View source for Alexandria

{{Short description|City in Egypt}}
{{About|the city in Egypt||Alexandria (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name      = Alexandria
| native_name        = {{collapsible list
|titlestyle = background:transparent;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:84%;
|title = {{nobold|{{resize|1.25em|{{lang|ar|الإسكندرية}}}} ([[Arabic]])}}
|{{Infobox |subbox=yes |bodystyle=font-size:75%;font-weight:normal; |rowclass1=mergedrow |label1=[[Standard Arabic]]: |data1={{transliteration|ar|ALA-LC|al-Iskandariyya}} |rowclass2=mergedrow |label2=[[Egyptian Arabic]]: |data2={{transliteration|arz|Eskenderiyya}}
 }}
}}
{{collapsible list
|titlestyle = background:transparent;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:84%;
|title = {{nobold|{{lang|grc|Αλεξάνδρεια}} ([[Ancient Greek language|Greek]])}}
|{{Infobox|subbox=yes|bodystyle=font-size:75%;font-weight:normal;
|rowclass1 = mergedrow|label1 = {{lang|grc|Αλεξάνδρεια}}:|data1 = {{transliteration|grc|Alexandria}}
|rowclass2 = mergedrow|label2 = {{lang|grc|Ρακώτις}}:|data2 = {{transliteration|grc|Rhakotis}}
 }}
}}
| settlement_type    = [[Metropolis]]
| image_skyline      = {{multiple image
  | total_width              = 280
  | border                   = infobox
  | perrow                   = 1/2/2/1
  | caption_align = center
  | image1            = Corniche of Alexandria.jpg
  | caption1          = View of the [[Corniche (Alexandria)|Waterfront]]
  | image3            = Alexandria Egypt (235108463).jpeg
  | caption3          = [[Citadel of Qaitbay]]
  | image4            = Alexandria library 2.jpg
  | caption4          = [[Bibliotheca Alexandrina]]
  | image5            = Egypt, Alexandria, Abu el-Abbas el-Mursi Mosque.jpg
  | caption5          = [[Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi Mosque]]
  | image6            = Alexandria Egypt (235108285).jpeg
  | caption6          = [[Montaza Palace]]
  | image10            = Pompey's Pillar with Sphinx.jpg
  | caption10          = [[Pompey's Pillar (column)|Pompey's Pillar]]
}}
| nicknames          = ''[[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]]'s Bride'', ''Pearl of the Mediterranean'', ''Alex''
| image_flag         = Flag of Alexandria.svg
| flag_size          = 125px
| image_blank_emblem = Coat of Arms - Alexandria, Egypt.svg
| blank_emblem_type  = Emblem
| blank_emblem_size  = 100px
| pushpin_map        = Egypt#Africa
| pushpin_relief     = yes
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Egypt
| coordinates        = {{coord|31|11|51|N|29|53|33|E|region:EG|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type   = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name   = [[Egypt]]
| subdivision_type1  = [[Governorates of Egypt|Governorate]]
| subdivision_name1  = [[Alexandria Governorate|Alexandria]]
| established_title  = Founded
| established_date   = 331 BC
| established_title1 = Founded by
| established_date1  = [[Alexander the Great]]
| government_footnotes = 
| government_type    = 
| leader_title       = Governor
| leader_name        = Ahmed Khaled Hassan Said<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alexandria.gov.eg/Alex/english/gov.html |title=Alexandria Governor}}</ref>
| unit_pref          = Metric
| area_total_km2     = 1661
| elevation_m        = 5
| population_total   = 6100000<ref name="citypopulation">{{cite web |title=Major Agglomerations of the World - Population Statistics and Maps |url=https://citypopulation.de/en/world/agglomerations/ |website=citypopulation.de |access-date=16 March 2023}}</ref>
| population_as_of   = 2023
| population_density_km2 = 3670
| demographics_type1 = GDP
| demographics1_footnotes = <ref>{{citation|title=GDP BY GOVERNORATE|url=https://mped.gov.eg/Governorate?lang=en|website=mped.gov.eg}}</ref>
| demographics1_title1 = Metro
| demographics1_info1 = [[Egyptian pound|EGP]] 566 billion<br />([[US$]] 36 billion)
| postal_code_type   = Postal code
| postal_code        = 21xxx
| area_code          = (+20) 3
| website            = {{URL|http://www.alexandria.gov.eg/|alexandria.gov.eg}}
| timezone           = [[Egypt Standard Time|EGY]]
| utc_offset         = +2
| timezone_DST       = 
| utc_offset_DST     = +3
| population_demonyms = Alexandrian, Alexandrine ({{langx|ar|إسكندراني}})
}}
'''Alexandria''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|æ|l|ᵻ|ɡ|ˈ|z|æ|n|d|r|i|ə|,_|-|ˈ|z|ɑː|n|-}} {{respell|AL|ig|ZA(H)N|dree|ə}};<ref>
{{cite web |url=http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/alexandria?showCookiePolicy=true |title=Alexandria|access-date=24 September 2014 |publisher=Collins Dictionary |date=n.d.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150611050208/http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/alexandria?showCookiePolicy=true|archive-date=11 June 2015|url-status=live}}
</ref> {{langx|ar|الإسكندرية}};{{Efn|Standard romanisation: {{transliteration|ar|al-’Iskandariyya}}, {{IPA|ar|al.ʔiskanˈdarijja|pron}}; [[Egyptian Arabic|Egyptian]] romanisation: {{transliteration|arz|Eskenderiyya}}, {{IPA|arz|eskendeˈɾejjæ|pron}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Travel in Egypt: Alexandria |url=https://www.arabacademy.com/travel-egypt-alexandria/ |date=10 August 2016 |website=Arab Academy |language=en-US |access-date=19 May 2020 |archive-date=25 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725031045/https://www.arabacademy.com/travel-egypt-alexandria/ |url-status=live }}; {{Cite book |last=Fideler |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sboJPPCBpuQC&q=alexandria+arabic+name&pg=PA33 |title=Alexandria 2 |date=1 January 1993 |publisher=Red Wheel/Weiser |isbn=978-0-933999-97-8 |language=en |access-date=8 November 2020 |archive-date=18 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418013452/https://books.google.com/books?id=sboJPPCBpuQC&q=alexandria+arabic+name&pg=PA33 |url-status=live }}</ref>}} {{lang-grc-gre|Ἀλεξάνδρεια}},{{Efn|[[Attic Greek|Attic]] and [[Koine Greek|Koinē]] romanisation: {{transliteration|grc|Alexándreia}}; {{IPA|grc-x-attic|aleksándreːa|lang|link=yes}}, {{IPA|grc-x-koine|alekˈsandria|lang|link=yes}}.<ref name="Haag2004">{{cite book |author=Michael Haag |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3OhK6S_qIZoC |title=Alexandria: City of Memory |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-300-10415-8 |access-date=19 May 2020 |archive-date=18 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418005603/https://books.google.com/books?id=3OhK6S_qIZoC |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fowden |first=Garth |date=26 February 2019 |others=Apollo-University of Cambridge Repository |title=Alexandria between Antiquity and Islam |url=https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/289972 |doi=10.17863/CAM.37202 |access-date=19 May 2020 |archive-date=8 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208112635/https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/289972 |url-status=live|journal=Millennium Jahrbuch }}</ref>}} [[Coptic language|Coptic]]: Ⲣⲁⲕⲟϯ - Rakoti or ⲁⲗⲉⲝⲁⲛⲇⲣⲓⲁ) is the [[List_of_cities_and_towns_in_Egypt#Largest_cities | second largest]] city in [[Egypt]] and the [[List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea|largest city on the Mediterranean coast]]. It lies at the western edge of the [[Nile Delta|Nile River delta]]. Founded in {{circa|331 BC}} by [[Alexander the Great]],<ref name="PollardReid2007">{{cite book |author1=Justin Pollard |url=https://archive.org/details/risefallofalexan0000poll |title=The Rise and Fall of Alexandria: Birthplace of the Modern World |author2=Howard Reid |date=30 October 2007 |publisher=Viking |isbn=978-0-14-311251-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/risefallofalexan0000poll/page/2 2]-7|url-access=registration}}</ref> Alexandria grew rapidly and became a major centre of [[Hellenic civilisation]], eventually replacing [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]], in present-day [[Greater Cairo]], as Egypt's capital. Called the "Bride of the Mediterranean" internationally,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Egypt's 'bride of the Mediterranean' is a year-round destination for tourists {{!}} Marwa al-A'sar |url=http://thearabweekly.com/egypts-bride-mediterranean-year-round-destination-tourists |access-date=2021-11-18 |website=AW |language=en |archive-date=18 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211118122359/https://thearabweekly.com/egypts-bride-mediterranean-year-round-destination-tourists |url-status=live }}</ref> Alexandria is a popular tourist destination and an important industrial centre due to its [[natural gas]] and [[petroleum|oil]] [[pipeline transport|pipelines]] from [[Suez]].

The city extends about {{cvt|40|km|mi|sp=us}} along the [[northern coast of Egypt]] and is the largest city on the Mediterranean, the [[List_of_cities_and_towns_in_Egypt#Largest_cities | second-largest in Egypt]] (after [[Cairo]]), the  [[List of largest cities in the Arab world|fourth-largest city]] in the [[Arab world]], the [[List of cities in Africa by population|ninth-largest city in Africa]], and the [[List of urban agglomerations in Africa|ninth-largest urban area in Africa]].

The city was founded originally in the vicinity of an Egyptian settlement named [[Rhacotis]] (that became the Egyptian quarter of the city). Alexandria grew rapidly, becoming a major centre of Hellenic civilisation and replacing Memphis as Egypt's capital during the reign of the Ptolemaic pharaohs who succeeded Alexander. It retained this status for almost a millennium, through the period of [[Egypt (Roman province)|Roman and Eastern Roman rule]] until the [[Muslim conquest of Egypt]] in 641 AD, when a new capital was founded at [[Fustat]] (later absorbed into [[Cairo]]).

Alexandria was best known for the [[Lighthouse of Alexandria]] (''Pharos''), one of the [[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World]]; its [[Library of Alexandria|Great Library]], the largest in the ancient world; and the [[Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa]], one of the [[Wonders of the Middle Ages|Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages]]. Alexandria was the intellectual and cultural centre of the ancient Mediterranean for much of the [[Hellenistic age]] and [[late antiquity]].<ref name="PollardReid2007" /> It was at one time the largest city in the ancient world before being eventually overtaken by [[Rome]].

The city was a major centre of [[early Christianity|early]] [[Christianity]] and was the centre of the [[Patriarchate of Alexandria]], which was one of the major centres of Christianity in the [[Eastern Roman Empire]]. In the modern world, the [[Coptic Orthodox Church]] and the [[Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria]] both lay claim to this ancient heritage. By 641, the city had already been largely plundered {{By whom|date=June 2024}} and lost its significance before re-emerging in the modern era.<ref name="FPAl">{{cite web |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2014/12/23/lighthouse-dims-egypt-alexandria-salafists-mubarak-sisi-longform/ |title=The Lighthouse Dims |work=[[Foreign Policy]] |date=23 December 2014|access-date=5 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170309071911/https://foreignpolicy.com/2014/12/23/lighthouse-dims-egypt-alexandria-salafists-mubarak-sisi-longform/|archive-date=9 March 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> From the late 18th 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 and [[Red Sea]]s and the lucrative trade in [[Gossypium barbadense|Egyptian cotton]].

