Pompey's Pillar Alexandria

Pompey's Pillar is a Roman triumphal column in Alexandria, Egypt, and the largest of its type constructed outside of the imperial capitals of Rome and Constantinople

The only known free-standing column in Roman Egypt which was not composed of drums, it is one of the largest ancient monoliths and one of the largest monolithic columns ever erected.

The monolithic column shaft measures 20.46 m in height with a diameter of 2.71 m at its base

 The weight of the single piece of red Aswan granite is estimated at 285 tons. The column is 26.85 m high including its base and capital.^[2] Other authors give slightly deviating dimensions.

Erroneously dated to the time of Pompey, the Corinthian column was actually built in 297 AD, commemorating the victory of Roman emperor Diocletian over an Alexandrinian revolt

Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa

The Catacombe of Kom el Shoqafa is a historical archaeological site located in Alexandria , Egypt, and is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages.

The necropolis consists of a series of Alexandrian tombs, statues and archaeological objects of the Pharaonic funeral cult with Hellenistic and early Imperial Roman influences. Due to the time period, many of the features of the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa merge Roman, Greek and Egyptian cultural points; some statues are Egyptian in style, yet bear Roman clothes and hair style whilst other features share a similar style. A circular staircase, which was often used to transport deceased bodies down the middle of it, leads down into the tombs that were tunneled into the bedrock during the age of the Antonine emperors (2nd century AD). The facility was then used as a burial chamber from the 2nd century to the 4th century, before being rediscovered in 1900 when a donkey accidentally fell into the access shaft. To date, three sarcophagi have been found, along with other human and animal remains which were added later. It is believed that the catacombs were only intended for a single family, but it is unclear why the site was expanded in order to house numerous other individuals. The Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa is, according to some lists, also one of the seven medieval wonders of the world. One of the more gruesome features of the catacombs is the so called Hall of Caracalla. According to tradition, this is a mass burial chamber for the humans and animals massacred by order of the Emperor Caracalla

Lighthouse of Alexandria

The Lighthouse of Alexandria, also known as the Pharos of Alexandria ( in Ancient Greek),

was a tower built between 280 and 247 BC on the island of Pharos at Alexandria, Egypt. Its purpose was to guide sailors into the harbour at night.

With a height variously estimated at somewhere between 393 and 450 ft , it was for many centuries among the tallest man-made structures on Earth. It was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Pharos was a small island just off the coast of Alexandria. It was supposedly inhabited by people who would destroy any ship that was wrecked off of its coast. To deter this problem, Ptolemy I had the lighthouse built. It was linked to the mainland by a man-made connection named the Heptastadion, which thus formed one side of the city's harbour. The tower erected there guided mariners at night, through its fire, as well as being a landmark by day. The lighthouse was completed in the 3rd century BC. After Alexander the Great died , Ptolemy Soter announced himself king in 305 BC, and commissioned its construction shortly thereafter. The building was finished during his son Ptolemy Philadelphos's reign. Strabo reported that Sostratus had a dedication inscribed in metal letters to the Saviour Gods.
 Constructed from large blocks of light-coloured  stone, the tower was made up of three stages: a lower square section with a central core, a middle octagonal section, and, at the top, a circular section. At its apex was positioned a mirror which reflected sunlight during the day; a fire was lit at night.
Extant Roman coins struck by the Alexandrian mint show that a statue of a triton was positioned on each of the building's four corners . A statue of Poseidon stood atop the tower during the Roman period.
 After the Muslims took over all of Egypt, the top of the Pharos supposedly became a mosque, as the beacon was no longer in working order. The Pharos remained this way until its destruction in the 14th century.
The lighthouse was badly damaged in the earthquake of 956, then again in 1303 and 1323. The two earthquakes in 1303 and 1323 damaged the lighthouse to the extent that the Arab traveler Ibn Battuta reported no longer being able to enter the ruin. Even the stubby remnant disappeared in 1480, when the then-Sultan of Egypt, Qaitbay, built a mediæval fort on the former location of the building using some of the fallen stone.

