Pompey's Pillar and the Temple of Serapis offered some more photo opportunities and some cool underground ruins. This site also showcased the blending of the Egyptian with the classical Greco-Roman. The god Serapis was a conglomeration of the Egyptian gods Osiris and Apis, but with many attributes of the Greek gods Zeus, Hades and Dionysus.
One of the highlights of the area was Pompey's Pillar, which, surprisingly, had nothing to do with the famous Roman general. Apparently, many people believed that after Pompey fled Rome, he made his way to Egypt and was buried here. The Pillar was actually a monument to the Roman Emperor Diocletian. Either way, at 25 meters tall, it was the highlight of the ruined temple.
After wandering around the abandoned ruins (where only we and a small group of Spanish tourists were about), we stumbled upon the underground vault. The underground chamber was cool (literally) and quite atmospheric, but little remained to tell us of its original purpose.
We got back in the car, fought through more typical Alexandrian traffic, like you can see here...
then rode through some of the more interesting markets I've ever seen. This market here brought to mind Johnny Cash's classic song, "One Piece at a Time" where he puts together a car by smuggling out spare parts over several years during his employment at GM. He would've had an easier time of it here. Anytime there's a car accident, metal scavengers make off with the usable bits and sell them here.
We stopped in the downtown area for one of Alexandria's former wonders. The New Library of Alexandria was built not far from the old site in 2002. Of course, the first library was legendary for its wealth of knowledge until it was all destroyed at an unspecified time in history. The New Library did not really capture the grandiose quality of what the old one must have been. It was all a bit too modern, and although the guides said that its book capacity was enormous, the shelves seemed strangely empty.
Fighting through more traffic, we finally reached the second thing every visitor to Alexandria comes for. The choppy waters of the grey-blue Mediterranean crashing against the rocky shore were a welcome sight after our two-hour journey through the stark desert. On the very edge of the coast stood a short, squat limestone tower that glistened in the sunlight. Legend says that this military fort was built using the same limestone blocks of the famed Lighthouse of Alexandria, which once stood in that same spot. This Wonder of the World was about 500 feet tall -- the equivalent of a 40-story skyscraper -- before it collapsed into the sea during an earthquake.
Our driver took us along the coastline until we found our restaurant for the included lunch. Big Mo, our guide, informed us that before the revolution, he would have to have called two hours early to reserve us a table at this seaside eatery. Today, we showed up unannounced to a restaurant that had maybe two other patrons in it. It was one of many sad reminders of the toll this political instability has had on Egypt's tourist economy.
Lunch was spectacular. Although I'm not much of a seafood aficionado, the fish platter was absolutely amazing. The sides were the typical Egyptian fare -- baba ghannoush, spiced chickpeas, and a tahini dip. We indulged in more fresh mango and strawberry juices, which were five times as much as the ones we had in Cairo. Filled up with more delicious Egyptian food, we began the trek back to the bustling capital city.
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| The modern city encroaches on the ancient site |
One of the highlights of the area was Pompey's Pillar, which, surprisingly, had nothing to do with the famous Roman general. Apparently, many people believed that after Pompey fled Rome, he made his way to Egypt and was buried here. The Pillar was actually a monument to the Roman Emperor Diocletian. Either way, at 25 meters tall, it was the highlight of the ruined temple.
After wandering around the abandoned ruins (where only we and a small group of Spanish tourists were about), we stumbled upon the underground vault. The underground chamber was cool (literally) and quite atmospheric, but little remained to tell us of its original purpose.
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| The dark staircase led to...not much of anything, really. |
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| How we made it through this street remains a mystery to me...once again we commended the amazing skills of our driver. |
We stopped in the downtown area for one of Alexandria's former wonders. The New Library of Alexandria was built not far from the old site in 2002. Of course, the first library was legendary for its wealth of knowledge until it was all destroyed at an unspecified time in history. The New Library did not really capture the grandiose quality of what the old one must have been. It was all a bit too modern, and although the guides said that its book capacity was enormous, the shelves seemed strangely empty.
Fighting through more traffic, we finally reached the second thing every visitor to Alexandria comes for. The choppy waters of the grey-blue Mediterranean crashing against the rocky shore were a welcome sight after our two-hour journey through the stark desert. On the very edge of the coast stood a short, squat limestone tower that glistened in the sunlight. Legend says that this military fort was built using the same limestone blocks of the famed Lighthouse of Alexandria, which once stood in that same spot. This Wonder of the World was about 500 feet tall -- the equivalent of a 40-story skyscraper -- before it collapsed into the sea during an earthquake.
Our driver took us along the coastline until we found our restaurant for the included lunch. Big Mo, our guide, informed us that before the revolution, he would have to have called two hours early to reserve us a table at this seaside eatery. Today, we showed up unannounced to a restaurant that had maybe two other patrons in it. It was one of many sad reminders of the toll this political instability has had on Egypt's tourist economy.
Lunch was spectacular. Although I'm not much of a seafood aficionado, the fish platter was absolutely amazing. The sides were the typical Egyptian fare -- baba ghannoush, spiced chickpeas, and a tahini dip. We indulged in more fresh mango and strawberry juices, which were five times as much as the ones we had in Cairo. Filled up with more delicious Egyptian food, we began the trek back to the bustling capital city.
