الإسكندرية Alexandria

Library: Here I am overlooking the reading room of the famous Alexandria Library. It was built in the 3rd century BC and served as a major center of scholarship, until the Roman conquest of Egypt in 30 BC. The first known state-funded library of its kind to gather a serious collection of books from beyond its country's borders, the library at Alexandria was instructed to collect all the world's knowledge. Accounts of its destruction vary. Intended both as a commemoration and an emulation of the original, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina was inaugurated in 2002 near the site of the old library.

Alexandria: The second largest city in Egypt, Alexandria has an atmosphere that is more Mediterranean than Middle Eastern; its ambiance and cultural heritage distance it from the rest of the country, although it is only 135 mi. from Cairo. Since the 19th century, Alexandria assumed a new role as a focus for Egypt's commercial and maritime expansion. This Alexandria has been immortalized by writers such as E.M. Forster and Cavafy (visited apartment). Generations of immigrants from Greece, Italy and the Levant settled here and made the city synonymous with commerce, cosmopolitanism, and bohemian culture. Lawrence Durrell described it as "The capital city of Asiatic Europe, if such a thing could exist." The city today is seeking to regain its cosmopolitan past.

Outside of Alexandria Library. Façade has words in 120 languages. Complex also includes museums, a conference hall and planetarium.

Historical sketch of Alexandria Lighthouse in museum. The city's status as a beacon of culture was symbolized by Pharos, the legendry lighthouse that was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Its remains are now under water. The lighthouse has inspired Chicago waterfront architecture.

Sketch of Pompey's Pillar (from museum display), a Roman triumphal column. It is one of the largest ancient monoliths and one of the largest monolithic columns ever erected. 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.

Square building on jetty is a fort at the location, where the famous Pharos Lighthouse used to stand.

Painting from museum art exhibit that reminded me of the Southwest.

St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral is said to stand on the site of the church founded by St. Mark the Evangelist in 60 AD.

Burial place of Evangelist Mark's head at St. Mark's Church. According to tradition, St. Mark was arrested during a festival of Serapis in 68 AD and martyred by being dragged through the streets. He was buried under the church he had founded. Serapis was an invented god, a combination of several Egyptian and Hellenistic deities who was introduced during the reign of Ptolemy I as a bridge between Greek and Egyptian religious beliefs. In 828, the body of St. Mark was stolen from the Alexandrian church by Venetians to be enshrined in St. Mark's Basilica in Venice. However, the head of the saint remained in Alexandria. Every newly-appointed Patriarch of Alexandria begins his service with holding the holy head of St. Mark in his lap and changing its cloth shroud. This will happen when a new Coptic pope is chosen in November.

Alexandria Opera House or Muhammad Ali Theatre is stunning. Names of great European composers grace the gold ornamented ceiling.

Fancy store front gives idea of city's past splendor. Ancient Alexandria declined. When Napoleon landed in 1798, he found a sparsely populated fishing village of 5,000 inhabitants. Its fortunes rose under Muhammad Ali and his heirs and in the commercial importance the city gained in the 19th century, when the city became home to a cosmopolitan elite.