The drive from Cairo to Alexandria is long but easy, especially if you've got a private driver which is ridiculously affordable. After driving through the desert, our first stop was to see the catacombs at Kom el-Shoqafa. They were pretty serious about not letting cameras in, which is too bad because I loved exploring the necropolis.
Legend has it that the catacombs were discovered by accident when a donkey fell through the ground in 1900. After that, archaeologists excavated the area, discovering a wide spiral staircase that descends into room after room of underground tombs.
The next stop was to visit Pompey's Pillar. This is a great example of getting history wrong, but sticking with their story anyway. It was thought that the 25+ meter tall column served as a tombstone for Pompey after his murder in Egypt in the 1st century, hence the name. In fact, Pompey had been dead for at least a couple hundred years by the time the pillar was erected in honor of Diocletain, a Roman emperor who had captured Alexandria.
Ruins have been unearthed here.
There is a pair of underground galleries. The first one we entered was a long corridor with cool, porous walls and a statue of a bull at the end.
And the second gallery? We were maybe 50 paces in, right before the corridor turned, when the power died. As good as it felt to stand in the chilled, subterranean air, the darkness and uneven path meant we did a pretty quick U turn after trying to go just a few more paces.
For me, the highlight of Alexandria was the Qaitbay Citadel. The famous Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, once stood here but over the centuries, it eventually succumbed to a series of earthquakes. Historians suspect that many of the enormous stone blocks used in the fort's walls were part of the original lighthouse.
The citadel was built in the 15th century when the Turks threatened to invade Egypt. The Turks did in fact invade despite the citadel, but it remained standing. At various times in the following centuries, the fort alternated between expanding and being improved and falling into disrepair.
The floor plan is a basic square. The mosque in the center, enclosed by a hallway with several rooms off of it. The mosque is the second oldest in the city.
Viraj and I took our time on the second floor. The stones and arches were certainly beautiful but they also allowed the most refreshing sea breeze to circulate.
City and harbor views from the defensive walls of Qaitbay Citadel.
Our last stop was to visit the modern Library of Alexandria. The ancient library housed an impressive collection that made it an international beacon of knowledge and power in the centuries long before the printing press, but was ultimately destroyed by several fires. The library today, built in 2002, stands near the site of the original library. It features permanent and temporary exhibits in addition to its Arabic, English, and French titles.
