Mediterranean Splendour

Next morning off we bussed to Alexandria, really getting a feel for the geography of the country.  I admired large white dovecotes in farmyards along the road but travelling at the speed of light, as Egyptian drivers are wont to do, meant really blurred photos.  We were pleased to see Alexandria, coated as it were in concrete cancer and salt from a stiff wind blowing off the Med.  Founded by Alexander the Great in 332 BC it became, under guidance of its Ptolemaic rulers, a great metropolis second only to Rome.  Its historic centre has a collection of interesting Greco-Roman sites, so we started off at Pompey’s Pillar.

Pompey's Pillar & pink Sphinx

Of course, Pompey’s Pillar is not Pompey’s at all.  It was carved out of one block of red granite and erected in 298 in honour of the Roman Emperor Diocletian.  It is flanked by two gorgeous pink sphinxes and is situated in the Serapeum Gardens.  These gardens, and I use the term very loosely, are part of the site of the ancient temple of Serapis.  This cult had grown from a merging of both Egyptian and Roman gods, including Apis (the bull) who was worshiped during the Old Kingdom. 

Not so gloomy below ground in the Cataombs

We escaped the heat with a walk through the musty Kom al-Shuqafa Catacombs.  This again was a complex of mixed cultures – decorated in a lavish fusion of Egyptian and Greek symbolism.  It was fascinating to walk through this underground cemetery imagining the elaborate ceremonies performed for the dead one thousand years ago.  The introduction of Christianity in Alexandria is attributed to St Mark about the time of Roman Emperor Claudius (42 AD).  It gained popularity very quickly and soon Christians constituted the majority of Egypt’s population.

Fortunately, the Greco-Roman Museum (1895) cares for many of the important finds from Alexandria’s past.  The museum itself is quite beautiful; set around central gardens.  We could have stayed longer.  Do remember to keep change in your pocket for your trip to the bathroom however, as the monitors demand a tip.  I was beginning to see Paul Theroux’s point. (I can't quite remember what that was now - having written this some 10 years ago, gasp!!) An international incident, however was narrowly averted and we scooted off to a nice open air seafood café with attentive waiters and cats, down near the Corniche.