Alexandria (Arabic: الإسكندرية Al Iskandariyya, Coptic:Ⲣⲁⲕⲟⲧⲉ Rakotə, Greek: ΑλεξάνδρειαAlexándreia, Ancient Greek: Ἀλεξάνδρεια ἡ κατ' Αἴγυπτον Alexandreia e kat Aigypton, Egyptian Arabic: اسكندريه [eskendeˈrejːæ]) is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about 32 km (20 mi) along the coast of theMediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt 's largest seaport, serving approximately 80% of Egypt 's imports and exports. Alexandria is also an important tourist resort. It is home to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (the new Library of Alexandria). It is an important industrial centre because of its natural gas and oil pipelinesfrom Suez.
From the late 19th century, Alexandria became a major centre of the international shipping industry and one of the most important trading centres in the world, both because it profited from the easy overland connection between the Mediterranean Sea and theRed Sea, and the lucrative trade in Egyptian cotton.
History
Although Cleomenes was mainly in charge of overseeing Alexandria 's continuous development, the Heptastadion and the mainland quarters seem to have been primarily Ptolemaic work. Inheriting the trade of ruined Tyre and becoming the centre of the new commerce between Europe and theArabian and Indian East, the city grew in less than a generation to be larger than Carthage. In a century, Alexandria had become the largest city in the world and, for some centuries more, was second only to Rome . It became the main Greek city of Egypt , with an extraordinary mix of Greeksfrom many cities and backgrounds.[1]
The city passed formally under Roman jurisdiction in 80 BC, according to the will of Ptolemy Alexander, but only after it had been under Roman influence for more than a hundred years. It was captured by Julius Caesar in 47 BC during a Roman intervention in the domestic civil war between kingPtolemy XIII and his advisers, and the fabled queen Cleopatra VII. It was finally captured by Octavian, future emperor Augustus on 1 August 30 BC, with the name of the month later being changed toAugust to commemorate his victory.[citation needed]
In AD 115, large parts of Alexandria were destroyed during the Kitos War, which gave Hadrian and his architect, Decriannus, an opportunity to rebuild it. In 215, the emperor Caracalla visited the city and, because of some insulting satires that the inhabitants had directed at him, abruptly commanded his troops to put to death all youths capable of bearing arms. On 21 July 365, Alexandria was devastated by a tsunami (365 Crete earthquake),[3] an event still annually commemorated 17 hundred years later as a "day of horror."[4] In the late 4th century, persecution of pagans by newly Christian Romans had reached new levels of intensity. In 391, the Patriarch Theophilus destroyed all pagan temples in Alexandria under orders from Emperor Theodosius I. The Brucheum and Jewish quarters were desolate in the 5th century. On the mainland, life seemed to have centred in the vicinity of the Serapeum andCaesareum, both of which became Christian churches. The Pharos and Heptastadium quarters, however, remained populous and were left intact.
In 619, Alexandria fell to the Sassanid Persians. Although the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius recovered it in 629, in 641 the Arabs under the general Amr ibn al-As captured it during the Muslim conquest of Egypt, after a siege that lasted 14 months.
