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Where is Alexandria located today?
Alexandria, located in the extreme west of the Nile Delta, is also called the “pearl of the Mediterranean”. It is the second largest city in Egypt with about 4.3 million inhabitants. It was founded in 332 BC by Alexander the Great and soon became the center of the Hellenistic world. Later, Alexandria was under Roman rule – like all of Egypt. It was followed by the Arabs, the Ottoman Empire, the British around 642… The Great Library of Alexandria – once the center of the ancient world – is famous to this day. Today it is a beautiful mix of history and modernity that makes Alexandria worth seeing. And the magnificent coast of the Mediterranean Sea invites you to relax. And the old town of Alexandria – as in ancient times – is full of oriental life. The center of the city is the Freedom Square Midan Tahrir. From here it goes straight to the magnificent Corniche and the main port. Alexandria is – after Cairo – the most important city in Egypt.
Alexandria is Egypt’s second largest city. More than four million people live in this important port metropolis on the Mediterranean Sea. The city is located on the western coastal edge of the Nile Delta. Alexandria (in Arabic al-Iskandariyya or el-Iskandariya) is named after its founder, Alexander the Great. The Macedonian general came to Egypt in 332 BC, after having previously marched through Asia Minor, Syria and Palestine to fight against the Persian Empire. During his campaigns through the Persian empire, which at that time stretched from Libya and Asia Minor in the west to the Indus in the east, he founded many cities named after him. The Egyptian Alexandria was his most famous city foundation. For almost a whole millennium – from the founding of the city in the winter of 332/331 BC to the Arab conquest in the years 639 to 641 AD – Alexandria was the capital of Egypt (i.e. first the residence city of the Ptolemies, later the capital of the Roman province of Egypt). It was replaced after the Arab conquest of Old Cairo (Fustat), and then Cairo (al-Qahira).
Alexandria, the port city: The largest part, two thirds to three quarters, of the import and export of the Egyptian economy is handled at the port of Alexandria. This makes Alexandria the most important port city in Egypt. (However, the trend is rather falling, because the ports in Port Said , Damietta and Suez are gaining in importance. Port Said and Suez are also of particular importance because they serve as intermediate stations for shipping traffic through the Suez Canal.) The port of Alexandria is divided by a peninsula into two port basins. In the eastern harbor basin (ancient name: Portus Magnus) small ships and boats dock. In the western port basin (ancient name: Portus Eunostus) is the modern industrial port, where the goods and containers of the large cargo ships are unloaded. The tradition of Alexandria as a port city goes back to its origins. Because as a port city it had been created and founded. Even in ancient times, the port of Alexandria was the most important in Egypt and one of the largest and most important in the whole Mediterranean. Approximately where the fortress of Fort Qait Bey is located today, the famous lighthouse of Pharaohs used to be located. Pharos was an island in front of the port, which was connected to the mainland by a causeway. In the past, there was a connection from the Mediterranean Sea via Lake Mareotis (today: Lake Mariyut) to the western Nile arm. Today there is a connection from the port via the al-Mahmudiya Canal, which was excavated by Mohammed Ali between 1817 and 1820 and is about 80 kilometres long, to the Rosetta Nile Arm.
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