Today, Greater Alexandria stretches nearly 70 kilometers (45 miles) along the Mediterranean coast, with urban areas covering more than 100 square kilometers and a population of more than 4 million.

The city still reflects the ancient history and close ties to the Mediterranean. With ethnic minorities including Armenians, Greeks, Italians, Lebanese, Maltese, and Syrians among others, Alexandria is considered the most diverse culturally of all Egyptian cities.

It is home to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (the new Library), and is an important industrial center because of its natural gas and oil pipelines from Suez, another city in Egypt. Alexandria was also an important trading post between Europe and Asia, because it profited from the easy overland connection between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.

In ancient times, Alexandria was one of the most famous cities in the world. It was founded around a small pharaonic town c. 331 BC by Alexander the Great. It remained Egypt's capital for nearly a thousand years, until the Muslim conquest of Egypt in AD 641 when a new capital was founded at Fustat (Fustat was later absorbed into Cairo). Alexandria was known because of its lighthouse (Pharos), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World; its library (the largest library in the ancient world); and the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa, one of the Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages.

Ongoing maritime archaeology in the harbour of Alexandria, which began in 1994, is revealing details of Alexandria both before the arrival of Alexander, when a city named Rhacotis existed there, and during the Ptolemaic dynasty.

Our Arabic language course also allows you plenty of time to discover the culture of Alexandria and its history.