== Name ==
{{hiero|''r-ꜥ-qd(y)t'' (Alexandria)<ref name="Wörterbuch">[[Adolf Erman|Erman, Adolf]], and [[Hermann Grapow]], eds. 1926–1953. ''Wörterbuch der aegyptischen Sprache im Auftrage der deutschen Akademien''. 6 vols. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs'schen Buchhandlungen. (Reprinted Berlin: Akademie-Verlag GmbH, 1971).</ref><ref>John Baines, "Possible implications of the Egyptian word for Alexandria", ''Journal of Roman Archaeology'', Vol. 16 (2003), pp. 61–63. (Appendix to Judith McKenzie, "[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-roman-archaeology/article/glimpsing-alexandria-from-archaeological-evidence/A95F62A34EE0CD1B091CAE0BFF0A757E Glimpsing Alexandria from archaeological evidence] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180611233239/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-roman-archaeology/article/glimpsing-alexandria-from-archaeological-evidence/A95F62A34EE0CD1B091CAE0BFF0A757E |date=11 June 2018 }}".)</ref>|<hiero>r:Z1:a A35 t::niwt</hiero>|align=right |era=default}}

Alexandria was located on the earlier Egyptian settlement, which was called [[Rhacotis]] ({{Langx|grc|Ῥακῶτις|Rhakôtis}}), the Hellenised form of [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]] ''r-ꜥ-qd(y)t''. As one of many settlements founded by Alexander the Great, the city he founded on Rhacotis was called {{Translit|grc|Alexándreia hḗ kat' Aígypton}} ({{Lang|grc|Ἀλεξάνδρεια ἡ κατ' Αἴγυπτον}}), which some sources translated as "Alexandria by Egypt", as the city was, at that time, in the periphery of Egypt proper (the area beside the [[Nile]]).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chugg |first1=Andrew M. |title=The Pharos Lighthouse In Alexandria: Second Sun and Seventh Wonder of Antiquity |year=2024 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-04-000272-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0QXsEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT20}}</ref> Some of the Alexandrian and Greek populaces, e.g., [[Hypsicles]], also referred to the city as {{Translit|grc|Alexándreia hḗ prós Aígypton}} ({{Lang|grc|Ἀλεξάνδρεια ἡ πρός Αἴγυπτον}}, "Alexandria near Egypt").<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cohen |first1=Getzel M. |title=The Hellenistic Settlements in Europe, the Islands, and Asia Minor |year=1995 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-08329-5 |pages=409 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6p4lDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA409}}</ref> In the course of [[Roman Egypt|Roman rule in Egypt]], the city's name was [[Latinisation of names|Latinised]] as {{Lang|la|Alexandrēa ad Aegyptum}}.

After the [[Siege of Alexandria (641)|capture of Alexandria]] by the [[Rashidun Caliphate|Rashiduns]] in AD 641, the name was [[Arabization|Arabicised]]: initial ''Al-'' was re-analysed into the [[Arabic definite article|definite article]]; [[Metathesis (linguistics)|metathesis]] occurred on ''x'', from {{IPA|[ks]}} to {{IPA|[sk]}}; and the suffix ''-eia'' was assimilated into the feminine adjectival suffix ''-iyya'' ({{Lang|ar|ـِيَّة}}).

==History==
{{Main|History of Alexandria}}
{{For timeline}}

===Ancient era===
[[Radiocarbon dating]] of seashell fragments and lead contamination show human activity at the location during the period of the [[Old Kingdom (Egypt)|Old Kingdom]] (27th–21st centuries BC) and again in the period 1000–800 BC, followed by the absence of activity after that.<ref name="VéronGoiran2006">{{cite journal |last1=Véron |first1=A. |last2=Goiran |first2=J. P. |last3=Morhange |first3=C. |last4=Marriner |first4=N. |last5=Empereur |first5=J. Y. |title=Pollutant lead reveals the pre-Hellenistic occupation and ancient growth of Alexandria, Egypt |journal=Geophysical Research Letters |volume=33 |issue=6 |year=2006 |issn=0094-8276 |doi=10.1029/2006GL025824 |bibcode=2006GeoRL..33.6409V |s2cid=131190587 |url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02116119/file/ark%20_67375_WNG-VLGZ1B8Q-W.pdf |access-date=16 October 2021 |archive-date=18 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210718101056/https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02116119/file/ark%20_67375_WNG-VLGZ1B8Q-W.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> From ancient sources it is known there existed a trading post at this location during the time of [[Rameses the Great]] for trade with [[Crete]], but it had long been lost by the time of Alexander's arrival.<ref name="PollardReid2007"/> A small Egyptian fishing village named [[Rhacotis|Rhakotis]] ([[Egyptian language|Egyptian]]: {{transliteration|egy|rꜥ-qdy.t}}, 'That which is built up') existed since the 13th century BC in the vicinity and eventually grew into the Egyptian quarter of the city.<ref name="PollardReid2007"/> Just east of Alexandria (where [[Abu Qir Bay]] is now), there were in ancient times marshland and several islands. As early as the 7th century BC, there existed important port cities of [[Canopus, Egypt|Canopus]] and [[Heracleion]]. The latter was recently rediscovered underwater.
Alexandria was founded by [[Alexander the Great]] in April 331 BC as {{lang|grc|Ἀλεξάνδρεια}} ({{transliteration|grc|Alexandreia}}), as [[List of cities founded by Alexander the Great|one of his many city foundations]]. After he captured the [[Thirty-first Dynasty of Egypt|Egyptian Satrapy]] from the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persians]], Alexander wanted to build a [[Polis|large Greek city]] on Egypt's coast that would bear his name. He chose the site of Alexandria, envisioning the building of a causeway to the nearby island of [[Pharos]] that would generate two great natural harbours.<ref name="PollardReid2007"/> Alexandria was intended to supersede the older [[Colonies in antiquity|Greek colony]] of [[Naucratis]] as a [[Hellenistic civilization|Hellenistic]] centre in Egypt and to be the link between Greece and the rich [[Nile]] valley. A few months after the foundation, Alexander left Egypt and never returned to the city during his life.[[File:Plan of Alexandria c 30 BC Otto Puchstein 1890s EN.svg|thumb|Plan of Alexandria ({{circa|30&nbsp;BC}})|left]]

After Alexander's departure, his [[viceroy]] [[Cleomenes of Naucratis|Cleomenes]] continued the expansion. The architect [[Dinocrates of Rhodes]] designed the city, using a [[Hippodamian]] [[grid plan]]. Following Alexander's death in 323 BC, his general [[Ptolemy I Soter|Ptolemy Lagides]] took possession of Egypt and brought Alexander's body to Egypt with him.<ref>O'Connor, Lauren (2009) "The Remains of Alexander the Great: The God, The King, The Symbol", ''Constructing the Past'': Vol. 10: Iss. 1, Article 8</ref> Ptolemy at first ruled from the old Egyptian capital of [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]]. In 322/321 BC he had Cleomenes executed. Finally, in 305 BC, Ptolemy declared himself [[Pharaoh]] as Ptolemy I Soter ("Savior") and moved his capital to Alexandria.

Although Cleomenes was mainly in charge of overseeing Alexandria's early development, the {{transliteration|grc|[[Heptastadion]]}} and the mainland quarters seem to have been primarily [[Ptolemaic dynasty|Ptolemaic]] work. Inheriting the trade of ruined [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]] and becoming the centre of the new commerce between Europe and the [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabian]] and Indian East, the city grew in less than a generation to be larger than [[Carthage]]. In one century, Alexandria had become the largest city in the world and, for some centuries more, was second only to Rome. It became Egypt's main Greek city, with [[Greeks|Greek people]] from diverse backgrounds.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Andrew |last=Erskine |journal=Culture and Power in Ptolemaic Egypt: The Museum and Library of Alexandria |title=Greece & Rome, 2nd Ser. |volume=42 |issue=1 |date=April 1995 |pages=38–48 [42] |quote=One effect of the newly created Hellenistic kingdoms was the imposition of Greek cities occupied by Greeks on an alien landscape. In Egypt, there was a native Egyptian population with its own culture, history, and traditions. The Greeks who came to Egypt, to the court or to live in Alexandria, were separated from their original cultures. Alexandria was the main Greek city of Egypt and within it, there was an extraordinary mix of Greeks from many cities and backgrounds.}}</ref>

The [[Septuagint]], a Greek version of the [[Tanakh]], was produced there. The early Ptolemies kept it in order and fostered the development of its museum into the leading Hellenistic centre of learning ([[Library of Alexandria]], which faced destruction during [[Julius Caesar|Caesar]]'s [[Siege of Alexandria (47 BC)|siege of Alexandria]] in 47 BC), but were careful to maintain the distinction of its population's three largest ethnicities: Greek, [[Egyptians|Egyptian]] and Jewish.<ref name="Culture and Power in [[Ptolemaic Egypt]] p. 42-43">{{cite journal |first=Andrew |last=Erskine |title=Culture and Power in Ptolemaic Egypt: the Museum and Library of Alexandria |journal=Greece & Rome |volume=42 |issue=1 |date=April 1995 |pages=38–48 |doi=10.1017/S0017383500025213 |s2cid=162578339 |url=https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/en/publications/0250d217-8139-4aca-8a8e-8a701b81b9a2 |quote=The Ptolemaic emphasis on Greek culture establishes the Greeks of Egypt with an identity for themselves. [...] But the emphasis on Greek culture does even more than this – these are Greeks ruling in a foreign land. The more Greeks can indulge in their own culture, the more they can exclude non-Greeks, in other words Egyptians, the subjects whose land has been taken over. The assertion of Greek culture serves to enforce Egyptian subjection. So the presence in Alexandria of two institutions devoted to the preservation and study of Greek culture acts as a powerful symbol of Egyptian exclusion and subjection. Texts from other cultures could be kept in the library, but only once they had been translated, that is to say Hellenized.{{pb}}[...] A reading of Alexandrian poetry might easily give the impression that Egyptians did not exist at all; indeed Egypt itself is hardly mentioned except for the Nile and the Nile flood, [...] This omission of the Egypt and Egyptians from poetry masks a fundamental insecurity. It is no coincidence that one of the few poetic references to Egyptians presents them as muggers. |access-date=16 October 2021 |archive-date=10 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510035202/https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/en/publications/culture-and-power-in-ptolemaic-egypt-the-museum-and-library-of-al |url-status=live |hdl=20.500.11820/0250d217-8139-4aca-8a8e-8a701b81b9a2 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> By the time of [[Augustus]], the city grid encompassed an area of {{cvt|10|km2}},<ref>Hanson and Ortman, A systematic method for estimating the populations of Greek and Roman settlements November 2017, Journal of Roman Archaeology 30(1):301-324</ref> and the total population during the Roman [[principate]] was around 500,000–600,000, which would wax and wane in the course of the next four centuries under Roman rule.<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor=284172 |title=The Population of Roman Alexandria |journal=[[Transactions of the American Philological Association]] |volume=118 |pages=275–292 |last1=Delia |first1=Diana |year=1988 |doi=10.2307/284172}}</ref>

According to [[Philo of Alexandria]], in the year 38 AD, disturbances erupted between Jews and Greek citizens of Alexandria during a visit paid by King [[Agrippa I]] to Alexandria, principally over the respect paid by the Herodian nation to the [[Roman emperor]], which quickly escalated to open affronts and violence between the two ethnic groups and the desecration of Alexandrian synagogues. This event has been called the [[Alexandrian riots (38)|Alexandrian pogroms]]. The violence was quelled after [[Caligula]] intervened and had the Roman governor, Flaccus, removed from the city.<ref>Philo of Alexandria, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Philo/in_Flaccum*.html Against Flaccus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510035154/https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Philo/in_Flaccum%2A.html |date=10 May 2022 }}.</ref>

[[File:PhareAlexandrie.jpg|thumb|The [[Lighthouse of Alexandria]] on coins minted in Alexandria in the second century (1: reverse of a coin of [[Antoninus Pius]], and 2: reverse of a coin of [[Commodus]])]]In 115 AD, large parts of Alexandria were destroyed during the [[Diaspora revolt]], which gave [[Hadrian]] and his architect, [[Decriannus]], an opportunity to rebuild it. In 215 AD, the emperor [[Caracalla]] visited the city and, because of some insulting [[satire]]s 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 AD, Alexandria was devastated by a [[tsunami]] ([[365 Crete earthquake]]),<ref name="Ammianus Marcellinus, 26.10.15-19">[[Ammianus Marcellinus]], [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/ammianus_26_book26.htm#C10 "Res Gestae", 26.10.15–19] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080317083507/http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/ammianus_26_book26.htm#C10|date=17 March 2008 }}</ref> an event annually commemorated years later as a "day of horror".<ref>Stiros, Stathis C.: "The AD 365 Crete earthquake and possible seismic clustering during the fourth to sixth centuries AD in the Eastern Mediterranean: a review of historical and archaeological data", ''Journal of Structural Geology'', Vol. 23 (2001), pp. 545–562 (549 & 557)</ref>