Alexandria

Alexandria 
known as the ( Pearl of the Mediterranean ) , was founded by Alexander the Great in 332BC as the capital for his Egyptian Kingdom.
It is the second-largest city of Egypt , extending about 32 km (20 mi) along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea  in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving approximately 80% of Egypt's imports and exports.

Alexandria is also an important tourist resort . It is home to the Bibliotheca Alexandria.

It is an important industrial centre because of its natural gas and oil pipelines from Suez.

It remained Egypt's capital for nearly a thousand years, until the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 
AD 641, when a new capital was founded at Fustat.

 
Alexandria 
was known because of its Lighthouse of Alexandria , one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. ,its library (the largest library in the ancient world); and the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa. . Ongoing maritime archaeology in the harbor of Alexandria, which began in 1994, is revealing details of Alexandria both before the arrival of Alexander, when a city named Rhacotis existed there, and during thePtolemaic Dynasty.

   

Modern city 
Districts

Modern Alexandria is divided into six districts:

• al-Montaza District
• Sharak (Eastern Alexandria District
• Wassat (Central Alexandria) District
• al-Amriya District
• Agamy (Western Alexandria) District:
• al-Gomrok District

There are also two cities under the jurisdiction of the Alexandria governorate forming metropolitan Alexandria:

• Borg Al-Arab city
• New Borg Al-Arab city

 

Mosque of Amr ibn al-As

The Mosque of Amr ibn al-As , also called the Mosque of Amr, was originally built in 642 AD, as the center of the newly-founded capital of Egypt : Fustat .

The original structure was the first mosque ever built in Egypt, the first mosque on the continent of Africa.

he location for the mosque was the site of the tent of the commander of the conquering army, general Amr Ibn Al-as. One corner of the mosque contains the tomb of his son : Abd Allah.

Due to extensive reconstruction over the centuries, nothing of the original building remains, but the rebuilt Mosque is a prominent landmark , and can be seen in what today is known as Old Cairo.

Panorama view of the interior of the mosque

The Hanging Church

Saint Virgin Mary's Coptic Orthodox Church also known as the Hanging Church (El Muallaqa) is one of the oldest churches in Egypt.

The Hanging (The Suspended) Church is named for its location above a gatehouse of Babylon Fortress, the Roman fortress in Coptic Cairo , its nave is suspended over a passage.

The church is approached by 29 steps, early travelers to Cairo dubbed it : the Staircase Church

The land surface has risen by some 6 metres since the Roman period so that the Roman tower is mostly buried below ground, reducing the visual impact of the church's elevated position

 The entrance from the street is through iron gates under a pointed stone arch. The nineteenth century facade with twin bell towers is then seen beyond a narrow courtyard decorated with modern art biblical designs. Up the steps and through the entrance is a further small courtyard leading to the eleventh century outer porch.

The Church possibly the first built in Basilican style

By the 11th century AD, the church served as the Seat of the Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria, which is historically based in Alexandria, Egypt. But as ruling powers moved away from Alexandria to Cairo after the Arab invasion of Egypt during Pope Christodolos's tenure, Cairo became the fixed and official residence of the Coptic Pope at the Hanging Church in Cairo in 1047.

Al-Nasir Muhammad Mosque

The Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qala'un Mosque is an early 14th century mosque at the Citadel in Cairo, Egypt. It was built by the Mamluk sultan Al-Nasr Muhammad in 1318 as the royal mosque of the Citadel, where the sultans of Cairo performed their Friday prayers.

The Sultan also built a religious complex in the center of the city, next to the one by his father Qalawun.

There are two minarets, both built entirely of stone, one at the northeast corner and one at the northwest portal right above the main entrance; the former is the higher of the two. The top of the latter is unique in Cairo in that it has a garlic-shaped bulb.

In the 1335 renovation, the mosque was heightened, its roof rebuilt and a dome of plastered wood covered with green tiles was added over the maqsura (prayer niche). For centuries the Qala'un Mosque was considered the most glamorous mosque in Cairo until the dome over the prayer niche collapsed in the sixteenth century and the high marble dado was carried off to Istanbul by the Ottoman conqueror Sultan Selim I. The present dome is modern, carried by granite columns taken from ancient Egyptian temples.