Travel: The city that fell into the sea
The Observer ( Dan Whitaker)
More than a million Britons journeyed to Egypt last year. Almost all of them either battled the regimented coach parties to glimpse ancient Pharaonic monuments, or flocked to the beach resorts that offer world-class diving and windsurfing, and which sadly are also devastating the ecology of the Red Sea coast. But there are many other Egypts.
One of the country's neglected places is Alexandria, immodestly named by its founder, Alexander the Great. This Mediterranean port is also famous as the home of Queen Cleopatra, from the days when it vied with Rome as the world's greatest city, trading every ancient commodity and boasting 700,000 scrolls in its library. A second era of celebrity came in the century up until the 1950s, when Alexandria's commercial prowess came again to the fore, allowing a cosmopolitan hedonism captured in the novels of Lawrence Durrell and others. Now the foreigners are gone (though its 30km of beachfront draws Egyptians in the summer) and it has something of the taste of old Havana. Once-imperious early 20th-century buildings stand in glorious dilapidation along the waterfront Corniche and twisting backstreets.
See the above page for the full story.
- Cosmopolitan Alexandria Endangered
Al Masry Al Youm (Fatma Keshk) “The city of Alexander,” “The second Egyptian capital,” “The cosmopolitan city,” “The bride of the Mediterranean;” so many are the names given to Alexandria. In the old quarters of the city, first built in...
- Fate Of Ancient Egyptian Library A Mystery
The Bismarck Tribune (Carol M. Russell) No one can find Alexander the Great. He was buried in Alexandria after his body was brought back from Babylon where he died in 323 BC at age 33. Theories of his death range from poisoning to appendicitis. Why can't...
- Alexandria The Crossroads
Saudi Aramco World (Edward Lewis) With photographs. Visitors to Alexandria are usually surprised by two features: the extent to which the city contributed to and shaped the Mediterranean world, and the complete lack of physical evidence that demonstrates...
- Alexander The Great And The Legacy Of Alexandria
Daily Mail (Bettany Hughes) There is not, and has never been, another city to match it. It was a glittering metropolis, home to the most sexually charismatic queen of all time, founded by a man whose megalomaniac ambitions knew no bounds. It was a buzzing...
- Tourism: Alexandria's Efforts To Lure Visitors
Earth Times Alexandria, Egypt - Just mention Alexandria and the name city rekindles the Pharoh era when the city was the location of a lighthouse that was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Library of Alexandria was the biggest at that...