Monument sights in Alexandria
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Pompey’s Pillar
The massive 30m column that looms over the debris of the glorious ancient settlement of Rhakotis, the original township from which Alexandria grew, is known as Pompey’s Pillar. For centuries the column, hewn from red Aswan granite, has been one of the city’s prime sights, a single, tapered shaft, 2.7m at its base and capped by a fine Corinthian capital. The column was named by travellers who remembered the murder of the Roman general Pompey by Cleopatra’s brother, but an inscription on the base (presumably once covered with rubble) announces that it was erected in AD 291 to support a statue of the emperor Diocletian.
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Midan Tahrir
Midan Tahrir was laid out in 1830 as the centrepiece of Mohammed Ali's new look: Alexandria goes to Europe. The impressive statue on a plinth at the centre of the midan is Mohammed Ali on horseback. A recent clean up has done wonders to accentuate the fine architecture of the square's surrounding buildings.
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