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Published: December 22nd 2008
Pompey's Pillar
Travelling Canucks at The Serapeum. Alexandria, A Melding of Cultures Over Time
Despite planning to tour Alexandria independently, we broke down yesterday and booked a private guide and driver for a half day tour of Graeco Roman Alexandria through the “wise” hotel concierge.
We had a very early start to the day after only getting about three hours sleep! So when Mama Canuck can’t sleep, she blogs! Because we had napped earlier in the evening and missed dinner, we were starving as we watched the hours tick away until the breakfast restaurant opened at 6:30am. With no hesitation despite the buffet costs, we made a dash for the beautifully presented breakfast buffet that offered waffles, eggs benedict and wonderful Egyptian and French pastries.
Tamer Zakaria, our freelance guide, met us in the lobby of the hotel at 9:00am to start our 4 hour tour with chauffeured 5 series BMW waiting to wisk us away. Driving around the ramshackle streets of Alexandria, where the streets, sidewalks and building are crumbling, is the only way to see the sites that are scattered around the city centre where the poorest of Alexandrians live and work. Being jet lagged, we were just not up to another day
Nilometer at The Serapeum
Nilometer? Where's the Nile? Seventh branch of the Nile once flowed through site. of the “local taxi experience”. Our expert guide provided us with a wonderful explanation of Alexandria’s history of invasions, foreign influences, melding of cultures, which is reflected in the unique style of decoration exhibited in its artifacts.
The former glory of the architectural history of the city has been lost since its heyday in the 1920’s and 1930’s, with some exceptions, such as the train station, football stadium, and mansions that once housed the European consular officials of the French and British Governments who, under the reign of King Farouk, unofficially influenced the governance of Egypt prior to the revolution in 1952.
The European architectural influences can still be seen on the remaining facades of buildings in the Latin Quarter. The 5 districts of old Alexandria, called Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon, which were later represented as the Latin, Arab, and Jewish quarters form the core of a city which is flanked by the Mediterranean on its northern shores and a large lake that is 25% of its former size. The city has grown tremendously due to rural migration to the city, which is impoverished with over 16% unemployment and a population with unofficial counts of 9
to 12 million inhabitants.
Graeco Roman Alexandria
Catacombs of Shouqafa Unlike most archaeological sites, this one was discovered by a donkey, when the donkey just fell into it!
Partially covered in grass beneath an unassuming honeycombed stone building with a three level staircase that winds around a central shaft for transporting materials and bodies into the subterranean burial chambers built right into the rock, lay the Catacombs of Shouqafa. Dating back to the first century AD, this necropolis was originally a private crypt, but gradually was converted to a public burial site. Mostly left unfinished, the main chamber is most impressive with its Greek influenced archway followed by a Pharonic influenced archway to three sarcophagus carved into the rock with wall decorations.
The planning and decoration of its spaces, cut deeply into the rock, represent a mixture of Egyptian, Greek and Roman styles. Unlike Pharonic tombs in Upper Egypt, design elements and wall decorations meld the various styles given the melding of cultures that resulted from the invasions by the Greeks followed by the Romans.
Pompey’s Pillar Next stop on the tour was Pompey’s Pillar, which stands 29 meters (98 feet) tall on a
hill that was the former site of Alexandria's ancient Temple to Serapus. It was a more impressive site than expected given the scale of the column and its location at the top of a hill that overlooks Alexandria and the sea.
This ancient site, next to the city's Arab cemetery, was once on the banks of the seventh branch of the Nile, which provided the means for transport of this towering column from Aswan to its final resting place. It was constructed in Aswan of pink granite in honour of the great Emperor Diocletian. It is hard to believe that one of the branches of the Nile once flowed at the site of Pompey's Pillar.
In the early 1900s, a Nilometer, cleansing bath, sanctuary and annex to the Great Library of Alexandria were uncovered. Recently, the site was renovated to provide easier access around the site on walkways around the perimeter.
Roman Ruins We headed to the Roman Amphitheatre located at Kom El-Dikka, a modern area in the heart of the city. No famous donkeys were credited for this discovery, although it was also discovered by accident by archaeologists who were searching for Alexander the Great’s
At the Amphitheatre
Alex stands at the centre of Amphitheatre and recites Shakespeare! burial site thought to lie beneath a Muslim cemetery. Alexander the Great’s body is thought to have been buried in Egypt after he died in Babylon as a result of injuries sustained during his Indian conquest. Sadly, he never visited the city he founded while he was alive!
Dating from the second century AD, this once dome-covered auditorium, displays two preserved pedestals from the sixth century, in addition to the 13 semicircular tiers of European-imported white and grey marble. This site was also the political centre of Alexandria, with a roman bath and city hall.
Also displayed were some of the archaeological treasures discovered underwater around Fort Qaitbey. Because these treasures remained underwater over centuries, these sculptures had to be bathed in increasing less saline water until archaeologists were satisfied that these artifacts would not crumble.
Alexandria National Museum We ended our tour at the Alexandria National Museum, housed in the old Al-Saad Bassili Pasha Palace and former American Consul. We chose to visit this small museum because, unfortunately, the Graeco Roman Museum has been in the process of a three year renovation. The Pharonic exhibits, artifacts from the Graeco-Roman period and Coptic and Islamic exhibitions
which date back over the long and interesting history of Alexandria over the ages are presented in a lovely setting.
In Search of Hotspots After bidding farewell to our excellent guide, we had a well-deserved nap after searching for a hotspot! We searched the shopping mall and asked for directions to an Internet café without success, until Papa Canuck accidentally found a wireless access point. While he is not as famous as the donkey that discovered the Catacombs, the Travelling Canucks were thrilled to check our Gmail and travel blog. We then headed up to our room to have a well-deserved nap until it was time to dine at Byblos, an authentic Lebanese restaurant at our hotel.
With delicious food, warm and sophisticated service and spectacular décor and ambience, we enjoyed dining on sambousska, a hot mezze, and baba ghanoush with delicious flat breads, veal kebab with flavourful brown rice, sea bass with herbed mashed potatoes and Arabic coffee with mango sorbet and Turkish coffee crème brulee. Despite our nap, we all felt groggy at dinner and looked forward to sleeping through the night. Unfortunately, Mama Canuck also is writing this blog at 4am in the morning
Coptic Art
At Alexandria's National Museum waiting for the Starbucks to open to have a hot triple venti non-fat latte!
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