The most important battles and sieges of Alexandria include:[citation needed]
§ Siege of Alexandria (47 BC), Caesar's civil war
§ Battle of Alexandria (30 BC), Final war of the Roman Republic
§ Siege of Alexandria (619), Byzantine-Persian Wars
§ Siege of Alexandria (641), Rashidun conquest of Byzantine Egypt
§ Battle of Alexandria , French Revolutionary Wars
§ Siege of Alexandria (1801), French Revolutionary Wars
§ Alexandria expedition of 1807, French Revolutionary Wars
Geography
Climate
[hide]Climate data for Alexandria | |||||||||||||
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Average high °C (°F) | 18.4 (65.1) | 19.3 (66.7) | 20.9 (69.6) | 24.0 (75.2) | 26.5 (79.7) | 28.6 (83.5) | 29.7 (85.5) | 32.4 (90.3) | 29.6 (85.3) | 27.6 (81.7) | 24.1 (75.4) | 20.1 (68.2) | 24.9 (76.8) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 13.8 (56.8) | 14.3 (57.7) | 15.9 (60.6) | 18.7 (65.7) | 21.6 (70.9) | 24.5 (76.1) | 26.3 (79.3) | 28.8 (83.8) | 25.5 (77.9) | 22.7 (72.9) | 19.2 (66.6) | 15.4 (59.7) | 20.4 (68.7) |
Average low °C (°F) | 9.1 (48.4) | 9.3 (48.7) | 10.8 (51.4) | 13.4 (56.1) | 16.6 (61.9) | 20.3 (68.5) | 22.8 (73) | 24.1 (75.4) | 21.3 (70.3) | 17.8 (64) | 14.3 (57.7) | 10.6 (51.1) | 15.8 (60.4) |
Precipitationmm (inches) | 55.2 (2.173) | 33.2 (1.307) | 14.3 (0.563) | 3.6 (0.142) | 1.3 (0.051) | 0.01 (0.0004) | 0.03 (0.0012) | 0.1 (0.004) | 0.8 (0.031) | 9.4 (0.37) | 31.7 (1.248) | 52.7 (2.075) | 201.6 (7.937) |
Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.01 mm) | 11.0 | 8.9 | 6.0 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 0.04 | 0.04 | 0.04 | 0.2 | 2.9 | 5.4 | 9.5 | 46.92 |
Sunshine hours | 192.2 | 217.5 | 248.0 | 273.0 | 316.2 | 354.0 | 362.7 | 344.1 | 297.0 | 282.1 | 225.0 | 195.3 | 3,307.1 |
Source: World Meteorological Organization (UN),[9] Hong Kong Observatory[10] for data of sunshine hours |
Layout of the ancient city
Greek Alexandria was divided into three regions:
Brucheum
the Royal or Greek quarter, forming the most magnificent portion of the city. In Roman times Brucheum was enlarged by the addition of an official quarter, making four regions in all. The city was laid out as a grid of parallel streets, each of which had an attendant subterranean canal;
The Jewish quarter
forming the northeast portion of the city;
Rhakotis
The old city of Rhakotis that had been absorbed into Alexandria . It was occupied chiefly by Egyptians. (from CopticRakotə "Alexandria ").
Two main streets, lined with colonnades and said to have been each about 60 metres (200 ft) wide, intersected in the center of the city, close to the point where the Sema (or Soma) of Alexander (hisMausoleum) rose. This point is very near the present mosque of Nebi Daniel; and the line of the great East–West "Canopic" street, only slightly diverged from that of the modern Boulevard de Rosette (now Sharia Fouad). Traces of its pavement and canal have been found near the Rosetta Gate, but remnants of streets and canals were exposed in 1899 by German excavators outside the east fortifications, which lie well within the area of the ancient city.
Alexandria consisted originally of little more than the island of Pharos, which was joined to the mainland by a mole nearly a mile long (1260 m) and called the Heptastadion ("seven stadia"—astadium was a Greek unit of length measuring approximately 180 m). The end of this abutted on the land at the head of the present Grand Square , where the "Moon Gate" rose. All that now lies between that point and the modern "Ras al-Tiin" quarter is built on the silt which gradually widened and obliterated this mole. The Ras al-Tiin quarter represents all that is left of the island of Pharos , the site of the actual lighthouse having been weathered away by the sea. On the east of the mole was the Great Harbor , now an open bay; on the west lay the port of Eunostos , with its inner basin Kibotos, now vastly enlarged to form the modern harbor.
In Strabo's time, (latter half of 1st century BC) the principal buildings were as follows, enumerated as they were to be seen from a ship entering the Great Harbor .
1. The Royal Palaces, filling the northeast angle of the town and occupying the promontory of Lochias, which shut in the Great Harbor on the east. Lochias (the modern Pharillon) has almost entirely disappeared into the sea, together with the palaces, the "Private Port ," and the island of Antirrhodus . There has been a land subsidence here, as throughout the northeast coast of Africa .
2. The Great Theater, on the modern Hospital Hill near the Ramleh station. This was used by Caesar as a fortress, where he withstood a siege from the city mob after the battle of Pharsalus
5. The Emporium (Exchange)
6. The Apostases (Magazines)
7. The Navalia (Docks), lying west of the Timonium, along the seafront as far as the mole
8. Behind the Emporium rose the Great Caesareum, by which stood the two great obelisks, which become known as “Cleopatra's Needles,” and were transported to New York City and London . This temple became, in time, the Patriarchal Church , though some ancient remains of the temple have been discovered. The actual Caesareum, the parts not eroded by the waves, lies under the houses lining the new seawall.
