All around the world, there are beautiful places waiting for you to experience them. Alexandria is one of these places is Egypt, and no trip to this wonderful country would be complete without a visit to Alexandria. While its capital city of Cairo is indeed a beautiful city, Alexandria also has plenty to offer with history at every single turn.
A reimagining of Alexandria’s ancient Great Library, this gorgeously designed cultural center contains a host of museums as well as one of the modern world’s most ambitious libraries. Its architecture – a giant sun disk – presides over the waterfront Corniche, while inside, a huge reading room can hold eight million volumes. Below the main library, visitors can explore a range of beautifully curated exhibitions. The Manuscript Museum with its magnificent collection of ancient texts and scrolls and the Antiquities Museum with its Graeco-Roman antiquities and statuary found during underwater exploration in the harbor are the two prime attractions. But there are also rotating art exhibitions, a permanent Egyptian folk art collection, and a Science Museum and Planetarium that are aimed squarely at children.
Location: Corniche, Shatby
Official site: www.bibalex.org
Alexandria’s National Museum is a must-stop if you want to get to grips with the vast history of this famed city. Inside, the collection guides you from the Pharaonic era (in the basement), to the Hellenistic heyday when Alexandria and Egypt were governed by the Ptolemy dynasty begun by Alexander the Great (on the ground floor), and up to the Byzantine and Islamic periods (on the 1st floor). As well as the displays, statuary, and antiquities unearthed in and around the city (including finds from underwater explorations in the area offshore), there are excellent map drawings that imagine what the classical city of Alexandria would have looked like, which really helps visitors understand the changing face of this city.
Not only a monument, the Qaitbay Citadel in Alexandria is a whole world of wonders, heritage, and marvelous architectural beauty. Although it appears like a small sand castle from any point in Alexandria, the Qaitbay Citadel is an impressive fortress which has become the most important landmark of the city of Alexandria.
Included in almost all tour packages to Alexandria, visiting the Qaitbay Citadel is enjoyable for tourists from all age groups. The visit to the Qaitbey Citadel also offers tourists spending their vacation in Egypt startling views of the Mediterranean Sea.