===Islamic era===
In 619, Alexandria [[Sassanid conquest of Egypt|fell]] to the [[Sassanid Empire|Sassanid Persians]]. The city was mostly uninjured by the conquest and a new palace called ''Tarawus'' was erected in the eastern part of the city, later known as Qasr Faris, "fort of the Persians".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Butler |first=Alfred J. |url=http://archive.org/details/arabconquestofeg029678mbp |title=The Arab Conquest Of Egypt |date=1902 |publisher=Oxford At The Clarendon Press. |others=Osmania University, Digital Library Of India}}</ref> Although the [[List of Byzantine emperors|Byzantine emperor]] [[Heraclius]] recovered it in 629, in 641 the Arabs under the general [['Amr ibn al-'As]] invaded it during the [[Muslim conquest of Egypt]], after a [[Siege of Alexandria (641)|siege]] that lasted 14 months. The first Arab governor of Egypt recorded to have visited Alexandria was [[Utba ibn Abi Sufyan]], who strengthened the Arab presence and built a governor's palace in the city in 664–665.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kennedy |first=Hugh |author-link=Hugh N. Kennedy |title=Cambridge History of Egypt, Volume One: Islamic Egypt, 640–1517 |chapter=Egypt as a Province in the Islamic Caliphate, 641–868 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |editor-last=Petry |editor-first=Carl F. |location=Cambridge |year=1998 |isbn=0-521-47137-0 |pages=62–85 [69] |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y3FtXpB_tqMC&pg=PA62 |access-date=11 May 2019 |archive-date=18 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418011516/https://books.google.com/books?id=y3FtXpB_tqMC&pg=PA62 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bruning |first1=Jelle |title=The Rise of a Capital: Al-Fusṭāṭ and Its Hinterland, 18-132/639-750 |date=2018 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden and Boston |isbn=978-90-04-36635-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cGdjDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA50 |pages=50–52 |access-date=11 May 2019 |archive-date=4 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204111251/https://books.google.com/books?id=cGdjDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA50 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In reference to Alexandria, [[Ibn Battuta]] speaks of a number of [[Muslim saints]] that resided in the city. One such saint was Imam Borhan Oddin El Aaraj, who was said to perform miracles. Another notable figure was Yaqut al-'Arshi, a disciple of [[Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi|Abu Abbas El Mursi]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |author=Ibn Batuta |title=The travels of Ibn Battuta in the Near East, Asia and Africa 1304–1377 |date=2009 |publisher=Cosimo |isbn=9781605206219 |location=New York |translator=Lee, Samuel |oclc=502998972}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=McGregor |first=Richard J. A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rxTfHzlVrX0C&pg=PA33 |title=Sanctity and Mysticism in Medieval Egypt: The Wafāʼ Sufi Order and the Legacy of Ibn al-ʿArabī |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-7914-6011-5 |pages=33 |language=en}}</ref> Ibn Battuta also writes about Abu 'Abdallah al-Murshidi, a saint that lived in the Minyat of Ibn Murshed. Although al-Murshidi lived in seclusion, Ibn Battuta writes that he was regularly visited by crowds, high state officials, and even by the Sultan of Egypt at the time, [[al-Nasir Muhammad]].<ref name=":0" /> Ibn Battuta also visited the Pharos lighthouse on two occasions: in 1326 he found it to be partly in ruins and in 1349 it had deteriorated to the point that it was no longer possible to enter.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Clayton |first1=Peter A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IQSBAAAAQBAJ&q=Ibn+battuta+pharos&pg=PA155 |title=The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World |last2=Price |first2=Martin |date=21 August 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781136748103 |access-date=8 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210302191906/https://books.google.com/books?id=IQSBAAAAQBAJ&q=Ibn+battuta+pharos&pg=PA155 |archive-date=2 March 2021 |url-status=live |via=Google Books}}</ref>[[File:Alexandrie et phare.jpg|thumb|Alexandria in the late 18th century, by [[Luigi Mayer]]]]During the [[Middle Ages]], the [[Mamluk Sultanate]] provided amenities for European merchants to stay in the port cities of Alexandria and [[Damietta]], so [[hotel]]s were built and placed at the merchants' disposal so that they could live according to the pattern they were accustomed to in their country. Alexandria lost much of its importance in international trade after [[Portugal|Portuguese]] navigators discovered a new sea route to [[India]] in the late 15th century. This reduced the amount of goods that needed to be transported through the Alexandrian port, as well as the Mamluks' political power.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/content/alexandria |title=Silk Roads Programme: Alexandria |publisher=[[UNESCO]] |access-date=August 9, 2023 }}</ref> After the [[Battle of Ridaniya]] in 1517, the city was conquered by the [[Ottoman Turks]] and remained under [[Egypt Eyalet|Ottoman rule]] until 1798. Alexandria lost much of its former importance to the Egyptian port city of [[Rosetta]] during the 9th to 18th centuries, and it only regained its former prominence with the construction of the [[Mahmoudiyah Canal]] in 1820.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}[[File:Louis-François Cassas, Alexandrie, nommée par les Arabes, Eskanderyeh.jpg|thumb|left|Map of the city in the 1780s, by [[Louis-François Cassas]]]]

Alexandria figured prominently in the military operations of [[Napoleon]]'s [[French Campaign in Egypt and Syria|expedition to Egypt]] in 1798. French troops stormed the city on 2 July 1798, and it remained in their hands until the arrival of a British expedition in 1801. The British won a considerable victory over the French at the [[Battle of Alexandria (1801)|Battle of Alexandria]] on 21 March 1801, following which they [[Siege of Alexandria (1801)|besieged the city]], which fell to them on 2 September 1801. [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt|Muhammad Ali]], the Ottoman governor of Egypt, began rebuilding and redevelopment around 1810 and, by 1850, Alexandria had returned to something akin to its former glory.<ref>"Modern"{{cite web |url=http://library.thinkquest.org/C0111760/modern.htm |title=The History of Alexandria|url-status=dead|access-date=24 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524173744/http://library.thinkquest.org/C0111760/modern.htm|archive-date=24 May 2013}}</ref> Egypt turned to Europe in their effort to modernise the country. Greeks, followed by other Europeans and others, began moving to the city. In the early 20th century, the city became a home for novelists and poets.<ref name="FPAl"/>[[File:Bombardamento Alessandria 1882.jpg|thumb|Bombardment of Alexandria by [[Royal Navy|British naval forces]] (1882)]]In July 1882, the city came under [[Bombardment of Alexandria|bombardment]] from British naval forces and was occupied.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://digitalcollections.aucegypt.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15795coll9 |title=Bombardment of Alexandria|access-date=11 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113130102/http://digitalcollections.aucegypt.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15795coll9|archive-date=13 November 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

In July 1954, the city was a target of an Israeli bombing campaign that later became known as the [[Lavon Affair]]. On 26 October 1954, Alexandria's Mansheya Square was the site of a failed assassination attempt on [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nmhtthornton.com/mehistorydatabase/nasser_assassination_attempt.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105055521/http://www.nmhtthornton.com/mehistorydatabase/nasser_assassination_attempt.php|archive-date=5 January 2010 |title=Nasser Assassination Attempt, October 26, 1954|url-status=dead|access-date=24 May 2013 |first=Ted |last=Thornton |website=Middle East History Database}}</ref>

Europeans began leaving Alexandria following the 1956 [[Suez Crisis]] that led to an outburst of [[Arab nationalism]]. The nationalisation of property by Nasser, which reached its highest point in 1961, drove out nearly all the rest.<ref name="FPAl" />

==Geography==
[[File:بحيرة مريوط (Mariout lake).jpg|thumb|[[Lake Mariout]]]]
Alexandria is located in the country of Egypt, on the southern coast of the Mediterranean. It is in the Far West [[Nile Delta|Nile delta]] area.<ref>{{cite web |last=Anika |first=R. |date= |title=It is in the Nile delta area |url=http://www.mappedplanet.com/karten/klima/juli_temp-eu.png|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922182838/http://www.mappedplanet.com/karten/klima/juli_temp-eu.png|archive-date=22 September 2018|access-date=January 15, 2021 |website=maps of the world}}</ref> It is a densely populated city; its core areas belie its large administrative area.

{|class="wikitable sortable"
! rowspan=2|Region
! colspan=2|(Population)
! rowspan=2|Area<br />km<sup>2</sup>
! rowspan=2|Density<br />per km<sup>2</sup><br />(2020)
|-
! 1996
! 2020 proj*
|-
|Alexandria, 14 kisms (contiguous)||2,199,000||4,439,000||203.57||21,805
|-
|}
Notes: <small>2020 CAPMAS projection based on 2017 revised census figures, may differ significantly from 2017 census preliminary tabulations. The 14 kisms were reported simply as ''Alexandria city'' by CAPMAS in 2006 but given explosive growth definitions, likely informal, may have changed or may be set to change. Same area with 12 kisms existed in 1996. Kisms are considered 'fully urbanised'</small><ref>{{Cite web |title=AL-ISKANDARIYAH |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/egypt/admin/02__al_iskandariyah/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220122114015/https://www.citypopulation.de/en/egypt/admin/02__al_iskandariyah/|archive-date=2022-01-22|access-date=2022-02-09 |website=citypopulation.de}}</ref>

===Climate===
Alexandria has a [[Semi-arid climate|hot steppe climate]] (Köppen climate classification: ''BSh''),<ref name=WMOCLINO/><!--<ref>{{cite web |url=http://koeppen-geiger.vu-wien.ac.at/pics/kottek_et_al_2006.gif |title=Koeppen-Geiger.vu-wien.ac.at|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111017125921/http://koeppen-geiger.vu-wien.ac.at/pics/kottek_et_al_2006.gif|archive-date=17 October 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>--> virtually [[hot desert climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification]]: ''BWh'').<ref name=WMOCliRef/> Like the rest of [[northern coast of Egypt|Egypt's northern coast]], the prevailing north wind, blowing across the Mediterranean, gives the city a less severe climate than the desert hinterland.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/14376/Alexandria/60049/Climate |title=Alexandria |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=1 December 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529202420/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/14376/Alexandria/60049/Climate|archive-date=29 May 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Rafah, Egypt#Climate|Rafah]] and Alexandria<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.climate-charts.com/Countries/Egypt.html |title=Egypt Climate Index |publisher=Climate Charts|access-date=20 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623100510/http://www.climate-charts.com/Countries/Egypt.html|archive-date=23 June 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> are the wettest places in Egypt; the other wettest places are [[Rosetta#Climate|Rosetta]], [[Baltim#Climate|Baltim]], [[Kafr el-Dawwar#Climate|Kafr el-Dawwar]], and [[Mersa Matruh#Climate|Mersa Matruh]]. The city's climate is influenced by the [[Mediterranean Sea]], moderating its temperatures, causing variable rainy winters and moderately hot and slightly prolonged summers that, at times, can be very humid; January and February are the coolest months, with daily maximum temperatures typically ranging from {{cvt|12|to|18|C|F}} and minimum temperatures that could reach {{cvt|5|°C|F|lk=out}}.