9. The Gymnasium and the Palaestra are both inland, near the Boulevard de Rosette in the eastern half of the town; sites unknown.
10. The Temple of Saturn; site unknown.
11. The Mausolea of Alexander (Soma) and the Ptolemies in one ring-fence, near the point of intersection of the two main streets.
13. The Serapeum, the most famous of all Alexandrian temples. Strabo tells us that this stood in the west of the city; and recent discoveries go far as to place it near “Pompey's Pillar,” which was an independent monument erected to commemorate Diocletian's siege of the city.
The names of a few other public buildings on the mainland are known, but there is little information as to their actual position. None, however, are as famous as the building that stood on the eastern point of Pharos island. There, The Great Lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, reputed to be 138 meters (450 ft) high, was situated. The firstPtolemy began the project, and the second Ptolemy completed it, at a total cost of 800 talents. It took 12 years to complete and served as a prototype for all later lighthouses in the world. The light was produced by a furnace at the top and the tower was built mostly with solid blocks of limestone. The Pharos lighthouse was destroyed by an earthquake in the 14th century, making it the second longest surviving ancient wonder, after the Great Pyramid of Giza. A temple of Hephaestus also stood on Pharos at the head of the mole.
In the 1st century, the population of Alexandria contained over 180,000 adult male citizens (from a papyrus dated 32 CE), in addition to a large number of freedmen, women, children, and slaves. Estimates of the total population range from 500,000 to over 1,000,000, making it one of the largest cities ever built before the Industrial Revolution and the largest pre-industrial city that was not an imperial capital.
Ancient remains
Due to the constant presence of war in Alexandria in ancient times, very little of the ancient city has survived into the present day. Much of the royal and civic quarters sank beneath the harbor due toearthquake subsidence, and the rest has been built over in modern times.
"Pompey's Pillar", a Roman triumphal column, is one of the best-known ancient monuments still standing in Alexandria today. It is located on Alexandria 's ancient acropolis—a modest hill located adjacent to the city's Arab cemetery—and was originally part of a temple colonnade. Including its pedestal, it is 30 m (99 ft) high; the shaft is of polished red granite, 2.7 meters in diameter at the base, tapering to 2.4 meters at the top. The shaft is 88 feet (27 m) high made out of a single piece of granite. This would be 132 cubic metersor approximately 396 tons.[11][12] Pompey's Pillar may have been erected using the same methods that were used to erect the ancient obelisks. The Romans had cranes but they were not strong enough to lift something this heavy. Roger Hopkins and Mark Lehrner conducted several obelisk erecting experiments including a successful attempt to erect a 25-ton obelisk in 1999. This followed two experiments to erect smaller obelisks and two failed attempts to erect a 25-ton obelisk.[13][14] The structure was plundered and demolished in the 4th century when a bishop decreed that Paganism must be eradicated. "Pompey's Pillar" is a misnomer, as it has nothing to do with Pompey, having been erected in 293 for Diocletian, possibly in memory of the rebellion of Domitius Domitianus. Beneath the acropolis itself are the subterranean remains of the Serapeum, where the mysteries of the god Serapis were enacted, and whose carved wall niches are believed to have provided overflow storage space for the ancient Library. In more recent years, a lot of ancient artifacts have been discovered from the surrounding sea, mostly pieces of old pottery.
Alexandria's catacombs, known as Kom al-Shoqafa, are a short distance southwest of the pillar, consist of a multi-level labyrinth, reached via a large spiral staircase, and featuring dozens of chambers adorned with sculpted pillars, statues, and other syncretic Romano-Egyptian religious symbols, burial niches, and sarcophagi, as well as a large Roman-style banquet room, where memorial meals were conducted by relatives of the deceased. The catacombs were long forgotten by the citizens until they were discovered by accident in the 1800s.
The most extensive ancient excavation currently being conducted in Alexandria is known as Kom al-Dikka. It has revealed the ancient city's well-preserved theater, and the remains of its Roman-era baths.
Antiquities
Persistent efforts have been made to explore the antiquities of Alexandria . Encouragement and help have been given by the local Archaeological Society, and by many individuals, notably Greeks proud of a city which is one of the glories of their national history.
