Built in 332 BC, by Alexander the great, on the location of the old harbor Rakotis, Alexandria became the capital of the Ptolemaics, an extension was built to join the main land to Pharos island, on which rose the 1st light-house in history. Alexandria grew up and became a cosmopolitan city, harbor and trading centers, the great library, the academy which attracted the best artists and scientists of the Old World: Antophilos (painter), Euclid (Mathematics), Erathostenes (Physics) Under the Roman occupation, which started in 48 BC, Alexandria became the second city of the Roman Empire.

The decline started in 383, when Alexandria became a Christian center, destruction of temples, schools and also the academy was considered a blow to paganism. When the Arab army entered Alexandria in 641, it retained some of its glamour: 4000 palaces, 4000 public bathes, 1200 gardens, 400 circus and entertaining centers, 500000 inhabitants. But it's commercial power as well as its population decreased very quickly. During the rule of Mohamed Ali and his successors, Alexandria regained its position as a commercial and a military harbor, connected to the Nile by a canal in 1819.

The population increased from 6000 to 200 000 persons (50 000 foreigners). Today Alexandria is the 2nd largest city in Egypt (5 million inhabitants) and is one of the best summer resorts on the Mediterranean Sea, with its beaches extending to the length of 40 Km, its luxurious hotels, its restaurants, its theaters and park.