Alexandria experiences [[Severe weather|violent storms]], rain and sometimes [[Ice pellets|sleet]] and [[hail]] during the cooler months; these events, combined with a poor drainage system, have been responsible for occasional flooding in the city in the past though they rarely occur anymore.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/10/deadly-flash-floods-hit-egypt-alexandria-151026085943090.html%7CDeadly |title=Deadly flash floods hit Egypt's Alexandria |work=aljazeera.com|access-date=12 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161012234715/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/10/deadly-flash-floods-hit-egypt-alexandria-151026085943090.html%7CDeadly|archive-date=12 October 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> July and August are the hottest and driest months of the year, with an average daily maximum temperature of {{cvt|30|°C|F|lk=out}}. The average annual rainfall is around {{cvt|211|mm}} but has been as high as {{cvt|417|mm}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tutiempo.net/clima/Alexandria_Nouzha/623180.htm |title=Clima en Alexandria / Nouzha – Históricos el tiempo |publisher=Tutiempo.net|access-date=12 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615164309/http://www.tutiempo.net/clima/Alexandria_Nouzha/623180.htm|archive-date=15 June 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Port Said#Climate|Port Said]], [[al-Qusayr, Egypt#Climate|Kosseir]], [[Baltim#Climate|Baltim]], [[Damietta#Climate|Damietta]] and Alexandria have the least temperature variation in Egypt.

The highest recorded temperature was {{cvt|45|°C}} on 30 May 1961, and the coldest recorded temperature was {{cvt|0|°C}} on 31 January 1994.<ref name="Voodoo Skies">{{cite web |title=Alexandria, Egypt |url=http://voodooskies.com/weather/egypt/alexandria/monthly/temperature |publisher=Voodoo Skies|access-date=3 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905151724/http://voodooskies.com/weather/egypt/alexandria/monthly/temperature|archive-date=5 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-12-21 |title=A wave of snow covers Alexandria, in Egypt |url=https://kawa-news.com/en/a-wave-of-snow-covers-alexandria-in-egypt/ |access-date=2021-12-22 |website=KAWA |language=en-US |archive-date=22 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222150212/https://kawa-news.com/en/a-wave-of-snow-covers-alexandria-in-egypt/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=VIDEO: Rare snowfall turns Egypt's Alexandria into Moscow |url=https://www.gulftoday.ae/news/2021/12/20/rare-snowfall-turns-egypt-alexandria-into-moscow |access-date=2021-12-22 |website=www.gulftoday.ae |archive-date=22 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222150210/https://www.gulftoday.ae/news/2021/12/20/rare-snowfall-turns-egypt-alexandria-into-moscow |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-12-20 |title=Photos: In rare sight, snow falls across Alexandria |url=https://egyptindependent.com/in-rare-sight-snow-falls-across-alexandria/ |access-date=2021-12-22 |website=Egypt Independent |language=en-US |archive-date=22 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222150211/https://egyptindependent.com/in-rare-sight-snow-falls-across-alexandria/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-12-20 |title=In Photos: Rare 'Snowfall' in Egypt's Alexandria Marks End of 2021 {{!}} Egyptian Streets |url=https://egyptianstreets.com/2021/12/20/in-photos-rare-snowfall-in-egypts-alexandria-marks-end-of-2021/ |access-date=2021-12-22 |language=en-US |archive-date=22 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222151712/https://egyptianstreets.com/2021/12/20/in-photos-rare-snowfall-in-egypts-alexandria-marks-end-of-2021/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
{{Weather box
|width = auto
|location = Alexandria ([[El Nouzha Airport]]) 1991–2020, extremes 1957–present
|metric first = yes
|single line = yes
| Jan record high C = 29.6
| Feb record high C = 33.0
| Mar record high C = 40.0
| Apr record high C = 40.8
| May record high C = 45.0
| Jun record high C = 43.9
| Jul record high C = 40.7
| Aug record high C = 39.8
| Sep record high C = 39.0
| Oct record high C = 38.3
| Nov record high C = 35.7
| Dec record high C = 31.0
|Jan high C = 18.4
|Feb high C = 19.0
|Mar high C = 21.1
|Apr high C = 24.1
|May high C = 26.9
|Jun high C = 29.1
|Jul high C = 30.5
|Aug high C = 31.0
|Sep high C = 30.2
|Oct high C = 27.8
|Nov high C = 24.0
|Dec high C = 20.1
|year high C = 25.2
|Jan mean C = 14.0
|Feb mean C = 14.4
|Mar mean C = 16.4
|Apr mean C = 19.0
|May mean C = 22.2
|Jun mean C = 25.2
|Jul mean C = 27.1
|Aug mean C = 27.8
|Sep mean C = 26.4
|Oct mean C = 23.6
|Nov mean C = 19.6
|Dec mean C = 15.6
|year mean C = 20.9
|Jan low C = 9.5
|Feb low C = 9.7
|Mar low C = 11.8
|Apr low C = 14.3
|May low C = 17.8
|Jun low C = 21.7
|Jul low C = 23.9
|Aug low C = 24.4
|Sep low C = 22.5
|Oct low C = 19.3
|Nov low C = 15.1
|Dec low C = 11.1
|year low C = 16.8
| Jan record low C  = 1.2
| Feb record low C  = 1.2
| Mar record low C  = 2.3
| Apr record low C  = 3.6
| May record low C  = 8.5
| Jun record low C  = 11.6
| Jul record low C  = 17.0
| Aug record low C  = 17.8
| Sep record low C  = 14.0
| Oct record low C  = 10.7
| Nov record low C  = 4.6
| Dec record low C  = 1.2
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 61.4
|Feb precipitation mm = 35.2
|Mar precipitation mm = 12.8
|Apr precipitation mm = 2.6
|May precipitation mm = 1.0
|Jun precipitation mm = 0.0
|Jul precipitation mm = 0.0
|Aug precipitation mm = 0.0
|Sep precipitation mm = 0.8
|Oct precipitation mm = 8.3
|Nov precipitation mm = 36.8
|Dec precipitation mm = 52.7
|year precipitation mm = 211.6
|unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm
|Jan precipitation days = 8.2
|Feb precipitation days = 5.4
|Mar precipitation days = 2.8
|Apr precipitation days = 1.2
|May precipitation days = 1.4
|Jun precipitation days = 0.5
|Jul precipitation days = 0.4
|Aug precipitation days = 0.4
|Sep precipitation days = 0.2
|Oct precipitation days = 1.2
|Nov precipitation days = 3.5
|Dec precipitation days = 5.9
|year precipitation days = 31.1
|Jan sun = 192.0
|Feb sun = 210.3
|Mar sun = 247.0
|Apr sun = 273.9
|May sun = 316.8
|Jun sun = 353.2
|Jul sun = 362.2
|Aug sun = 345.3
|Sep sun = 296.7
|Oct sun = 281.7
|Nov sun = 224.1
|Dec sun = 195.7
|year sun = 3298.9
|Jan humidity = 69
|Feb humidity = 67
|Mar humidity = 67
|Apr humidity = 65
|May humidity = 66
|Jun humidity = 68
|Jul humidity = 71
|Aug humidity = 71
|Sep humidity = 67
|Oct humidity = 68
|Nov humidity = 68
|Dec humidity = 68
|year humidity = 67.9
| Jan dew point C = 7.8
| Feb dew point C = 7.8
| Mar dew point C = 9.1
| Apr dew point C = 11.3
| May dew point C = 14.4
| Jun dew point C = 17.9
| Jul dew point C = 20.1
| Aug dew point C = 20.4
| Sep dew point C = 18.6
| Oct dew point C = 15.9
| Nov dew point C = 12.6
| Dec dew point C = 9.0
| year dew point C = 13.7
|source 1 = [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|NOAA]] (humidity, dew point, sun 1961–1990)<ref name=WMOCLINO>{{cite web
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231001052433/https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/1.1/data/0-data/Region-1-WMO-Normals-9120/Egypt/CSV/AlexandriaNouzha_62318.csv
| archive-date = 1 October 2023
| url = https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/1.1/data/0-data/Region-1-WMO-Normals-9120/Egypt/CSV/AlexandriaNouzha_62318.csv
| title = Alexandria Nouzha Normals 1991–2020
| work = World Meteorological Organization Climatological Standard Normals (1991–2020)
| publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
| access-date = 1 October 2023}}</ref><ref name=WMOCliRef>{{cite web
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231001052733/https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/normals/WMO/1961-1990/RA-I/UB/62318.TXT
| archive-date = 1 October 2023
| url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/normals/WMO/1961-1990/RA-I/UB/62318.TXT
| title = Alexandria/Nouzha
| work = World Meteorological Organization Climatological Reference Normals (1961–1990)
| publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
| access-date = 1 October 2023}}</ref>
| source 2 = Meteo Climat (records)<ref name=MetCli>{{cite web
| url = http://meteo-climat-bzh.dyndns.org/station-2119.php
| title = Station Alexandrie
| publisher = Meteo Climat
| access-date = 1 October 2023
| language = fr}}</ref>
|date = July 2014
}}
{|class="wikitable" align="center"
|+Alexandria mean sea temperature<ref name="Weather2Travel">{{cite web |url=http://www.weather2travel.com/climate-guides/egypt/alexandria.php |title=Alexandria Climate and Weather Averages, Egypt |publisher=Weather2Travel|access-date=20 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140105193047/http://www.weather2travel.com/climate-guides/egypt/alexandria.php|archive-date=5 January 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
!Jan
!Feb
!Mar
!Apr
!May
!Jun
!Jul
!Aug
!Sep
!Oct
!Nov
!Dec
|-
|{{cvt|18|°C}}
|{{cvt|17|°C}}
|{{cvt|17|°C}}
|{{cvt|18|°C}}
|{{cvt|20|°C}}
|{{cvt|23|°C}}
|{{cvt|25|°C}}
|{{cvt|26|°C}}
|{{cvt|26|°C}}
|{{cvt|25|°C}}
|{{cvt|22|°C}}
|{{cvt|20|°C}}
|}

==== Climate change ====
A 2019 paper published in [[PLOS One]] estimated that under [[Representative Concentration Pathway#4.5|Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5]], a "moderate" scenario of [[climate change]] where global warming reaches ~{{convert|2.5-3|C-change|F-change}} by 2100, the climate of Alexandria in the year 2050 would most closely resemble the current climate of [[Gaza City]]. The annual temperature would increase by {{convert|2.8|C-change|F-change}}, and the temperature of the warmest and the coldest month by {{convert|2.9|C-change|F-change}} and {{convert|3.1|C-change|F-change}}.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bastin |first1=Jean-Francois |last2=Clark |first2=Emily |last3=Elliott |first3=Thomas |last4=Hart |first4=Simon |last5=van den Hoogen |first5=Johan |last6=Hordijk |first6=Iris |last7=Ma |first7=Haozhi |last8=Majumder |first8=Sabiha |last9=Manoli |first9=Gabriele |last10=Maschler |first10=Julia |last11=Mo |first11=Lidong |last12=Routh |first12=Devin |last13=Yu |first13=Kailiang |last14=Zohner |first14=Constantin M. |last15=Thomas W. |first15=Crowther |title=Understanding climate change from a global analysis of city analogues |journal=PLOS ONE |date=10 July 2019 |volume=14 |issue=7 |at=S2 Table. Summary statistics of the global analysis of city analogues. |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0217592 |pmid=31291249 |pmc=6619606 |bibcode=2019PLoSO..1417592B |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://crowtherlab.pageflow.io/cities-of-the-future-visualizing-climate-change-to-inspire-action |title=Cities of the future: visualizing climate change to inspire action |at=Current vs. future cities |access-date=8 January 2023}}</ref> According to [[Climate Action Tracker]], the current warming trajectory appears consistent with {{convert|2.7|C-change|F-change}}, which closely matches RCP 4.5.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://climateactiontracker.org/global/cat-thermometer/ |title=The CAT Thermometer |access-date=8 January 2023}}</ref>