The past and present directors of the museum have been enabled from time to time to carry out systematic excavations whenever opportunity is offered; D. G. Hogarth made tentative researches on behalf of the Egypt Exploration Fund and the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies in 1895; and a German expedition worked for two years (1898–1899). But two difficulties face the would-be excavator in Alexandria : lack of space for excavation and the underwater location of some areas of interest.
Since the great and growing modern city stands immediately over the ancient one, it is almost impossible to find any considerable space in which to dig, except at enormous cost. Cleopatra VII's royal quarters were inundated by earthquakes and tidal waves, leading to gradual subsidence in the 4th century AD.[15] This underwater section, containing many of the most interesting sections of the Hellenistic city, including the palace quarter, was explored in 1992 and is still being extensively investigated by the French underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio and his team.[16] It raised a noted head of Caesarion. These are being opened up to tourists, to some controversy.[17] The spaces that are most open are the low grounds to northeast and southwest, where it is practically impossible to get below the Roman strata.
The most important results were those achieved by Dr. G. Botti, late director of the museum, in the neighborhood of “Pompey's Pillar”, where there is a good deal of open ground. Here, substructures of a large building or group of buildings have been exposed, which are perhaps part of the Serapeum. Nearby, immense catacombs and columbaria have been opened which may have been appendages of the temple. These contain one very remarkable vault with curious painted reliefs, now artificially lit and open to visitors.
The objects found in these researches are in the museum, the most notable being a great basalt bull, probably once an object of cult in the Serapeum. Other catacombs and tombs have been opened inKom al-Shoqqafa (Roman) and Ras al-Tiin (painted).
The German excavation team found remains of a Ptolemaic colonnade and streets in the north-east of the city, but little else. Hogarth explored part of an immense brick structure under the mound of Kom al-Dikka, which may have been part of the Paneum, the Mausolea, or a Roman fortress.
The making of the new foreshore led to the dredging up of remains of the Patriarchal Church ; and the foundations of modern buildings are seldom laid without some objects of antiquity being discovered. The wealth underground is doubtlessly immense; but despite all efforts, there is not much for antiquarians to see in Alexandria outside the museum and the neighborhood of “Pompey's Pillar”.
Modern city
Districts
Modern Alexandria is divided into six districts:
There are also two cities under the jurisdiction of the Alexandria governorate forming metropolitan Alexandria :
Neighborhoods
Agami, Amreya, Anfoushi, Assafra, Attarine, Azarita (akaMazarita; originally Lazarette), Bab Sidra, Bahari, Bacchus,Bolkly (Bokla), Burg al-Arab, Camp Shezar, Cleopatra, Dekheila, Downtown, Eastern Harbor, Fleming, Gabbari (aka: Qabbari, Qubbary, Kabbary), Gianaclis, Glym (short for Glymenopoulos), Gumrok (akaal-Gomrok), Hadara, Ibrahimiyya, King Mariout, Kafr Abdu, Karmous, also known as Karmouz, Kom al-Dik (aka Kom al-Dikka), Labban, Laurent, Louran, Maamoura Beach, Maamoura, Mafrouza, Mandara, Manshiyya, Mex, Miami, Montaza, Muharram Bey, Mustafa Kamel, Ramleh (aka al-Raml), Ras al-Tiin, Rushdy, Saba Pasha , San Stefano, Shatby, Schutz, Sidi Bishr, Sidi Gaber, Smouha,Sporting, Stanley, Syouf, Tharwat, Victoria, Wardeyan, Western Harbor and Zizinia.
Squares
Palaces
§ Ras al-Tiin Palace, in Ras al-Tiin
§ Presidential Palace, in Maamoura
Recreational
§ Montaza Royal Gardens
Religion
Islam
Most of the citizens of Alexandria adhere to the religion of Islam. The most famous mosque in Alexandria is El-Mursi Abul Abbas Mosque in Bahary. Other notable mosques in the city include Ali ibn Abi Talib mosque in Somouha, Bilal mosque, al-Gamaa al-Bahari in Mandara, Hatem mosque in Somouha, Hoda el-Islam mosque in Sidi Bishr, al-Mowasah mosque in Hadara, Sharq al-Madina mosque in Miami, al-Shohadaa mosque in Mostafa Kamel, Al Qa'ed Ibrahim Mosque, Yehia mosque in Zizinia, Sidi Gaber mosque in Sidi Gaber, and Sultan mosque.
