Landmarks & Culture

Landmarks of West District

From the Serapeum and tombs cut into the rock to the Qabbari mosque and the cotton exchange: the district’s landmarks between Karmouz and Mina El Basal.

A journey through time On the map

5 landmarks4 eras

All qisms5
Mina El Basal3
Karmouz2

All kinds
Antiquities3
Places of worship1
Squares & streets1

Looking for a hospital, a consulate or a police point? Public services are in the district guide

Ancient Alexandria

331 BC – 7th century AD

On the hill of Bab Sidra, where the village of Rhakotis stood, rose the Ptolemaic Serapeum and then Pompey’s Pillar, and beside it the Roman catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa were cut into the rock.

Antiquities · KarmouzCatacombs of Kom El ShoqafaLate 1st to 2nd century AD, found in 1900A Roman cemetery cut entirely into the rock, three storeys deep, whose reliefs join ancient Egyptian and Graeco-Roman art; it was found by chance in 1900.
Antiquities · KarmouzPompey’s Pillar and the SerapeumAbout AD 300, on the site of the Ptolemaic SerapeumA Roman column of red Aswan granite on the hill of Bab Sidra, most likely raised in honour of the emperor Diocletian around AD 300, where the Ptolemaic Serapeum stood.

More places in the district

Places the district has published, not yet dated on the timeline.

Gabbari NecropolisAntiquities · Mina El Basal

Emergency and hotline numbers
National government complaints line	16528
Alexandria Governorate operations room (from a landline)	114
Child helpline	16000
Police	122
Ambulance	123
Fire service	180
Gas emergency	129
Electricity faults	121