Alexandria, Egypt

A hybrid city dubbed the "Capital of Memory" by Durrell, ALEXANDRIA (El-Iskandariya in Arabic) turns its back on the rest of Egypt and faces the Mediterranean, as if contemplating its glorious past. One of the great cities of antiquity, Alex slumbered for 1300 years until it was revived by Mohammed Ali and transformed by Europeans, who gave the city its present shape and made it synonymous with cosmopolitanism and decadence. This era came to an end in the 1950s with the mass flight of non-Egyptians and a short-lived dose of revolutionary puritanism, but Alexandria's beaches, restaurants and breezy climate still attract hordes of Cairenes during the summer, while its jaded historical and literary mystique remains appealing to foreigners.

Alex encourages nostalgia trips and random exploration, if only because the "sights" are limited and chance incidents often more revealing. Don't be afraid of following your nose and deviating from the usual itineraries, which could be completed in a day or so if you focus on the city's monumental highlights. The Roman Theatre and Villa of Birds at Kom el-Dikka and the spooky Catacombs of Kom es-Shoqafa are musts, as is the city's magnificent new library and Alexandria National Museum, exhibiting statues and other artefacts dredged from ancient cities on the seabed. If you also want to savour the ambience and literary mystique of the former European and "native" quarters, allow two or three days.

lexandria, Egypt was founded by Alexander the Great in April 331 BC ,and became the capital of the Graeco-Egyptian world. The second largest city in Egypt, Alexandria also was called "The Pearl of the Mediterranean". The ancient port city was home for one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World - The Pharos of Alexandria (The Lighthouse of Alexandria). The port served as a primary center for commerce and trade linking Europe with the Middle East and all other points along the Mediterranean Sea. It was an important route for merchants and travelers of ancient times that allowed for trade and cultural exchange between emergent peoples of the region. Within a few generations Alexandria become the largest city in the world second only to Rome. Much of the city design and construction came under the rule of Ptolemy and his successors, later by the Roman Empire. The city was not only a center for trade but also became the worlds first center for cultural and scientific research. The Musaeum at Alexandria (Museum of Alexander) also known as the Library of Alexandria become an important world center for Greek music, poetry, a philosophical school and library. The famous institution brought together some of the best scholars of the Hellenistic world paving the way for advancing the study of mathematics, astrology, anatomy to name a few. Alexandria also served as the setting for the stormy relationship between Cleopatra and Julios Ceasar and Mark Antony. The city remained an important trading port until a series of eartquakes and tidal waves pushed the city into decline. By the time Napoleon landed he found a sparsely populated fishing village.