Alexandria

Outside Catacombs
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4.27.2007 Alexandria, Egypt

The weather turned very cool and windy last night and the dinner on deck was canceled. This morning we arrived in Alexandria, Egypt’s largest and most important port at the mouth of the Nile River on the Mediterranean. This city was founded in 332 BC by Alexander The Great and served as Egypt’s capital until the Muslins took Egypt and moved the capital further up the Nile about 150 miles to Cairo. Alexander was once a center of science and learning that drew scholars from around the entire Mediterranean. The world’s first lighthouse, the Pharos, was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. In Julius Caesar’s time it was the Roman Empire’s second city only to Rome. Anthony and Cleopatra’s steamy love affair set it on a course to become a Mediterranean playground. In 640 AD, Islam arrived along with a succession of foreign rulers until Mohammad Ali began the modernization of Egypt in 1819. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 put Alexandria back on the world stage as a key port city. During WWII, Alexandria served as a major Allied post and plans for the pivotal battle of El Alamein were contrived at the Hotel Cecil.

Downtown Alexandria
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The brand new cruise ship docking area gives a deceiving picture of what lies ahead as you enter this very old, dirty and crowded city. Salle and took a tour that included the Catacombs, the Roman Amphitheatre and The National Museum. The Catacombs of Korm el Shuqfa are the largest Roman cemetery in Alexandria and were discovered in 1900. This amazing site is composed of three levels dug 90 feet down in the rock. Dating back to the beginning of the second century AD, it started out as a family crypt and was later extended to hold more than 300 dead. The main tombs had very ornate carvings, many rooms and formerly secret passages to protect the remains of those once buried here It appears to us that most of their life was dedicated to preparing for their death.

Roman Amphitheatre
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In the 1960’s, while laying the foundation for a new building just 2 blocks from the downtown railroad station, workman discovered the ruins of a Roman Amphitheatre. Excavation is still going on but already a beautiful theatre with 12 semi-circular marble tiers in remarkably good condition has been uncovered. It sits about 40 feet below present street level Also on display were many carved stone artifacts recovered from the harbor which required special treatment to remove centuries of salt in the rock resulting from their being dumped into the harbor to form a breakwater hundreds of years ago.

Carved stone from Med
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The National Museum was at one time the home of the U.S. Consulate. It’s a lovely building that now as a nicely laid out museum containing exhibits on three levels covering different periods, from Pharaomic and Greco-Roman to Coptic and Islamic times. The museum also contains recent recoveries from the Mediterranean Sea.

After lunch I took the shuttle into town for a walk around . Other than seeing the famous Hotel Cecil (WWII operations) I just saw a lot of trash loaded streets and old poorly maintained buildings .

Ruins excavation
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As we left the harbor we past the palace where King Farouk was ordered to leave the country and his famous 300 ft yacht which appears quite old and uninviting today. We also past hulls of several sunken ships remaining from the war.

Today ended the seventh segment of our World Cruise. We now just have two segments remaining and everyone is starting to share mixed emotions about getting home and seeing family and friends but ending the exciting spoiled lifestyle we had been enjoying while having the educational experience of our lives.