Christianity
After Rome , Alexandria was considered the major seat of Christianity in the world. The Pope of Alexandria was the second among equals, second only to the bishop of Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire until 430. TheChurch of Alexandria had jurisdiction over the entire continent of Africa . After the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451, the Church of Alexandria was split between the Miaphysites and the Melkites. The Miaphysites went on to constitute what is known today as the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. The Melkites went on the constitute what is known today as theGreek Orthodox Church of Alexandria. In the 19th century, Catholic andProtestant missionaries converted some of the adherents of the Orthodox churches to their respective faiths.
Today, the patriarchal seat of the Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church isSaint Mark Cathedral in Ramleh. The most important Coptic Orthodox churches in Alexandria include Pope Cyril I Church in Cleopatra, Saint Georges Church in Sporting, Saint Mark & Pope Peter I Church in Sidi Bishr, Saint Mary Church in Assafra, Saint Mary Church in Gianaclis, Saint Mina Church in Fleming, Saint Mina Church in Mandara, and Saint Takla Haymanot's Church in Ibrahimeya.
The most important Greek Orthodox churches in Alexandria are Saint Anargyri Church, Church of the Annunciation, Saint Anthony Church, Archangels Gabriel & MichaelChurch, Saint Catherine Church, Cathedral of the Dormition in Mansheya, Church of the Dormition,Prophet Elijah Church, Saint Georges Church, Church of the Immaculate Conception in Ibrahemeya,Saint Joseph Church in Fleming, Saint Joseph of Arimathea Church, Saint Mark & Saint NectariosChapel in Ramleh, Saint Nicholas Church, Saint Paraskevi Church, Saint Sava Cathedral in Ramleh, and Saint Theodore Chapel. In communion with the Greek Orthodox Church is the Russian Orthodoxchurch of Saint Alexander Nevsky in Alexandria , which serves the Russian speaking community in the city.
Churches that follow the Latin Catholic rite include Saint Catherine Church in Mansheya and Church of the Jesuits in Cleopatra.
The Saint Mark Church in Shatby, found as part of Collège Saint Marc is multi-denominational and hold liturgies according to Latin Catholic, Coptic Catholic and Coptic Orthodox rites.
Judaism
Education
Colleges and universities
Schools
English schools in Alexandria are fewer in number and more recently established, in comparison with the French schools. The most important English language schools in the city include Riada American school which is one of the most prestigious schools in Alexandria, Alexandria Language School,Alexandria American School, British School of Alexandria, Egyptian American School, Modern American School, Taymour English School (TES), Sacred Heart Girls' School (SHS),Schutz American School, Victoria College,
El Manar Language School for Girls (M.for example,S) previously called (Scottish School for Girls),Kaumeya Language School (KLS), El Nasr Boys' School (EBS), and El Nasr Girls' College (EGC). Most of these schools have been nationalized during the era of Nasser, and are currently Egyptian public schools run by the Egyptian ministry of education.
El Manar Language School for Girls (M.for example,S) previously called (Scottish School for Girls),Kaumeya Language School (KLS), El Nasr Boys' School (EBS), and El Nasr Girls' College (EGC). Most of these schools have been nationalized during the era of Nasser, and are currently Egyptian public schools run by the Egyptian ministry of education.
The only German school in Alexandria is the Deutsche Schule der Borromärinnen (DSB of Saint Charles Borromé).
The Montessori educational system was first introduced in Alexandria in 2009 at Alexandria Montessori.
N.B: The most notable public schools in Alexandria include , AlAbasseia High School , Gamal Abdel Nasser High School and EL Manar English language School for girls.
