The reading room
One of the world's largest.
Amr Fayez / TheEgyptian — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Leif Halvorsen — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Luigi Rosa — CC BY-SA 2.0 · CarstenW — CC BY 3.0 · Ahmedsalahemam — CC BY-SA 4.0
The new Library of Alexandria, a revival of the memory of the ancient Library of Alexandria, the greatest library of the ancient world in Ptolemaic times, later lost. It opened in 2002 on the Corniche of the Eastern Harbour, near where the old library is thought to have stood. The building is a huge disc tilting towards the sea like a sun rising from the water, and its outer wall of Aswan granite is carved with letters and scripts from the world's alphabets, ancient and modern. The main reading room is one of the largest in the world, stepping down in terraces beneath a glass roof that lets in daylight. Besides millions of books, the library holds several museums, including an antiquities museum and a museum of rare manuscripts, a planetarium, art galleries and a museum of the late president Anwar Sadat. A foreign visitor's ticket costs about a hundred and fifty Egyptian pounds for the library and about three hundred with the museums, including a guided tour. It opens Sunday to Thursday from ten to six, with shorter hours on Saturday, and closes on Fridays and holidays. It stands on the Corniche, so pair it with the Citadel of Qaitbay on a walk along the Eastern Harbour.
One of the world's largest.
The world's alphabets in granite.
Rare Arabic and ancient texts.
Corniche Road, Shatby, on the Eastern Harbour
Alexandria CornicheThe coastal road that curves along Alexandria's shore for some twenty kilometres2 minutes walk
Alexandria National MuseumA museum in an elegant Italian-style mansion on Tariq al-Horreya in central Alex12 minutes walk
Graeco-Roman MuseumAlexandria's oldest museum, founded in 1892 and opened in its present building w14 minutes walk
Kom el-DikkaThe largest above-ground archaeological site in Alexandria, in the heart of the 21 minutes walkNo, the ancient library was lost centuries ago; this is a modern library opened in 2002 to revive its memory, near where it is thought to have stood.