The Bibliotheca Alexandrina

More than 2,000 years before the invention of the internet, the world's knowledge was on store here. Giants of Greek scholarship such as Archimedes, Erastosthenes and Euclid did their research in the famous library of Alexandria, where up to 700,000 papyrus scrolls were stored. Later on, antiquity's centre of learning and education would fall victim to a devastating fire, and would live on only in memory. But it made its comeback 10 years ago, with the opening of the new Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Located at the Corniche, the shoreline boulevard of the Egyptian metropolis on the Mediterranean Sea, the library rises up in a setting of palm trees. Sitting atop a small wall at the building's entrance are young women wearing head scarves, a laptop computer on their laps and a mobile phone held to their ears. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina, which opened in 2002 not far from the site of the original, is nowadays above all used by students. But it is also a tourism attraction. Built at a cost of more than 200 million dollars, this prestige project is meant by Egypt to underscore Alexandria's place in world history -- a history that began with its founding by Alexander the Great in 331 BC. Groups of visitors touring the library learn that it has the world's largest public reading room with more than 2,000 seats and 360 computers. Already, the library has 1.5 million books, but there is space for up to 8 million. A conference room, planetarium, four museums and 15 permanent exhibitions round out the facility's attractions. But today's modern metropolis, dubbed by local residents as the "bride of the Mediterranean," has much more to offer with its seaside location, colourful markets, churches, mosques and ancient Roman monuments. Many destinations can be reached by foot starting from the city centre. After only a few minutes one can reach, crossing Tahrir Square and the lively market streets, the Corniche. Walking along the broad bay, one is rewarded by a panoramic view of the city. Off to the right the route leads to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, off to the left, an evening stroll is recommended to head for a peninsula where in ancient times the Alexandria light tower once stood. The light tower had been one of the Seven Wonders of antiquity. It was said to be 120 metres tall and could be viewed from afar by the ships heading towards what was back then the second-largest city in the Roman Empire. Earthquakes during the Middle Ages destroyed the light tower and today, the 15th-century Fort Kait Bey stands on the site. Right next to it, a Greek yachting club is an inviting place to rest. The syrtaki music that wafts across the terrace and mixes in with the sound of the surf is a reminder that Alexandria was founded by the Greeks, who put their stamp on the city up until its conquest by the Arabs in the 7th Century. An estimated 40,000 ethnic Greeks still live in the city. Among the most famous modern-day sons are the singers Demis Roussos and Georges Moustaki. The latter, who emigrated to France as a young man, dedicated the nostalgic song, Alexandrie, to the city of his birth. Back then, life in Alexandria must have been more relaxed than it is nowadays, with hordes of black-and-yellow Lada taxis spewing exhaust fumes that drive out the scents of the Orient, and piles of trash making an eyesore of the squares and boulevards. But the atmosphere of the olden times is preserved in the coffee houses such as the Trianon, and in the many small cafes where men sit around smoking shisha pipes. Very few foreign visitors are to be seen at the moment. The turmoil of the Arab Spring left its mark and many people were killed and wounded in the bloody clashes in early 2011. Today the city is regarded as a bastion for the radical Islamist Salafists.

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