Beyond Cairo, the delta expands, as a vast corolla furrowed with canals and Nile branches of the fertile plain, with tons of alluvium deposited by the river, so carefully cultivated that looks like a huge vegetable garden. Cotton, rice, fruits, vegetables and flowers constitute the wealth of this region. At the edge of the vast desert grow crops arena.Las stolen land to the ancient capitals, Sais and Tanis have disappeared in body and soul, leaving behind villages and towns crowned with mosques and lively day and night.
Here once stood in the glorious days of the Pharaohs, a small fishing village, Rakotis. When Alexander the Great landed in Egypt, wanted to make it their capital and make the Egyptian coast with its indelible mark. Thus was born Alexandria, which lighthouse, first built in the world, and for several centuries that illuminates the Mediterranean. Capital of the arts and letters, favorite city of kings and queens, scholars, housed within it one of the most famous romantic passions of all time: that of Cleopatra and Mark Antonio.Después the Arab conquest, and as lost its capital status for Cairo, Alexandria city kept its specificity more open to the Mediterranean to Egypt. Full of communities like Greek, Jewish and Armenian, and a favorite of foreigners, seems to pout into the país.Aunque today there are few descendants of those communities, the city remains from that period in its history a particular environment. The walk along the ledge is inescapable. Undoubtedly, those nostalgic for the cosmopolitan city described by Lawrence Durrell be disappointed. Missing and elegance walking, umbrella in hand and faded the beautiful foreign cars. The buildings that border, despite its antiquated charm, resist evil in the sea air that corrodes. Do not forget that Alexandria is the favorite holiday destination of cairotas.A along the arc of the ledge, families and lovers wander as you sip an ice cream. You can admire the baskets of fish and shellfish fresh from the sea, and watch the old, mending nets while dreaming of Marseille "where the fish out of water alone." In short, you can enjoy life.
The cafes of Alexandria
Huge rooms with antique paintings and large mirrors scattered, large terraces facing the sea, Alexandria cafes are classics of the genre, almost trademark of this Mediterranean city. Old Alexandrians, those who claim to be the "true", since his family is installed there since Alexander the Great (at least), spend hours, cigarette in the corner of his mouth, watching the sea, indifferent to the hubbub. When the wind is too strong, they come inside and engage in endless games of dominoes, or immersed for hours in the newspaper. Meanwhile, their wives will enjoy tea and cream cakes in the bakeries of the square Saad Zaglul. To believe that the British never left Alexandria ...
The fort of Qaitbay
At the north end of the East Bay are erected the battlements of this fortress Mamluk, built in 1480 at the site of the lighthouse of Alexandria, destroyed following two earthquakes in the eleventh and fourteenth centuries. Keeper of the bay, strong wipes stoically, for centuries, the anger of the White Sea, Mediterranean Arabic name.
The palace of Ras el-Tin
To the west of the fort, Faruq lived one of the most important pages of the history of contemporary Egypt, signed his abdication, ending with royalty. In the nearby beaches stretch craft small yards, where workers build, with very little machinery, wooden luxury boats for rich Gulf emirs.
The neighborhood of Anfuchi
Between the fort and the palace was once the sailors' quarter, known especially for their houses nearby, closed today. However, popular walking through the streets, the visitor will find pleasant cafes decorated with tiles, and special fish restaurants where you choose what you will taste the same.
The Roman theater (Km Dikker)
In this space, located near the central station, has been excavated since the early 1960's. Subsequent excavations have brought to light various public monuments situated in the heart of Old Town, as a theater, public baths, cisterns and a residential neighborhood. At the entrance of the site presents statues rescued from the sea, next to Fort Qaitbay, by a team of French archaeologists Jean-Yves Empereur. In 2002 construction began on a new museum dedicated to the mosaics.
Pompey's column and the Catacombs of Kom el-Shuqafa
30 meters of height built in pink granite from Aswan, the column of Pompey would be the gift of the people of Alexandria to Emperor Diocletian who, faced with a rebellion, resigned to destroy the city and massacre its inhabitants. Remains found around the spine is exposed, mostly in the Greco-Roman Museum.
At the top of the hill is the entrance to the catacombs of Kom el-Shuqafa, dating from the first and second centuries AD C. They were discovered at the edge of the twentieth century by chance, when the floor collapsed under the weight of a donkey. The unfortunate fell more than ten meters. The story does not count if the animal survived in any case allowed to discover more than 300 graves, arranged along an articulated network of around a large roundabout.
Alexandria, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina
The library of Alexandria was inaugurated in October 2002. The architects have designed a huge glass and aluminum cylinder 160 meters in length, cut and bevel facing the sea. Inside, hundreds of slender concrete columns with capitals in the form of a lotus flower on which both support the roof, overlooking the reading room of 7,000 m2. In the building are also a pocket that serves as a lecture hall, planetarium equipped with Imax dome and an archaeological museum. In the basement are preserved nearly 8,000 ancient manuscripts and rare books studied and digitized, making them easier to consultation in the reading room. (The Shatby, tel.: 483 99 99)
The school Alexandrian
Created in 1990, its goal is to design the face and the topography of the capital of the Ptolemies, of Alexander (332 BC) Cleopatra (30 BC). Mediated the discovery of the remains is the Lighthouse of Alexandria. The adventure would have deserved being in the field of dreams. In 1993, a layer of concrete was poured at the foot of Fort Qaitbay in the extreme west of the harbor, to consolidate it. The school then made Alexandrians a race against time and took the waters of the Mediterranean a bust of a woman in red granite. It is the first piece that was saved from the waters. Follow many: thousands of columns, capitals, fragments of an obelisk at the time of Seti I, 14 sphinxes and colossal statues. In other parts of Alexandria, the center has unearthed a necropolis and some magnificent mosaics. Gradually, the design of the City of Cleopatra emerges from underground.
The discovery of the Lighthouse of Alexandria
Since 1990, a team of Egyptian and French researchers, led by Jean-Yves Empereur Hellenistic, excavating the city of Alexander the Great. Its discovery-mediated, was disputed by some of the remains of the lighthouse of Alexandria, which for centuries lay 8 meters below the water, near the fort of Qaitbay. In addition to the blocks from the seventh wonder of the world, archaeologists divers discovered, with surprise, a real "shock" of antiquities prior to the Ptolemies. Fragments of an obelisk of Seti I, 14 sphinxes, statues. We counted more than 2,000 blocks that lay on more than 2 hectares. Some pieces have already been pulled from the water and overburden. But the team has for years of work.
Beaches of Alexandria
The beaches of Alexandria are very well-deserved popularity. Starting with the beautiful promenade in the city itself, its magnificent beaches stretch along more than 140 km to the east and west of the city. In summer, Cairenes flock to Alexandria to enjoy its sandy beaches. To escape the crowd is better to address the more remote beaches of the city. The beaches of Montazah lie at the foot of the Palace of Khedive Abbas with its impressive architecture fairytale. The park surrounding the palace, over 150 hectares, is one of the favorite places of the Alexandrians to stroll.
Underwater Archaeology Museum Alexandria
This giant amphibian museum, which opened to the public is planned for 2012 or 2013, will highlight the important archaeological discoveries in Alexandria Bay for the past two decades (http://www.rougerie.com/ virtual tour).
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