Due to its location on a Nile river delta, Alexandria is one of the most vulnerable cities to [[sea level rise]] in the entire world. According to some estimates, hundreds of thousands of people in its low-lying areas may already have to be relocated before 2030.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/aug/29/alexandria-little-venice-egypt-climate-change-frontline|title=Houses claimed by the canal: life on Egypt's climate change frontline| last=Michaelson| first=Ruth|date=25 August 2018|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=30 August 2018}}</ref> The 2022 [[IPCC Sixth Assessment Report]] estimates that by 2050, Alexandria and 11 other major African cities ([[Abidjan]], [[Algiers]], [[Cape Town]], [[Casablanca]], [[Dakar]], [[Dar es Salaam]], [[Durban]], [[Lagos]], [[Lomé]], [[Luanda]] and [[Maputo]]) would collectively sustain cumulative damages of US$65 billion for the "moderate" climate change scenario [[Representative Concentration Pathway|RCP 4.5]] and US$86.5 billion for the high-emission scenario RCP 8.5, while RCP 8.5 combined with the hypothetical impact from [[marine ice sheet instability]] at high levels of warming would involve up to US$137.5 billion in damages. Additional accounting for the "low-probability, high-damage events" may increase aggregate risks to US$187 billion for the "moderate" RCP4.5, US$206 billion for RCP8.5 and US$397 billion under the high-end ice sheet instability scenario. In every single estimate, Alexandria alone bears around half of these costs.<ref>Trisos, C.H., I.O. Adelekan, E. Totin, A. Ayanlade, J. Efitre, A. Gemeda, K. Kalaba, C. Lennard, C. Masao, Y. Mgaya, G. Ngaruiya, D. Olago, N.P. Simpson, and S. Zakieldeen 2022: [https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Chapter09.pdf Chapter 9: Africa]. In [https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/ Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability] [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke,V. Möller, A. Okem, B. Rama (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, US, pp. 2043–2121</ref> Since sea level rise would continue for about 10,000 years under every scenario of climate change, future costs of sea level rise would only increase, especially without adaptation measures.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Full_Report.pdf |title=Technical Summary. In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |date=August 2021 |publisher=IPCC |page=TS14 |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref>

==Ancient layout==
[[File:Macedonian Army Alexander.jpg|thumb|[[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedon]] Army, shown on the [[Alexander Sarcophagus]]]]{{More citations needed section|date=July 2023}}
Greek Alexandria was divided into three regions:
;Rhakotis
:[[Rhacotis|Rhakotis]] (from [[Coptic language|Coptic]] {{transliteration|cop|Rakotə}},{{Contradictory inline|date=August 2021|reason=In the introductory sentence, the Coptic name is given as 'Rakodī', with ref. There's no explanation of the discrepancy. A different dialect?}} "Alexandria") was the old city that was absorbed into Alexandria. It was occupied chiefly by Egyptians.
:
;Brucheum
:Brucheum was the Royal or Greek quarter and formed the most magnificent portion of the city. In [[Outline of ancient Rome|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.
;
;Jewish quarter
:The Jewish quarter was the northeast portion of the city.
[[File:Canopic Street Alexandria 1784 by LF Cassa.png|thumb|[[Engraving]] by L. F. Cassas of the [[Canopic Street]] in Alexandria, [[Egypt]], made in 1784]]

Two main streets, lined with [[colonnade]]s and said to have been each about {{cvt|sp=us|60|m|ft}} wide, intersected in the centre of the city, close to the point where the Sema (or Soma) of Alexander (his [[Mausoleum]]) rose. This point is very near the present [[mosque]] of [[Nebi Daniel]]; the line of the great East–West "Canopic" street is also present in modern-day Alexandria, having only slightly diverged from the line of the modern Boulevard de Rosette (now Sharae 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.[[File:S03 06 01 018 image 2380.jpg|thumb|One of the pair of [[Cleopatra's Needles]] in Alexandria, which were relocated to London and New York in the late 19th century]]Alexandria consisted originally of little more than the island of Pharos, which was joined to the mainland by a {{cvt|1260|m|ft|adj=mid|-long}} [[mole (architecture)|mole]] and called the {{transliteration|grc|Heptastadion}} ("seven stadia"—a ''[[stadium]]'' was a Greek [[unit of length]] measuring approximately {{cvt|180|m|ft|abbr=off|disp=or}}). 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-Tin" quarter is built on the silt which gradually widened and obliterated this mole. The Ras al-Tin 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 Harbour, now an open bay; on the west lay the port of Eunostos, with its inner basin Kibotos, now vastly enlarged to form the modern harbour.

In [[Strabo]]'s time (latter half of the 1st century BC), the principal buildings were as follows, enumerated as they were to be seen from a ship entering the Great Harbour.

#The [[Palace|Royal Palaces]], filling the northeast angle of the town and occupying the promontory of Lochias, which shut in the Great Harbour 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.
#The Great Theater, on the modern Hospital Hill near the Ramleh station. This was used by [[Julius Caesar]] as a fortress, where he withstood a siege from the city mob after he took Egypt after the [[battle of Pharsalus]].{{citation needed|date=July 2014}}{{clarify|reason=Caesar retreated from a mob??|date=July 2014}}
#The [[Poseidon]], or [[Greek temple|Temple]] of the Sea God, close to the theater
#The Timonium built by [[Mark Antony|Marc Antony]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.franckgoddio.org/projects/sunken-civilizations/alexandria/|title=The sunken ancient port of Alexandria|first=Franck Goddio-Underwater|last=Archaeologist|website=Franck Goddio - Underwater Archaeologist}}</ref>
#The Emporium (Exchange)
#The Apostases (Magazines)
#The Navalia (Docks), lying west of the Timonium, along the seafront as far as the mole
#Behind the Emporium rose the [[Caesareum of Alexandria|Great Caesareum]], by which stood the two great [[obelisk]]s which became known as "[[Cleopatra's Needle]]s" 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.
#The [[Gymnasium (ancient Greece)|Gymnasium]] and the [[Palaestra]] are both inland, near the Boulevard de Rosette in the eastern half of the town; sites unknown.
#The Temple of [[Saturn (mythology)|Saturn]]; site unknown.
#The Mausolea of Alexander (Soma) and the Ptolemies in one ring-fence, near the point of intersection of the two main streets.
#The [[Musaeum]] with its famous [[Library of Alexandria|Library]] and theater in the same region; site unknown.
#The [[Serapeum of Alexandria]], the most famous of all Alexandrian temples. Strabo tells 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, [[Lighthouse of Alexandria|The Great Lighthouse]], one of the [[Wonders of the World|Seven Wonders of the World]], reputed to be {{cvt|138|m|ft}} high, was situated. The first Ptolemy began the project, and the second Ptolemy ([[Ptolemy II Philadelphus]]) completed it, at a total cost of 800&nbsp;[[Talent (measurement)|talent]]s. It took 12&nbsp;years to complete and served as a [[prototype]] for all later [[lighthouse]]s 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,<ref>Rostovtzeff 1941: (1138–39)</ref> according to a census dated from 32 AD, in addition to a large number of freedmen, women, children and slaves. Estimates of the total population range from 216,000<ref>Josiah Russell, 1958, "Late Ancient and Medieval Population", pp. 67 and 79.</ref> to 500,000,<ref>[[Elio Lo Cascio]], 2009, "Urbanization as a Proxy of Growth", p. 97, citing Bagnall and Frier.</ref> 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.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}

==Cityscape==
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 harbour and the rest has been built over in modern times.

=== Pompey's Pillar ===
[[File:Alex Sawary.jpg|thumb|right|Roman [[Pompey's Pillar (column)|Pompey's Pillar]]]]"[[Pompey's Pillar (column)|Pompey's Pillar]]", a [[Roman triumphal column]], is one of the best-known [[ancient monument]]s 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&nbsp;m (99&nbsp;ft) high; the shaft is of polished red granite, {{cvt|2.7|m|ft|1}} in diameter at the base, tapering to {{cvt|2.4|m|ft|1}} at the top. The shaft is {{cvt|sp=us|88|ft|m}} high and made out of a single piece of granite. Its volume is {{cvt|132|sp=us|m3|0|abbr=off}} and weight approximately 396 tons.<ref>[[Egyptian pyramids|The Pyramids]] and Sphinx by Desmond Stewart and editors of the Newsweek Book Division 1971 p. 80–81</ref> Pompey's Pillar may have been erected using the same methods that were used to erect the ancient [[obelisk]]s. [[Ancient Rome|The Romans]] had cranes but they were not strong enough to lift something this heavy. Roger Hopkins and Mark Lehrner conducted several [[Obelisks#Obelisk erecting experiments|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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/egypt/dispatches/990827.html |title=NOVA Online &#124; Mysteries of the Nile &#124; 27 August 1999: The Third Attempt |publisher=PBS |date=27 August 1999|access-date=5 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430023706/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/egypt/dispatches/990827.html|archive-date=30 April 2009|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[[Time–Life|Time Life]] Lost Civilizations series: Ramses II: Magnificence on the Nile (1993)p. 56–57</ref>

"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]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}} The structure was plundered and demolished in the 4th century when a bishop decreed that Paganism must be eradicated.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}} 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, many ancient artifacts have been discovered from the surrounding sea, mostly pieces of old pottery.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}

=== Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa ===
[[File:113KOM EL SHOQAFA CATACOMBS.jpg|thumb|[[Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa]]]]Alexandria's [[catacombs]], known as ''[[Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa|Kom El Shoqafa]]'', are a short distance southwest of the pillar, consist of a multi-level labyrinth, reached via a large [[Stairway|spiral staircase]] and featuring dozens of chambers adorned with sculpted pillars, statues, and other [[syncretism|syncretic]] Romano-Egyptian [[Religious symbolism|religious symbols]], burial niches, and [[sarcophagus|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 1900.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lonelyplanet.com/egypt/mediterranean-coast/alexandria/sights/historic/catacombs-kom-ash-suqqafa |title=Catacombs of Kom ash-Suqqafa – Lonely Planet |first=Lonely |last=Planet |work=lonelyplanet.com|access-date=6 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160206193907/http://www.lonelyplanet.com/egypt/mediterranean-coast/alexandria/sights/historic/catacombs-kom-ash-suqqafa|archive-date=6 February 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Kom El Deka ===
[[File:AlexandriaAmphitheatre.jpg|thumb|Roman Theater]]
The most extensive ancient excavation currently being conducted in Alexandria is known as [[Kom El Deka]]. It has revealed the ancient city's well-preserved theater, and the remains of its [[Thermae|Roman-era baths]].

===Temple of Taposiris Magna===
{{Main|Abusir (Lake Mariout)}}
[[File:Magna temple1.JPG|thumb|right|Side view of The Temple of [[Taposiris Magna]]]]The temple was built in the Ptolemy era and dedicated to Osiris, which finished the construction of Alexandria. It is located in Abusir, the western suburb of Alexandria in Borg el Arab city. Only the outer wall and the pylons remain from the temple. There is evidence to prove that sacred animals were worshiped there. Archaeologists found an animal necropolis near the temple. Remains of a Christian church show that the temple was used as a church in later centuries. Also found in the same area are remains of public baths built by the emperor Justinian, a seawall, quays and a bridge. Near the beach side of the area, there are the remains of a tower built by Ptolemy II Philadelphus. The tower was an exact scale replica of the destroyed Alexandrine [[Pharos Lighthouse]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=McKenzie |first1=Judith |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KFNCaZEZKYAC |title=The Architecture of Alexandria and Egypt, C. 300 B.C. to A.D. 700 |last2=McKenzie |first2=Rhys-Davids Junior Research Fellow in Archaeology Judith |last3=Moorey |first3=Peter Roger Stuart |date=2007-01-01 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-11555-0 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Citadel of Qaitbay ===
[[File:Citadel of Qaitbay, Alexandria, Egypt.jpg|thumb|Citadel of Qaitbay]]
[[Citadel of Qaitbay]] is a defensive fortress located on the Mediterranean sea coast. It was established in 1477 AD (882 [[Hijri year|AH]]) by the [[Mamluk Sultanate|mamluk]] Sultan [[Qaitbay|Al-Ashraf Sayf al-Din Qa'it Bay]]. The Citadel is located on the eastern side of the northern tip of Pharos Island at the mouth of the [[Eastern Harbour (Alexandria)|Eastern Harbour]]. It was erected on the exact site of the famous [[Lighthouse of Alexandria]], which was one of the [[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World]]. It was built on an area of 17,550 [[square metre]]s.

