due to the small space. The catacombs has a space for the families to spend the day with their dead one, it was very normal to spent the whole day there and to eat and drink inside the catacomb.