Transport
Airports
In March 2010, the former airport, Alexandria International Airport was closed to commercial operations with all airlines operating out of Borg al Arab Airport where a brand new terminal was completed in February 2010.[20]
Highways
§ The Desert road. (Alexandria - Cairo /220 km 6-8 lanes, mostly lit)
§ The Agricultural road. (Alexandria - Cairo )
§ The Circular road. the turnpike
§ Ta'ameer Road "Mehwar El-Ta'ameer" - (Alexandria - North Coast )
Train
Alexandria plays host to two intercity rail stations: the aforementioned Misr Station (in the older Manshia district in the western part of the city) and Sidi Gaber Station (in the district of Sidi Gaber in the center of the eastern expansion in which most Alexandrines reside), both of which also serve the commuter rail line. Intercity passenger service is operated byEgyptian National Railways.
Tram
An extensive tramway network was built in 1860 and is the oldest in Africa .
Buses
Modern air conditioned red double-decker buses run the length of the Couriche. Fare (any distance) is 3 L.E. (Egyptian Pound) (£0.33), (0.39€), ($0.52) (January 2011).
Taxis and minibuses
Taxis in Alexandria sport a yellow-and-black livery and are widely available. While Egyptian law requires all cabs to carry meters, these generally do not work and fares must be negotiated with the driver on either departure or arrival.
The minibus share taxi system, or mashrū` operates along well-known traffic arteries. The routes can be identified by both their endpoints and the route between them:
§ Corniche routes:
§ Mandara-Bahari
§ Mandara-Manshia
§ Assafra-Bahari
§ Assafra-Manshia
§ Al-Sa'aa-Manshia
§ Abu Qir routes
§ Mandara-El Mahata (i.e. Misr Station)
§ Abu Qir-El Mahata
§ Victoria-El Mahata
§ Mandara-Victoria
§ Interior routes
§ Cabo-Bahari
§ Manshia-El Awayid
§ Manshia-Al Mouqif Al Gadid (the New Bus Station)
The route is generally written in Arabic on the side of the vehicle, although some drivers change their route without changing the paint. Some drivers also drive only a segment of a route rather than the whole path; such drivers generally stop at a point known as a major hub of the transportation system (for example, Victoria) to allow riders to transfer to another car or to another mode of transport.
Fare is generally L.E. 1.25 to travel the whole route. Shorter trips may have a lower fare, depending on the driver and the length of the trip.
Port
§ The Eastern Harbour
§ The Western Harbour
Culture
Libraries
The Royal Library of Alexandria in Alexandria ,Egypt, was once the largestlibrary in the world. It is generally thought to have been founded at the beginning of the 3rd century BCE, during the reign of Ptolemy II of Egypt. It was likely created after his father had built what would become the first part of the Library complex, the temple of the Muses—the Museion, Greek Μουσείον (from which the modern Englishword museum is derived).
It has been reasonably established that the Library, or parts of the collection, were destroyed by fire on a number of occasions (library fires were common and replacement of handwritten manuscripts was very difficult, expensive, and time-consuming). To this day the details of the destruction (or destructions) remain a lively source of controversy. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina was inaugurated in 2003 near the site of the old Library.
Theaters
§ Alexandria Opera House, were Classical Music, Arabic Music, Opera and Ballet are performed.
Museums
§ The Museum of Fine Arts
§ The Cavafy museum
§ The Alexandria National Museum was inaugurated 31 December 2003. It is located in a restored Italian style palace in Tariq Al-Horreya Street (former Rue Fouad), near the centre of the city. It contains about 1,800 artifacts that narrate the story of Alexandria and Egypt. Most of these pieces came from other Egyptian museums.
The museum is housed in the old Al-Saad Bassili Pasha Palace , who was one of the wealthiest wood merchants in Alexandria . Construction on the site was first undertaken in 1926.
Related words
§ al-Iskandariyya(h) (الإسكندرية) (noun) (formal): Refers to the city of "Alexandria ", used in formal texts and speech. Its Egyptian Arabic equivalent is Eskenderreya or Iskindereyya(h). Iskandariyya(h)and Eskendereyya(h) are different in pronunciation, though they have the same spelling when written in Arabic. In Modern Standard Arabic, Iskandariyya(h) always takes the definite article al-, whereas in Egyptian Arabic, Eskendereyya(h) either never takes al- or it does but is then elidedinto the main word, depending on one's linguistic opinion; the effect, however, is the same. The optional h at the end of both of them is called a ta' marbuta which is not usually pronounced, but is always written.
§ "Alex" (noun): Natives of both Alexandria and Cairo who have a certain knowledge of English refer to Alexandria as "Alex", especially informally.