== Excavation ==
{{More citations needed section|date=July 2023}}

Persistent efforts have been made to explore the antiquities of Alexandria. Encouragement and help have been given by the local [[Archaeology|Archaeological]] Society and by many individuals. Excavations were performed in the city by Greeks seeking the tomb of Alexander the Great without success.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Blakemore |first1=Erin |title=New clues to the lost tomb of Alexander the Great discovered in Egypt |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/lost-tomb-alexander-great |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210223223313/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/lost-tomb-alexander-great |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 February 2021 |website=National Geographic|date=28 February 2019 }}</ref>
The past and present directors of the museum have been enabled from time to time to carry out systematic excavations whenever opportunity is offered; [[David George Hogarth|D. G. Hogarth]] made tentative researches on behalf of the [[Egypt Exploration Society|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 tsunami, leading to gradual [[subsidence]] in the 4th century AD.<ref>{{cite web |title=Discovering the Portus Magnus of Alexandria |url=https://www.franckgoddio.org/projects/sunken-civilizations/alexandria/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100307175057/http://www.underwaterdiscovery.org/Sitemap/Project/Alexandria/Default.aspx |archive-date=7 March 2010 |access-date=2 November 2022}}</ref> 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 [[Institut Européen d'Archéologie Sous-Marine|team]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://livestream.com/oxuni/goddio?t=1678727041|title=The Portus Magnus of Alexandria: 25 years of underwater archaeological research by University of Oxford Live|via=livestream.com}}</ref> It raised a noted head of [[Caesarion]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Colossal head of Caesarion |url=https://www.franckgoddio.org/fileadmin/pics/3_5_finds/documents/Franck_Goddio_Caesarion.pdf |access-date=2 November 2022 |website=}}</ref> These are being opened up to tourists, to some controversy.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/940333.stm |title=New underwater tourist attraction in Egypt |work=BBC News |date=24 September 2000|access-date=19 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070318091331/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/940333.stm|archive-date=18 March 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> The spaces that are most open are the low grounds to northeast and southwest, where it is practically impossible to get below the Roman [[stratum|strata]].

The most important results were those achieved by Dr. G. Botti, late director of the museum, in the neighbourhood 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 in [[Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa|Kom El Shoqafa]] (Roman) and Ras El Tin (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 El Deka]], 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.

==Places of worship==
{{More citations needed section|date=July 2023}}

===Islam===
{{see also|List of mosques in Alexandria}}
[[File:Mezquita abu el abbas-alejandria-2007.JPG|thumb|[[Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi Mosque]]]]
The most famous mosque in Alexandria is [[Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi Mosque]] in [[Bahary]]. Other notable mosques in the city include [[Ali|Ali ibn Abi Talib]] mosque in Somouha, [[Bilal ibn Ribah|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,<ref>{{cite web |title=Islamic gems of Alexandria |url=https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/50/1209/464526/AlAhram-Weekly/Focus/Islamic-gems-of-Alexandria.aspx}}</ref> Yehia mosque in Zizinia, Sidi Gaber mosque in Sidi Gaber, Sidi B esher mosque, Rokay el-Islam mosque in Elessway, Elsadaka Mosque in Sidibesher Qebly, Elshatbi mosque and Sultan mosque.

Alexandria is the base of the [[Salafi movement]]s in Egypt. [[Al-Nour Party]], which is based in the city and overwhelmingly won most of the Salafi votes in the [[2011–12 Egyptian parliamentary election|2011–12 parliamentary election]], supports the president [[Abdel Fattah el-Sisi]].<ref name="FPAl"/>

===Christianity===
[[File:AlexMarkCathedralInside2.jpg|thumb|[[Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral (Alexandria)|Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral]]]]
[[File:StCatherineChurchAlexandria.jpg|thumb|[[St. Catherine's Cathedral, Alexandria|Saint Catherine's Latin Catholic Cathedral]]]]
Alexandria was once considered the third-most important see in [[Christianity]], after [[Rome]] and [[Constantinople]]. Until 430, the Patriarch of Alexandria was second only to the [[bishop of Rome]]. The [[Church of Alexandria]] had jurisdiction over most of the continent of Africa. After the [[Council of Chalcedon]] in AD 451, the Alexandrian Church split between the [[Miaphysitism|Miaphysites]] and the [[Melkite]]s. The Miaphysites went on to constitute what is known today as the [[Coptic Orthodox Church]]. The Melkites went on to constitute what is known today as the [[Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria]]. In the 19th century, [[Catholic]] and [[Protestantism|Protestant]] 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 is [[Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral (Alexandria)|Saint Mark Cathedral]] (though in practice the Patriarch has long resided in Cairo). The most important Coptic Orthodox churches in Alexandria include [[Cyril of Alexandria|Pope Cyril I]] Church in Cleopatra, [[Saint George]]'s Church in Sporting, [[Mark the Evangelist|Saint Mark]] and [[Pope Peter I of Alexandria|Pope Peter I]] Church in Sidi Bishr, [[Blessed Virgin Mary|Saint Mary]] Church in Assafra, Saint Mary Church in Gianaclis, [[Saint Menas|Saint Mina]] Church in Fleming, Saint Mina Church in Mandara and [[St. Takla Haymanot's Church (Alexandria)|Saint Takla Haymanot's Church]] in Ibrahimeya.

The most important [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] churches in Alexandria are [[Holy Unmercenaries|Agioi Anárgyroi]] Church, Church of the [[Annunciation]], [[Anthony the Great|Saint Anthony]] Church, Archangels [[Gabriel]] and [[Michael (archangel)|Michael]] Church, Taxiarchon Church, [[Catherine of Alexandria|Saint Catherine]] Church, Cathedral of the [[Dormition of the Theotokos|Dormition]] in Mansheya, Church of the Dormition, [[Elijah|Prophet Elijah]] Church, [[Saint George]] Church, [[Saint Joseph]] Church in Fleming, [[Joseph of Arimathea|Saint Joseph of Arimathea]] Church, [[Mark the Evangelist|Saint Mark]] and [[Nectarios of Aegina|Saint Nektarios]] Chapel in Ramleh, [[Saint Nicholas]] Church, [[Paraskevi of Rome|Saint Paraskevi]] Church, [[Saint Sava]] Cathedral in Ramleh, [[Theodore of Amasea|Saint Theodore]] Chapel and the [[Russian Orthodox Church|Russian]] church of [[Alexander Nevsky|Saint Alexander Nevsky]] in Alexandria, which serves the Russian speaking community in the city.

The [[Apostolic Vicariate of Alexandria in Egypt-Heliopolis-Port Said]] has jurisdiction over all [[Latin Church|Latin Catholics]] in Egypt. Member churches include Saint Catherine Church in Mansheya and Church of the [[Society of Jesus|Jesuits]] in Cleopatra. The city is also the nominal see of the [[Melkite Greek Catholic Church|Melkite Greek Catholic]] [[Melkite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch|titular Patriarchate of Alexandria]] (generally vested in its leading Patriarch of Antioch) and the actual cathedral see of its [[Patriarchal territory of Egypt, Sudan and South Sudan]], which uses the [[Byzantine Rite]], and the nominal see of the [[Armenian Catholic Eparchy of Alexandria]] (for all Egypt and Sudan, whose actual cathedral is in Cairo), a suffragan of the [[Armenian Catholic Patriarch of Cilicia]], using the [[Armenian Rite]].
	
The Saint Mark Church in [[Shatby]], founded as part of [[Collège Saint Marc, Alexandria|Collège Saint Marc]], is multi-denominational and holds liturgies according to Latin Catholic, [[Coptic Catholic Church|Coptic Catholic]] and Coptic Orthodox rites.

In antiquity Alexandria was a major centre of the cosmopolitan religious movement called [[Gnosticism]]<ref>{{cite web |title=The School of Alexandria |url=https://www.copticchurch.net/patrology/schoolofalex/I-Intro/chapter4.html}}</ref> (today mainly remembered as a Christian heresy).

===Judaism===
[[File:Eliyahu-Hanavi-Synagogue.jpg|thumb|[[Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue]]]]
Alexandria's Jewish community declined rapidly following the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]], after which negative reactions towards [[Zionism]] among Egyptians led to Jewish residents in the city, and elsewhere in Egypt, being perceived as Zionist collaborators. Most Jewish residents of Egypt moved to the newly settled [[Israel]], [[France]], [[Brazil]] and other countries in the 1950s and 1960s.  The community once numbered 50,000 but is now estimated at below 50.<ref>[http://www.jta.org/news/article/2010/12/20/2742246/egypt-plans-to-restore-alexandrias-historic-synagogue Egypt to restore Alexandria's historic synagogue], (20 December 2010) {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101224165555/http://www.jta.org/news/article/2010/12/20/2742246/egypt-plans-to-restore-alexandrias-historic-synagogue|date=24 December 2010 }}</ref> The most important [[synagogue]] in Alexandria is the [[Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue (Alexandria)|Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue]].

==Education==
===Colleges and universities===
[[File:Saint-Marc Alexandria.jpg|thumb|[[Collège Saint Marc, Alexandria|Collège Saint Marc]]]]
Alexandria has a number of higher education institutions. [[Alexandria University]] is a public university that follows the Egyptian system of higher education. Many of its faculties are internationally renowned, most notably its [[Alexandria Faculty of Medicine|Faculty of Medicine]] & [[Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University|Faculty of Engineering]]. In addition, the [[Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology]] in [[New Borg El Arab]] city is a research university set up in collaboration between the Japanese and Egyptian governments in 2010. The [[Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport]] is a semi-private educational institution that offers courses for high school, undergraduate level, and postgraduate students. It is considered the most reputable university in Egypt after the AUC [[American University in Cairo]] because of its worldwide recognition from board of engineers at UK & ABET in US. [[Senghor University|Université Senghor]] is a private French university that focuses on the teaching of humanities, politics and international relations, which mainly recruits students from the African continent. Other institutions of higher education in Alexandria include [[Alexandria Higher Institute of Engineering and Technology|Alexandria Institute of Technology (AIT)]] and [[Pharos University in Alexandria]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=25 Best Universities in Alexandria - Top Ratings (2023 Fees) |url=https://www.edarabia.com/universities/alexandria/ |access-date=2023-12-11 |website=edarabia.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

In September 2023, The Greek [[University of Patras]] announced that it is opening a branch in Alexandria, in a first-of-its-kind move by a Greek higher education institution.  The Greek university of Patras branch will operate two departments, one Greek-speaking and one English-speaking in the subjects of Greek culture, Greek language and Greek philosophy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kokkinidis |first=Tasos |date=22 September 2023 |title=Greek University Opens Branch in Alexandria, Egypt |url=https://greekreporter.com/2023/09/22/greek-university-opens-branch-alexandria-egypt/ }}</ref>

===Schools===
[[File:Lycee Francais d'Alexandrie 2001.JPG|thumb|[[Lycée Français d'Alexandrie]]]]
Alexandria has a long history of foreign educational institutions. The first foreign schools date to the early 19th century, when French missionaries began establishing French charitable schools to educate the Egyptians. Today, the most important French schools in Alexandria run by [[Catholic]] missionaries include Collège de la Mère de Dieu, Collège Notre Dame de Sion, [[Collège Saint Marc, Alexandria|Collège Saint Marc]], Écoles des Soeurs Franciscaines (four different schools), École Girard, École Saint Gabriel, École Saint-Vincent de Paul, École Saint Joseph, École Sainte Catherine, and Institution Sainte Jeanne-Antide. As a reaction to the establishment of French religious institutions, a secular (laic) mission established Lycée el-Horreya, which initially followed a French system of education, but is currently run by the Egyptian government. The only school in Alexandria that completely follows the French educational system is Lycée Français d'Alexandrie (École Champollion). It is usually frequented by the children of French expatriates and diplomats in Alexandria. The Italian school is the Istituto "Don Bosco".

