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The second largest city and
the main port of Egypt, it was built by the Greek
architect Dinocrates (332-331 BC) on the site
of an old village, Rhakotis, at the orders of
Alexander the Great. The city, immortalizing Alexander's name, quickly
flourished into a prominent cultural, intellectual, political, and
economic metropolis, the remains of which are still evident to this day.
It was the renowned capital of
the Ptolemy's, with numerous monuments. It was the site of the
Lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, as well as the
Great Library. It was along these shores that history took a tragic turn
at the time of Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony,
and Octavian.
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