Alexandria
Alexandria (Arabic: Al-Iskandariyah; popularly known as Alex) is a major city in northern Egypt, about 114 miles from Cairo. Covering 25 miles (40 km) east to west, Alexandria lies on the Mediterranean Sea at the western edge of the Nile River delta. Chosen by Alexander the Great as the capital of his empire, Alexandria was one of the greatest cities in the Greco-Roman world. It was famed for its great library (which has recently been rebuilt) and the Pharos lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Although it is now only a shadow of its once cosmopolitan self, Alexandria still contains several sights of religious interest, including temple ruins, a Coptic cathedral, excellent museums, and several beautiful mosques.
Alexandria Travel Resources
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See our Alexandria Map for a closer view. |
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Religious Attractions in Alexandria
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Built over the tomb of a 13th-century Spanish Sufi saint, this 18th-century mosque topped with lacy domes is the most beautiful in Alexandria.
Housed in a restored palace, this new museum contains three floors of chronologically-arranged artifacts from the Pharaonic period to the 19th century.
This is a spectacularly modern reincarnation of the famed ancient Library of Alexandria, the center of learning in the Greek world.
Founded in 1892, the Greco-Roman Museum in Alexandria attractively displays a collection of classical artifacts from Alexandria and elsewhere in Egypt.
Very little remains of the great Temple of Serapis, the most important sacred site in ancient Alexandria. It was infamously destroyed by Bishop Theophilus in 391 AD.
The seat of the Pope of Alexandria, head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, this church is believed to stand on the site of the church founded by St. Mark the Evangelist.
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