English-language schools in Alexandria are the most popular; those in the city include: Riada American School, Riada Language School, [https://www.forsan.edu.eg/?Itemid=645 Forsan American School], [https://www.forsan.edu.eg/ Forsan International School], Alexandria Language School, Future Language School, Future International Schools (Future IGCSE, Future American School and Future German school), Alexandria American School, [[British School of Alexandria]], Egyptian American School, Pioneers Language School, [[Egyptian English Language School]], Princesses Girls' School, Sidi Gaber Language School, Zahran Language School, Taymour English School, Sacred Heart Girls' School, [[Schutz American School, Alexandria|Schutz American School]], [[Victoria College, Alexandria|Victoria College]], [[Manar English Girls School|El Manar Language School for Girls]] (previously called Scottish School for Girls), Kawmeya Language School, El Nasr Boys' School (previously called British Boys' School), and [[El Nasr Girls' College]] (previously called English Girls' College).
There are only two German schools in Alexandria which are [[Deutsche Schule der Borromäerinnen Alexandria|Deutsche Schule der Borromärinnen]] (DSB of Saint Charles Borromé) and Neue Deutsche Schule Alexandria, which is run by Frau Sally Hammam.

The [[Montessori education|Montessori]] educational system was first introduced in Alexandria in 2009 at Alexandria Montessori.

===Women===
Around the 1890s, twice the percentage of women in Alexandria knew how to read compared to the same percentage in Cairo. As a result, specialist women's publications like ''al-Fatāh'' by Hind Nawal, the country's first women's journal, appeared.<ref name=Kendallp340>Kendall, Elisabeth. "Between Politics and Literature: Journals in Alexandria and Istanbul at the End of the Nineteenth Century" (Chapter 15). In: Fawaz, Leila Tarazi and C. A. Bayly (editors) and Robert Ilbert (collaboration). ''Modernity and Culture: From the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean''. [[Columbia University Press]], 2002. {{ISBN|0231114273}}, 9780231114271. Start: p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=TOp7a8GtqQoC&pg=PA330 330] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128164409/https://books.google.com/books?id=TOp7a8GtqQoC&pg=PA330 |date=28 January 2020 }}. CITED: p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=TOp7a8GtqQoC&pg=PA340 340] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226033248/https://books.google.com/books?id=TOp7a8GtqQoC&pg=PA340 |date=26 February 2020 }}.</ref>

==Transport==
===Airports===
[[File:Borg El Arab International Airport..jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|[[Borg El Arab International Airport]]]]
The city's principal airport is currently [[Borg El Arab Airport]], which is located about {{cvt|sp=us|25|km|0}} away from the city centre.

From late 2011, [[El Nouzha Airport]] (Alexandria International Airport) was to be closed to commercial operations for two years as it underwent expansion, with all airlines operating out of [[Borg El Arab Airport]] from then onwards, where a brand new terminal was completed there in February 2010.<ref>{{Cite news |title=A new gateway for Alexandria |newspaper=[[Al-Ahram Weekly]] |url=http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2009/954/sk1.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090904072239/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2009/954/sk1.htm|archive-date=4 September 2009}}</ref> In 2017, the government announced that Alexandria International Airport will shut down permanently and will no longer reopen.

===Port===
{{Main|Alexandria Port}}
[[File:Alexandria harbour (February 2007).jpg|thumb|Alexandria port]]
Alexandria has four ports; namely the Western Port also known as ''Alexandria Port'', which is the main port of the country that handles about 60% of the country's exports and imports,{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}} Dekhela Port west of the Western Port, the Eastern Port which is a yachting harbour, and Abu Qir Port at the northern east of the governorate. It is a commercial port for general cargo and phosphates.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}

===Highways===
*International Coastal Road ([[Mersa Matruh]] – Alexandria – [[Port Said]])
*[[Cairo–Alexandria desert road]] (Alexandria – Cairo – {{cvt|220|km|sp=us|0}}, 6–8 lanes)
*Cairo-Alexandria Agriculture Road (Alexandria – [[Cairo]])
*Mehwar El Ta'meer – (Alexandria – [[Borg El Arab]])

===Rail===
[[File:Misr Train Station, Alexandria.jpg|thumb|Misr Railway Station]]
Alexandria's intracity [[commuter rail]] system extends from Misr Station (Alexandria's primary intercity [[railway station]]) to [[Abu Qir]], parallel to the [[Alexandria Tram|tram line]]. The commuter line's [[locomotive]]s operate on [[diesel locomotive|diesel]], as opposed to the [[railway electrification system#Overhead systems|overhead-electric]] tram.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}

Alexandria plays host to two intercity railway stations: the aforementioned [[Misr Station]] (in the older Manshia district in the western part of the city) and [[Sidi Gaber railway station]] (in the district of Sidi Gaber in the centre of the eastern expansion in which most Alexandrines reside), both of which also serve the commuter rail line. Intercity passenger service is operated by [[Egyptian National Railways]].

===Trams===
{{Main|Trams in Alexandria}}
[[File:AlexYellowTram.jpg|thumb|An Alexandria tram]]
An extensive tramway network was built in 1860 and is the oldest in Africa.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tawy |first=Ayat Al |date=17 May 2017 |title=Alexandria's 150-year-old tramway to be upgraded in €360 mln European project |work=Ahram Online |url=https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/3/12/268987/Business/Economy/Alexandrias-yearold-tramway-to-be-upgraded-in-%E2%82%AC-ml.aspx |access-date=29 December 2023}}</ref> The network begins at the [[Mahatet El Raml|El Raml district]] in the west and ends in the [[Victoria (neighborhood)|Victoria district]] in the east.

===Metro===
Construction of the [[Alexandria Metro]] was due to begin in 2020 at a cost of $1.05&nbsp;billion.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://meconstructionnews.com/37864/egypts-1bn-alexandria-metro-to-start-construction-in-q1-2020 |title=Egypt's $1bn Alexandria Metro to start construction in Q1 2020 |website=Middle East Construction News |date=10 November 2019 |access-date=12 November 2019 |archive-date=11 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191111231544/https://meconstructionnews.com/37864/egypts-1bn-alexandria-metro-to-start-construction-in-q1-2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Culture==

===Libraries===
[[File:Bibliotheca Alexandrina plaza 003.jpg|thumb|The [[Bibliotheca Alexandrina]]]]
The Royal [[Library of Alexandria]], in Alexandria, [[Egypt]], was once the largest library in the world. It is generally thought to have been founded at the beginning of the 3rd century BC, during the reign of [[Ptolemy II Philadelphus|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 [[Muse]]s—the [[Musaeum|Museion]], Greek ''Μουσείον'' (from which the [[Modern English]] word ''[[Museum#Etymology|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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Raven |first1=James |title=Lost Libraries: The Destruction of Great Book Collections Since Antiquity |date=2004 |publisher=Springer |isbn=0230524257 |page=12}}</ref>

The [[Bibliotheca Alexandrina]] was inaugurated in 2002, near the site of the old Library.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/2009/10/dayintech-1016bibliotheca/ |title=Oct. 16, 2002: Second Great Library Opens in Alexandria |first=Tony |last=Long |magazine=Wired |date=16 October 2009 |access-date=20 January 2020 |archive-date=25 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725025956/https://www.wired.com/2009/10/dayintech-1016bibliotheca/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Museums===
{{multiple image
| total_width       = 440
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| width1            = 1280
| height1           = 960
| image1            = GD-EG-Alex-MuséeNat040.JPG
| caption1          = [[Alexandria National Museum|The Alexandria National Museum]]
| width2            = 1280
| height2           = 960
| image2            = Flickr - archer10 (Dennis) - Egypt-14A-048.jpg
| caption2          = [[Graeco-Roman Museum]]
| width3            = 1280
| height3           = 960
| image3            = AlexRoyalJewelleryMusLeft.jpg
| caption3          = [[Royal Jewelry Museum]]
}}

The [[Alexandria National Museum]] was inaugurated 31 December 2003. It is located in a restored Italian style palace in Tariq El Horreya Street (formerly 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.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}} 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.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}

The [[Graeco-Roman Museum]] was the city's main archeological museum, focused on artifacts from its Greco-Roman period. It was opened in 1892 and was closed in 2005 for extensive renovations and expansion.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marie |first=Mustafa |date=28 June 2022 |title=Development works in Alexandria's Greco-Roman Museum almost complete |url=https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/117224/Development-works-in-Alexandria’s-Greco-Roman-Museum-almost-complete |access-date=2023-07-05 |website=EgyptToday}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kampouris |first=Nick |date=4 March 2019 |title=Alexandria's "Graeco-Roman Museum" Set to Reopen After Years of Renovation |url=https://greekreporter.com/2019/03/04/alexandrias-graeco-roman-museum-set-to-reopen-after-years-of-renovation/ |access-date=5 July 2023 |website=Greek Reporter}}</ref> The museum re-opened to the public in October 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 Oct 2023 |title=Egypt Today: "After 18 years of restoration, Alexandria's Graeco-Roman Museum is finally re-opened." |url=https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/127683/After-18-years-of-restoration-Alexandria-s-Graeco-Roman-Museum}}</ref>

Other museums in the city include the [[Cavafy Museum]], the Museum of Fine Arts, and the [[Royal Jewelry Museum]].

===Theaters===
[[Alexandria Opera House]] hosts performances of classical music, Arabic music, ballet, and opera.
[[File:واجهه مسرح سيد درويش بالأسكندرية.jpg|thumb|[[Sayed Darwish]] Theater]]

==Sports==
[[File:GD-EG-Alex-Stade002.JPG|thumb|[[Alexandria Stadium]]]]{{Unreferenced section|date=July 2023}}
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 Africa Cup of Nations|2006 African Cup of Nations]]. The stadium is the oldest stadium in Egypt, being built in 1929. The stadium holds 20,000 people.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s35KDwAAQBAJ&dq=Alexandria+stadium+1929&pg=PT34 | title=Sport in the Middle East: Power, Politics, Ideology and Religion | isbn=9781351547956 | last1=Hong | first1=Fan | date=5 July 2017 | publisher=Routledge }}</ref> Alexandria was one of three cities that participated in hosting the [[Africa Cup of Nations|African Cup of Nations]] in January 2006, which [[Egypt national football team|Egypt]] won. Sea sports such as [[surfing]], [[Personal water craft|jet-skiing]] and [[water polo]] are practiced on a lower scale. The Skateboarding culture in Egypt started in this city. The city is also home to the [[Alexandria Sporting Club]], which is especially known for its basketball team, which traditionally provides the [[Egypt national basketball team|country's national team]] with key players. The city hosted the [[AfroBasket]], the continent's most prestigious basketball tournament, on four occasions (1970, 1975, 1983, 2003).

Alexandria has four [[stadium]]s:

{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
*[[Alexandria Stadium]]
*[[Borg El Arab Stadium]]
*El Krom Stadium
*[[Harras El Hodoud Stadium]]
{{div col end}}

Other less popular sports like tennis and [[squash (sport)|squash]] are usually played in private [[Social club|social]] and [[sports club]]s, like:
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
*Alexandria Sporting Club – in "[[Sporting, Alexandria, Egypt|Sporting]]"
*[[Smouha Sporting Club]] – in "[[Smouha]]"
*[[Al Ittihad Alexandria Club]]
*[[Olympic Club (Egypt)|Olympic Club]]
*[[Haras El Hodoud SC]] Club
*[[Koroum]] Club
*Lagoon Resort Courts
*Alexandria Country club
{{div col end}}

Alexandria is also known as the yearly starting point of [[Cross Egypt Challenge]] and a huge celebration is conducted the night before the rally starts after all the international participants arrive to the city. [[Cross Egypt Challenge]] is an international cross-country motorcycle and scooter rally conducted throughout the most difficult tracks and roads of Egypt.

