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The winner is Mr. AMIT MEHROTRA
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The winner of December 2009 prize draw is Mr. AMIT MEHROTRA, TUI India client who has taken his tour in Egypt during December 2009.
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The winners are Mr. Johnny and Ms. Debra Davidson
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The winner of June 2009 Guest Comments draw are Mr. Johnny and Ms. Debra Davidson, Central Holidays clients who have taken their tour in Egypt during April 2009
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STI celebrates its 30th Anniversary
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On the occasion of its 30th anniversary, Sakkara Travel Group international affiliate STI (Sakkara Tours International) will be celebrating ...
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Home > Sakkara Tours > Classical Tour >
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Alexandria Extension Program |
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Depart from Cairo by air-conditioned coach along the desert highway to the city of Alexandria, the shining pearl of the Mediterranean, and the beacon radiating its culture and heritage to the world at large. The second largest city and the main port of Egypt, Alexandria 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 cutural, intellectual, political, and economic metropolis, the remains of which are still evident to this day. | |
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Catacombs : The Catacombs are the largest known Roman burial site in Egypt, consisting of three tiers of tombs and chambers cut into the rock to a depth of about 35 meters. Constructed in the 2nd century AD, probably as a family crypt, they were later expanded to hold more than 300 individual tombs. There is even a banquet hall where grieving relatives paid their last respects with a funeral feast. |
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Pompey’s Pillar: This massive 25-metre-high pink granite column, which the Crusaders mistakenly credited to Pompey, rises out of the remains of the famed Serapeum, an acropolis including a temple dedicated to the goddess Isis, and Cleopatra’s library. |
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Guided tour to the Greco - Roman Museum : Your visit today is to the Greco-Roman Museum. The collection includes over 40,000 mummies, sculptures, sarcophagi, pottery, coins and tapestries from as early as the 3rd century BC. |
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Continue to visit The Roman Amphitheatre : This is the only Roman amphitheatre in Egypt, discovered quite recently, when the foundations for a new apartment building were being dug. The terraces, arranged in a semicircle around the arena, are extremely well-preserved. |
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Qait Bay Fort : This 15th century Mamluk fort overlooks the entrance to the Eastern Harbour in Alexandria. It is built on the foundations of the Pharos lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and incorporates both a castle and a mosque within its walls. |
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Mosque of Abu al-Abbas Mursi : is a modern but impressive example of Islamic architecture. The original mosque on the site was built by Algerians in 1767 over the tomb of a 13th century Muslim saint. The present structure was erected in 1943 when the largely decayed original was demolished |
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Montazah Palace : Montaza Palace was built by Khedive Abbas II. It was the summer residence of the royal family before the 1952 Revolution and King Farouk’s abdication. It overlooks magnificent gardens and groves. The adjacent Salamlek Hotel (now closed), also built by Abbas II, was designed in the style of a chalet to please his Austrian mistress. The palace and its museum are open only to official guests on government business |
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Royal Jewelry Museum : the Royal jewelry Museum is one of Alexandria’s newest attractions. Formerly one of King Farouk’s palaces, it now houses a stunning collection of jewels from the time of Mohammed Ali’s early 19th century rule in Egypt until Farouk’s abdication, including diamond-encrusted garden tools, jeweled watches with hand-painted miniature portraits, necklaces and a diamond-studded chess set ( The museum is undergoing restoration presently) |
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Underwater Discoveries : Relatively new discoveries in the Eastern Harbor involve two different sites. Around Fort Qaitbey the site has unearthed hundreds of objects, including what experts believe are the remains of the Pharos Lighthouse, one of the ancient wonders of the world In the south east part of the harbor archaeologists have apparently found the Royal Quarters, including granite columns and fabulous statues, including one of Isis and a sphinx with a head thought to be that of Cleopatra's father |
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Bibliotheca Alexandrina : The ancient library was founded by Aristotle's pupil, Demetrius of Phalerum, in the fourth century BC. By the middle of the first century BC, it contained perhaps 700,000 manuscripts on papyrus, It was the largest collection of books the world had ever seen. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina is a place of learning, dialogue and tolerance. This vast complex of culture and scientific excellence includes : A Library for up to eight millions books, six specialized libraries, three museums, seven research centers, two permanent exhibitions, six art galleries, a planetarium, an Exploratorium and a conference center for thousands of persons |
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Alexandria National Museum : is the first museum to be established on the most updated museum exhibition technology in Alexandria city which had a great impact on the cultural, political and educational life in the ancient world. The museum comprises more than 1800 archaeological pieces that narrate the Pharaonic, Greek, Roman, Coptic, Islamic and modern history of Egypt. |
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Among the displays, are pieces picked up from the Mediterranean sea in Alexandria |
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El Alamein : is most notable as the place where the Allied forces of WW II gained a decisive victory over the Axis forces. Today, the village located about 66 miles east of Alexandria is mostly a port facility for shipping oil. However, it was once described by Churchill as having the best climate in the world. There are several hotels and a beach resort nearby. There is also a war museum with collectibles from the Battle of El Alamein and other North African battles. The only historical interest in this village would be related to WW II, and includes an Italian, British and German military cemeteries on Tell el-Eisa Hill just outside of town |
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The British cemetery: Thousands upon thousands of Rock- hewn tombstones stand straight rows amidst a fenced garden |
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The Italian cemetery :It is a high tower fort standing on a high hill. The walls of the building are covered with marble |
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The German cemetery : It is a fortress like memorial that was built on a high hill overlooking the sea |
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The Alamein Museum : It includes five main halls representing the countries that participated in Al Alamein battle. A variety of weapons and tanks, war scene paintings are exhibited in the museum |
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Rosetta : Rasheed governorate is located 65km east of Alexandria. It offered the world the key to the Hieroglyphs, the Rosetta stone which revealed the secrets of the great ancient Egyptian civilization. Rasheed resisted, under the leadership of Governor Ali Bey Al-Salanki and Head of Noblemen Sheik Hassan Kirit, the 1807 Frazer military expedition. |
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The Antique’s Craft Institution : In 1986, President Mohammed Hosni Mubarak inaugurated the Antique’s Craft Institution with 30 workers in the fields of carpentry and carpet weaving. The institution provides restoration necessities |
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Rasheed National Museum : Towards the middle of the 18th c., Hussein Arabi, Governor of Rasheed, established a 4-storey building. The archives located on the first storey hosts transcripts of manuscripts belonging to the Ancient Egyptian Art Revival Centre while the second and third are designed to host 334 antiques, the most remarkable of which are the marbles, vessel holders and gravestones bearing inscriptions in Kufic writing. The Central Park facing the museum has two gravestones dating to the Mameluke age |
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Wadi El Natroun Monasteries: Located on the desert road between Cairo & Alexandria After . In the earliest decades of Christianity, the desert expanses of Wadi el-Natroun became the site of anchoretic settlement and, later, of many monasteries, in spiritual commemoration of the Holy Family's passage through the valley. There are four great monasteries here : Deir El-Baramus (Monasterty of the Romans) , Deir El-Anba Bishay (Monastery of St. Pschoi) , Deir Abu Maqar (Monastery of St. Marcius) and Deir El-Suryan (Monastery of the Syrians) . Founded in the 9th C., Deir Al - Suryan is the oldest and houses three churches. |
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