§ Eskandarany (اسكندراني): The adjectival form in Egyptian Arabic, meaning "from Alexandria " or "native Alexandrian" (masc.). The feminine form of Eskandarany is Eskandaraneyya(h) (اسكندرانية)). The plural form is also Eskandaraneyya(h). Its equivalent in Modern Standard Arabic isIskandariyy (إسكندري), plural Iskandarīūn (إسكندريون).
Sports
The main sport that interests Alexandrians is football, as is the case in the rest of Egypt and Africa . Alexandria Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Alexandria , Egypt. It is currently used mostly for football matches, and was used for the 2006 African Cup of Nations. The stadium is the oldest stadium in Egypt and Africa , being built in 1929. The stadium holds 20,000 people. Alexandria was one of three cities that participated in hosting the African Cup of Nationsin January 2006, which Egypt won. Sea sports such assurfing, jet-skiing and water polo are practised on a lower scale.
§ El-Krom Stadium
Other less popular sports like tennis and squash are usually played in private social and sports clubs, like:
§ Alexandria Sporting Club - in "Sporting"
§ Alexandria Country club
§ Lagoon Resort Courts
Cycle Egypt : A group of people who want to keep our country clean and tidy, we cycle in the streets, we use our bicycles in our everyday life instead of cars. Bicycles do not pollute the atmosphere, and they help getting rid of traffic jams in the streets, its also a good sport for people who want to be keep in good health. We organize weekly rides. We gather in large groups, some times more than 200 Persons, boys and girls, cycling together. Join us to make our beautiful country better . Also this group has bike ride every Friday, Cycling amateurs gather every Friday morning to cycle along the corniche from al-Montazah to al-Qalaa, or to Bibliotheca Alexandrina
Literature
Two writers loom large over the modern literature of Alexandria : C.P. Cavafy, the Alexandria-born Greek poet, and the Indian-born Englishman Lawrence Durrell, author of The Alexandria Quartet. Cavafy incorporated Greek history and mythology and his homosexuality into his poetry. Durrell used the cosmopolitan city as a landscape to explore human desires. Naguib Mahfouz's Miramar is the best known of the Arabic novels set in Alexandria . In the 2000s, writers such as Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Ki Longfellow, and Keith Miller have used Alexandria as a setting for speculative fiction.
§ Novels
§ The Alexandria Quartet (1957–60, set in 1930s) by Lawrence Durrell.
§ The Bat (part of the Drifting Cities trilogy) (1965, set in 1943-44) by Stratis Tsirkas.
§ Miramar (1967) by Naguib Mahfouz.
§ City of Saffron (tr. 1989, set in 1930s) by Edwar Al-Kharrat.
§ Girls of Alexandria (tr. 1993, set in 1930s and '40s) by Edwar Al-Kharrat.
§ The Alexander Cipher (2007) by Will Adams.
§ Flow Down Like Silver, Hypatia of Alexandria (2009) by Ki Longfellow.
§ The Book on Fire (2009, urban fantasy) by Keith Miller.
§ History
§ Alexandria : City of Memory (Yale University Press, 2004) by Michael Haag.
§ Vintage Alexandria : Photographs of the City 1860-1960 (The American University in Cairo Press, 2008) by Michael Haag.
§ Memoirs
§ Farewell to Alexandria (tr. 2004) Harry E. Tzalas.
§ Game
§ Final Fantasy IX (PSX) Alexandria is a major city-state in this game.
Songs
§ Songs in French:
§ Songs in Greek:
§ Songs in Arabic:
§ Ya Wad Ya Eskandarany by Moustafa Amar.
§ Ayouh by Natasha
§ Songs in English:
§ Songs in different languages:
§ Ya Mustafa reproduced Dario Moreno, Bob Azzam and many others - lyrics in Arabic, French and Italian
Tourism
Alexandria is a main summer resort and tourist attraction, due to its public and private beaches and ancient history and Museums, especially the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, based on reviving the ancientLibrary of Alexandria.
Notable people
§ Dr.Mohammed Aboul-Fotouh Hassab , gastro-intestinal surgeon well known for the description of his operation Hassab’s decongestion operation for the treatment of oesophageal varices as a result of portal hypertension.
§ Mohammad Moustafa Haddara( Egyptian Scholar)