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Alexandria Hotels
Welcome to Alexandria
Welcome to Alexandria
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.