Alexandria

Alexandria is the <a href="/facts/List_of_cities_and_towns_in_Egypt/cqByQRp2">second largest</a> city in <a href="/facts/Egypt/8Ttg0JwB">Egypt</a> and the <a href="/facts/List_of_coastal_settlements_of_the_Mediterranean_Sea/M7U7UN5g">largest city on the Mediterranean coast</a>. It lies at the western edge of the <a href="/facts/Nile_Delta/ItjnDeVk">Nile River delta</a>. Founded in 331 BC by <a href="/facts/Alexander_the_Great/8N3gLElj">Alexander the Great</a>, Alexandria grew rapidly and became a major centre of <a href="/facts/Hellenic_civilisation/PTVBrWXq">Hellenic civilisation</a>, eventually replacing <a href="/facts/Memphis,_Egypt/g8BoleBx">Memphis</a>, in present-day <a href="/facts/Greater_Cairo/HwGHk1Hg">Greater Cairo</a>, as Egypt's capital. Called the "Bride of the Mediterranean" and "Pearl of the Mediterranean Coast" internationally, Alexandria is a popular tourist destination and an important industrial centre due to its <a href="/facts/Natural_gas/9MYQ7NAP">natural gas</a> and <a href="/facts/Petroleum/IQV0bHVd">oil</a> <a href="/facts/Pipeline_transport/gEmKcFhD">pipelines</a> from <a href="/facts/Suez/0GflHFFL">Suez</a>.
The city extends about 40 km (25 mi) along the <a href="/facts/Northern_coast_of_Egypt/qRlMNdll">northern coast of Egypt</a> and is the largest city on the Mediterranean, the <a href="/facts/List_of_cities_and_towns_in_Egypt/cqByQRp2"> second-largest in Egypt</a> (after <a href="/facts/Cairo/dXjj60ar">Cairo</a>), the <a href="/facts/List_of_largest_cities_in_the_Arab_world/1jH9QHsd">fourth-largest city</a> in the <a href="/facts/Arab_world/F8Jouq98">Arab world</a>, the <a href="/facts/List_of_cities_in_Africa_by_population/7qMMAAD9">ninth-largest city in Africa</a>, and the <a href="/facts/List_of_urban_agglomerations_in_Africa/YIhK2Dk8">ninth-largest urban area in Africa</a>.
The city was founded originally in the vicinity of an Egyptian settlement named <a href="/facts/Rhacotis/UXWgbjcS">Rhacotis</a> (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 <a href="/facts/Egypt_(Roman_province)/P1wkcTmv">Roman and Eastern Roman rule</a> until the <a href="/facts/Muslim_conquest_of_Egypt/N3yQclzX">Muslim conquest of Egypt</a> in 641 AD, when a new capital was founded at <a href="/facts/Fustat/ynDk30sh">Fustat</a> (later absorbed into <a href="/facts/Cairo/dXjj60ar">Cairo</a>).
Alexandria was best known for the <a href="/facts/Lighthouse_of_Alexandria/m0X95hlW">Lighthouse of Alexandria</a> (Pharos), one of the <a href="/facts/Seven_Wonders_of_the_Ancient_World/xHWcHYfV">Seven Wonders of the Ancient World</a>; its <a href="/facts/Library_of_Alexandria/Y8xCxS1n">Great Library</a>, the largest in the ancient world; and the <a href="/facts/Catacombs_of_Kom_El_Shoqafa/bP7IvAep">Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa</a>, one of the <a href="/facts/Wonders_of_the_Middle_Ages/daPzgAEy">Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages</a>. Alexandria was the intellectual and cultural centre of the ancient Mediterranean for much of the <a href="/facts/Hellenistic_age/q6BgQsaF">Hellenistic age</a> and <a href="/facts/Late_antiquity/sPTl0dyD">late antiquity</a>. It was at one time the largest city in the ancient world before being eventually overtaken by <a href="/facts/Rome/bh1Ttx3T">Rome</a>.
The city was a major centre of <a href="/facts/Early_Christianity/LmdNJmea">early</a> <a href="/facts/Christianity/nKyJHlqq">Christianity</a> and was the centre of the <a href="/facts/Patriarchate_of_Alexandria/WhGTt8fz">Patriarchate of Alexandria</a>, which was one of the major centres of Christianity in the <a href="/facts/Eastern_Roman_Empire/njEELXWF">Eastern Roman Empire</a>. In the modern world, the <a href="/facts/Coptic_Orthodox_Church/zL5NVSga">Coptic Orthodox Church</a> and the <a href="/facts/Greek_Orthodox_Church_of_Alexandria/sg5djI9H">Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria</a> both lay claim to this ancient heritage. By 641, the city had already been largely plundered and lost its significance before re-emerging in the modern era. From the late 18th century, Alexandria became a major centre of the international <a href="/facts/Shipping_industry/rB1EQAfm">shipping industry</a> and one of the most important trading centres in the world, both because it profited from the easy overland connection between the Mediterranean and <a href="/facts/Red_Sea/0dKWSgEe">Red Seas</a> and the lucrative trade in <a href="/facts/Gossypium_barbadense/IMwAn6lk">Egyptian cotton</a>.

Alexandria open-in-new

Alexandria