ALEXANDRIE - ALEXANDRIA
Alexandrie est une ville d’Égypte de près de quatre millions d'habitants, fondée par Alexandre le Grand en -331. Elle devint dans l’Antiquité le premier port d’Égypte et la capitale du pays. Elle sera à son époque l’un des plus grands foyers culturels de la Méditerranée, sa fameuse Bibliothèque étant sans conteste l’un des principaux fondements de sa notoriété.
La ville d’Alexandrie est située à l'ouest du delta du Nil, entre le lac Maréotis et l’île de Pharos. Elle est rattachée à cette île par l’Heptastade, qui est une sorte de digue servant aussi d’aqueduc et qui a permis non seulement l’extension de la ville mais aussi la création de deux ports maritimes.
Alexandria, with a population of 3.5 to 5 million, is the second-largest city in Egypt, and its largest seaport. It extends about 20 miles (32 km) along the coast of the Mediterranean sea in north-central Egypt. It is home to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the New Library of Alexandria, and is an important industrial centre because of its natural gas and oil pipelines from Suez.
In ancient times, Alexandria was one of the most famous cities in the world. It was founded around 331 BC by Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great, and remained Egypt's capital for nearly a thousand years, until the Arabs conquered Egypt in 641 AD and set up a capital at Fustat (later absorbed into Cairo). Alexandria was known for the Lighthouse of Alexandria (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World), the Library of Alexandria (the largest library in the ancient world) and the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa (one of the Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages). Ongoing maritime archaeology in the harbour of Alexandria (which began in 1994) is revealing details of Alexandria both before the arrival of Alexander, when a city named Rhakotis existed there, and during the Ptolemaic dynasty.
Visite d'Alexandrie: le fort Qatbay et quelques clichés de la ville, de ses taxis jaunes et noirs et de son tram
Visit of Alexandria : the citadel of Qaatbay, some pictures of the town with his yellow and black cabs and its tramway.