more photos

[ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ]

site details

0900-1700 daily
0900-1500 ramadan
E£ 12 entry
E£6 student
E£10 camera

relevant links

travelogue 2/23

history

32nd Dynasty
Greco-Romans

Alexander the Great

 


Previous Next

this site

roman baths
villa of the birds
caracalla tombs
catacombs of
shouqafa

bibliotheca alexandrina
montazah palace
greco-roman
museum

pompey's pillar
qaitbay fort
roman excavation
roman theatre

photos

by site
by city
by day

 


Pompeii's Pillar


the pillar and the gardens below with fragments of statuary

This is one of the oddest monuments in Alexandria, it looks completely out of place -- just a single granite column, standing on a hill, for no apparent reason. It has been called "An imposing by ungraceful object", and it really is.

The pillar is close by the Catacombs of Shouqafa, in the southwest corner of the city. You can walk between the two sites very easily. The area around these two monuments is extremely poor.

 
looking straight up the pillar; from the gardens

The column itself is 27m tall and 9m in diameter, standing on a limestone bluff with a garden and other excavations. THe column looks almost gray from a distance, but up close it is the same fine, red Aswan granite that is so common in Egyptian monuments.

 

abydos Previous Monument museum
[ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ]
qaitbay fort
amarna

© 2003-2005 r. fingerson
send me a note!