Alexandria Day Trip

At 6:30 in the morning we'll leave from Cairo towards Alexandria, the most important Mediterranean city in Egypt. We'll begin our tour of the Alexandria port by visiting the Qaitibay Citadel. This defensive complex was constructed in the 15th century by Sultan Qaitibay, where the famous Lighthouse of Alexandria once stood. The lighthouse was destroyed by several earthquakes, whose remains were then used to build the citadel. Then, we head south of the city, where we'll head to the Kom el Shoqafa Catacombs, where the relief artwork shows the fusion of Egyptian and Greco-Roman culture. We'll see its three different levels to get to know its passages, tunnels, and galleries along which the tombs of the necropolis are distributed. Near these catacombs can be found Pompey's Pillar, just where the temple dedicated to the Greco-Egyptian God Serapis was once found. We'll then enjoy lunch in the center of Alexandria, with a menu including fish and seafood rice. Then, in the evening, we'll see one of the most important modern buildings in the city: The New Alexandria Library. Built as an homage to the library from the 3rd century BC and burnt down, perhaps during the Roman Civil War in 48 BC, this new building houses thousands of papyrus scrolls and was one of the world centers of scholarship and knowledge in the ancient world. Today, the library, reinaugurated in 2002, is one of the most important cultural spaces in the Eastern Mediterranean. Finally, late in the evening, we'll return to the hotels in Cairo 12 hours later.