==Twin towns and sister cities==
[[File:Alexandria - 20080720b.jpg|thumb|The Italian consulate in Saad Zaghloul Square]]
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Egypt}}
Alexandria is [[sister city|twinned]] with:
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
*[[Almaty]], Kazakhstan{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}
*[[Baltimore]], United States<ref name=baltimore>{{cite web |title=Baltimore Sister Cities |url=https://baltimoresistercities.org/ |website=baltimoresistercities.org |publisher=Baltimore Sister Cities, Inc. |access-date=2020-10-21 |archive-date=26 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026013649/https://baltimoresistercities.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Bratislava]], Slovakia<ref>{{cite web |title=Partner (twin) towns of Bratislava |url=https://bratislava-city.sk/bratislava-twin-towns/ |website=bratislava-city.sk |access-date=2020-10-21 |archive-date=22 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022113151/https://bratislava-city.sk/bratislava-twin-towns/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Catania]], Italy<ref>{{cite web |title=Catania Amica Del Mondo, Ecco Tutti I Gemellaggi Della Città Etnea |url=http://www.cataniaup.it/curiosita/catania-amica-del-mondo-ecco-tutti-i-gemellaggi-della-citta-etnea/ |website=cataniaup.it |publisher=Catania Up |language=it |date=2019-07-15 |access-date=2020-10-21 |archive-date=22 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022203300/http://www.cataniaup.it/curiosita/catania-amica-del-mondo-ecco-tutti-i-gemellaggi-della-citta-etnea/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Cleveland]], United States<ref>{{cite web |title=Cleveland's Sister Cities |url=http://www.city.cleveland.oh.us/CityofCleveland/Home/Government/MayorsOffice/Office_of_Government_Affairs/SisterCities |website=city.cleveland.oh.us |publisher=City of Cleveland |access-date=2020-10-21 |archive-date=15 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150615142633/http://www.city.cleveland.oh.us/CityofCleveland/Home/Government/MayorsOffice/Office_of_Government_Affairs/SisterCities |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Constanța]], Romania<ref>{{cite web |title=Orașe înfrățite |url=http://www.primaria-constanta.ro/oras/orase-infratite |website=primaria-constanta.ro |publisher=Constanța |language=ro |access-date=2020-10-21 |archive-date=21 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021160339/http://primaria-constanta.ro/oras/orase-infratite |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Durban]], South Africa<ref>{{cite web |title=Sister Cities |url=http://www.durban.gov.za/City_Services/IGR/sistercities/Pages/default.aspx |website=durban.gov.za |publisher=eThekwini Municipality|access-date=2020-10-21|archive-date=11 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190911215331/http://www.durban.gov.za/City_Services/IGR/sistercities/Pages/default.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*[[Incheon]], South Korea<ref>{{cite web |title=Sister Cities & Affiliated Cities |url=https://www.incheon.go.kr/en/EN020101 |website=incheon.go.kr |publisher=Incheon Metropolitan City |access-date=2020-10-21 |archive-date=9 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809193346/https://www.incheon.go.kr/en/EN020101 |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Kazanlak]], Bulgaria<ref name=kazanlak>{{cite web |title=Побратимени градове |url=https://www.kazanlak.bg/cat-551.html |website=kazanlak.bg |publisher=Kazanlak |language=bg |access-date=2020-10-21 |archive-date=24 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024133157/https://www.kazanlak.bg/cat-551.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Limassol]], Cyprus<ref>{{cite web |title=Twinned Cities |url=https://www.limassolmunicipal.com.cy/en/didimopoiimenes-poleis |website=limassolmunicipal.com.cy |publisher=Limassol |access-date=2020-10-21 |archive-date=23 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023043640/https://www.limassolmunicipal.com.cy/en/didimopoiimenes-poleis |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Novi Sad]], Serbia<ref>{{cite web |title=Gradovi pobratimi: Potpisan sporazum o saradnji između Novog Sada i Aleksandrije|url=https://www.021.rs/story/Novi-Sad/Vesti/285419/Gradovi-pobratimi-Potpisan-sporazum-o-saradnji-izmedju-Novog-Sada-i-Aleksandrije.html|website=021.rs |language=sr |date=21 September 2021|access-date=5 November 2023}}</ref>
*[[Odesa]], Ukraine<ref>{{cite web |title=Міста-побратими |url=https://omr.gov.ua/ua/international/goroda-pobratimi/ |website=omr.gov.ua |publisher=Odesa |language=uk |access-date=2020-10-21 |archive-date=1 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401021102/https://omr.gov.ua/ua/international/goroda-pobratimi/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*[[Paphos]], Cyprus<ref>{{cite web |title=Governor of Alexandria Meets Mayor of Paphos to Reinforce Cooperation Agreement Between the Two Sides and to Discuss Repercussions of Corona Virus Via Video Conference |url=http://www.alexandria.gov.eg/Alex/english/DispNews.aspx?ID=1126 |website=alexandria.gov.eg |publisher=Alexandria |date=2020-05-13 |access-date=2020-10-21 |archive-date=24 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024001111/http://www.alexandria.gov.eg/Alex/english/DispNews.aspx?ID=1126 |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Port Louis]], Mauritius<ref>{{cite web |title=International links |url=http://www.mccpl.mu/ct_int.html |website=mccpl.mu |publisher=City Council of Port Louis |access-date=2020-10-21 |archive-date=21 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200521190429/http://www.mccpl.mu/ct_int.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Saint Petersburg]], Russia<ref>{{cite web |title=Международные и межрегиональные связи |url=https://www.gov.spb.ru/helper/new_stat/inter/ |website=gov.spb.ru |publisher=Federal city of Saint Petersburg |language=ru |access-date=2020-10-21 |archive-date=5 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105013852/http://gov.spb.ru/helper/new_stat/inter/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Shanghai]], China<ref>{{cite web |title=市级友好城市 |url=http://wsb.sh.gov.cn/node550/index.html |website=sh.gov.cn |publisher=Shanghai |language=zh |access-date=2020-10-21 |archive-date=19 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919163609/http://wsb.sh.gov.cn/node550/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Thessaloniki]], Greece<ref>{{cite web |title=Twin Towns |url=https://thessaloniki.gr/i-want-to-know-whats-going-on-in-the-city/twin-towns/?lang=en |website=thessaloniki.gr | date=25 April 2018 |publisher=Thessaloniki |access-date=2020-10-21 |archive-date=2 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002132751/https://thessaloniki.gr/i-want-to-know-whats-going-on-in-the-city/twin-towns/?lang=en |url-status=live }}</ref>
{{div col end}}

==See also==
{{portal|Egypt}}
*[[Alexandria Radio]]<!--- place here now; for future "Media" section --->
*[[Baucalis]]
*[[History of the Jews in Alexandria]]
*[[Cultural tourism in Egypt]]
*[[List of cities and towns in Egypt]]
*[[List of cities founded by Alexander the Great]]
*[[Of Alexandria]]
*[[Alexandria on the Indus]]
*[[Alexandrian Kings]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

=== Citations ===
1) El-Shahed, Ahmed. "The History and Architecture of Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi Mosque in Alexandria." Journal of Islamic Architecture, vol. 5, no. 2, 2018, pp. 87–102.

2) Hassan, Mahmoud. "The Legacy of Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque: A Historical Analysis." International Journal of Architectural Research, vol. 12, no. 3, 2019, pp. 321–336.

3) Abdallah, Fatma. "The Cultural Significance of Bilal Mosque in Alexandria: A Study in Religious Architecture." Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, vol. 27, no. 4, 2020, pp. 45–60.

4) Ali, Mustafa. "Intellectual Centers of Islamic Learning in Medieval Alexandria." Alexandria Studies Journal, vol. 8, no. 1, 2015, pp. 123–140.

==Further reading==
*A. Bernand, ''Alexandrie la Grande'' (1966)
*A. Bernard, E. Bernand, J. Yoyotte, F. Goddio, et al., ''Alexandria, the submerged royal quarters'', Periplus Publishing Ltd., London 1998, {{ISBN|1-902699-00-9}}
*A. J. Butler, ''The Arab Conquest of Egypt'' (2nd. ed., 1978)
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Alexandria (Egypt) | volume= 1 |last2= Atkinson |first2= Charles Francis |author2-link= |last1= Cana |first1= Frank Richardson |author1-link= |last3= Hogarth |first3= David George |author3-link= David George Hogarth |pages = 568&ndash;572 |short= 1 }}
*P.-A. Claudel, ''Alexandrie. Histoire d'un mythe'' (2011)
*A. De Cosson, ''Mareotis'' (1935)
*J.-Y. Empereur, ''Alexandria Rediscovered'' (1998)
*E. M. Forster, ''Alexandria A History and a Guide'' (1922) (reprint ed. M. Allott, 2004)
*P. M. Fraser, ''Ptolemaic Alexandria'' (1972)
*[[Franck Goddio]], David Fabre (eds), ''Egypt's Sunken Treasures'', Prestel Vlg München, 2008 (2nd edition), Exhibition Catalogue, {{ISBN|978-3-7913-3970-2}}
*M. Haag, ''Alexandria: City of Memory'' (2004) [20th-century social and literary history]
*M. Haag, ''Vintage Alexandria: Photographs of the City 1860–1960'' (2008)
*M. Haag, ''Alexandria Illustrated''
*R. Ilbert, I. Yannakakis, ''Alexandrie 1860–1960'' (1992)
*R. Ilbert, ''Alexandrie entre deux mondes'' (1988)
*[[Judith McKenzie (archaeologist)|Judith McKenzie]] et al., ''The Architecture of Alexandria and Egypt, 300 B.C.–A.D. 700.'' (Pelican History of Art, Yale University Press, 2007)
*Philip Mansel, ''Levant: Splendour and Catastrophe on the Mediterranean'', London, John Murray, 11 November 2010, hardback, 480 pages, {{ISBN|978-0-7195-6707-0}}, New Haven, Yale University Press, 24 May 2011, hardback, 470 pages, {{ISBN|978-0-300-17264-5}}
*Don Nardo, ''A Travel Guide to Ancient Alexandria'', Lucent Books. (2003)
*D. Robinson, A. Wilson (eds), ''Alexandria and the North-Western Delta'', Oxford 2010, [[Oxford Centre for Maritime Archaeology]], {{ISBN|978-1-905905-14-0}}
*V. W. Von Hagen, ''The Roads that Led to Rome'' (1967)

==External links==
* {{Official website}}
* {{Osmrelation-inline|27565020}}
* [https://acor.digitalrelab.com/index.php?s=filter=place_name:Alexandria%20(Egypt) Photos of Alexandria] at the [[American Center of Research]]

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{{s-ttl|title=[[List of historical capitals of Egypt|Capital of Egypt]] |years=331 BC – AD 641}}
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{{Cities of Egypt}}
{{Neighborhoods in Alexandria}}
{{Governorates capital of Egypt}}
{{Egyptian Cities}}
{{World Book Capital}}
{{Hellenistic colonies}}
{{Subject bar |book=Alexandia | commons=yes |n=yes |wikt=yes |b=yes |q=yes |s=yes |v=yes |voy=yes |d=yes }}
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[[Category:Alexandria|Alexandria]]<!--leave the empty space as standard-->
[[Category:Governorate capitals in Egypt]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Egypt]]
[[Category:Populated places in Alexandria Governorate]]
[[Category:Populated coastal places in Egypt]]
[[Category:Metropolitan areas of Egypt]]
[[Category:Roman towns and cities in Egypt]]
[[Category:Mediterranean port cities and towns in Egypt]]
[[Category:Populated places along the Silk Road]]
[[Category:Cities in Egypt]]
[[Category:Cities founded by Alexander the Great]]
[[Category:Holy cities]]
[[Category:330s BC establishments]]
[[Category:330s BC]]
[[Category:Populated places established in the 4th century BC]]
[[Category:Former capitals of Egypt]]
[[Category:Historic Jewish communities in North Africa]]