27 Facts About Alexandria

Alexandria was best known for the Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World; its Great Library, the largest in the ancient world; and the Necropolis, one of the 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.

City was a major centre of 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.

Just east of Alexandria, there were in ancient times marshland and several islands.

Alexandria chose the site of Alexandria, envisioning the building of a causeway to the nearby island of Pharos that would generate two great natural harbours.

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Alexandria was intended to supersede the older Greek colony of Naucratis as a Hellenistic centre in Egypt, and to be the link between Greece and the rich Nile valley.

In one century, Alexandria had become the largest city in the world and, for some centuries more, was second only to Rome.

In 115 AD, large parts of Alexandria were destroyed during the Kitos War, which gave Hadrian and his architect, Decriannus, an opportunity to rebuild it.

Alexandria lost much of its former importance to the Egyptian port city of Rosetta during the 9th to 18th centuries, and only regained its former prominence with the construction of the Mahmoudiyah Canal in 1807.

Alexandria figured prominently in the military operations of Napoleon's expedition to Egypt in 1798.

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.

Europeans began leaving Alexandria following the 1956 Suez Crisis that led to an outburst of Arab nationalism.

Alexandria told Ibn Battuta that he should go find his three brothers, Farid Oddin, who lived in India, Rokn Oddin Ibn Zakarya, who lived in Sindia, and Borhan Oddin, who lived in China.

Alexandria lived alone but was visited daily by emirs, viziers, and crowds that wished to eat with him.

Alexandria is located in the country of Egypt, on the southern coast of the Mediterranean.

Alexandria has a hot desert climate, bordering on a hot steppe climate (Koppen climate classification: BSh).

Rafah and Alexandria are the wettest places in Egypt; the other wettest places are Rosetta, Baltim, Kafr el-Dawwar, and Mersa Matruh.

Alexandria's catacombs, known as Kom El Shoqafa, are a short distance southwest of the pillar, consist of a multi-level labyrinth, reached via a large spiral staircase, and featuring dozens of chambers adorned with sculpted pillars, statues, and other syncretic Romano-Egyptian religious symbols, burial niches, and sarcophagi, as well as a large Roman-style banquet room, where memorial meals were conducted by relatives of the deceased.

Alexandria was once considered the third-most important see in Christianity, after Rome and Constantinople.

The Church of Alexandria had jurisdiction over most of the continent of Africa.

Alexandria University is a public university that follows the Egyptian system of higher education.

Today, the most important French schools in Alexandria run by Catholic missionaries include College de la Mere de Dieu, College Notre Dame de Sion, College Saint Marc, Ecoles des Soeurs Franciscaines, Ecole Girard, Ecole Saint Gabriel, Ecole Saint-Vincent de Paul, Ecole Saint Joseph, Ecole Sainte Catherine, and Institution Sainte Jeanne-Antide.

Around the 1890s, twice the percentage of women in Alexandria knew how to read compared to the same percentage in Cairo.

Alexandria plays host to two intercity railway stations: the aforementioned Misr Station 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 serve the commuter rail line.

Alexandria was one of three cities that participated in hosting the African Cup of Nations in January 2006, which Egypt won.

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The city is home to the Alexandria Sporting Club, which is especially known for its basketball team, which traditionally provides the country's national team with key players.

Alexandria is 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.