Alexandria National Museum | Ankh |
Alexandria, the second largest metropolis in Egypt and the seat of the Hellenic Empire is famous for its share of Museums.
The Museums has added charm to the quaint city. It has become an asset to Alexandria’s cultural and National Heritage. In the present scenario.
Because the place – Alexandria – is unique, and because the value – Alexandria’s treasure – is no less exceptional, the Alexandria Museum is meant to complement and enhance the splendor of the great city of all other museums in Egypt, it stands out as the most advanced in its approach to display.
Alexandria National Museum
The Museum has become one of the major tourist attractions and finest specimens of art in entire Alexandria and it is housed in the old ASSAD Bassili Pasha Palace, one of the wealthiest wood merchants in Alexandria at that time, on Fouad Street (Tariq al-Horreyya), near the centre of the city – The magnificent villa was sold first to the Americans and served them as their consulate.
The place however was purchased back by the Ministry of Culture in 1997 and the present Alexandria National Museum grew up in its place, It covers a total area of 3,480 square meters and is built in the style of an Italian Mansion with four spacious floors.
The Alexandria Museum is surrounded by a beautiful garden full of shady trees and flowering plants.
Alexandria National Museum Facts
The Museum is a living memory of the diversity that has always been an overriding characteristic of a city that has preserved a distinctive trace of each of the epochs of its long history.
This museum, in short, solves the complex equation of value, the equation of providing a splendid edifice and imparting the sublime meaning embedded in it to the soul.
Thus sitting an example for museums proposed for various provinces.
History, needless to say, is an illuminating reality which derives continuity & survival from the imagination.
This, in turn, infuses us with a determination to show that we take pride in our history and a strong desire to celebrate its present and future influence on us as well as on who ever may have an encounter with it.
The Alexandria National Museum is the latest museum to join the many others present in this coastal city.
Cosmopolitan History
Alexandria National Museum is one of our new master sites nowadays. It is inaugurated by the Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, in 31st of December 2003.
The national museum located in a restored palace, it contain about 1,800 artifacts pieces of antiquities that narrate the history of Alexandria throughout ages, pharaonic, Roman, Coptic and Islamic eras and some modern pieces, Mummies are shown in a special underground chamber (basement).
And some of the items found during the archaeological underwater excavations in Alexandria now in the same floor with the Greco roman artifacts.
The museum consists of 3 levels – the basement housing the Pharaonic artefacts, the ground level displaying the Graeco-Roman treasures, and the 1st floor – containing relics from Egypt’s Coptic Christian and Islamic heritage, as well as some insight into the valuables left behind by King Farouk’s family before the 1952 revolution.
Mummies in Alexandria National Museum
Making our visit to the museum akin to a trek through time, we began with a descend into the basement to view the Pharaonic artifacts. Set out below are some of the pictures taken from this level of the museum.
The valuable exhibits at the Alexandria National Museum include a statue of the Roman emperor Hadrian, Female Pharaoh of Egypt, a collection of 162 gold and silver coins minted in Alexandria and other objects related to ritual offerings, utensils and expensive jewelry.
Mummies are also shown to the common public but in secret underground chambers.
There are some other exhibits which were discovered during the underwater excavations and they too are displayed at the galleries of the Alexandria National Museum with the innumerable Greco Roman Artifacts.
Alexandria Museum Location
In one of the restored palaces of Alexandria named Al-Saad Bassili Pasha Palace. The palace belonged to one of the wealthiest wood merchants in Alexandria & is situated on the Fouad Street, Alexandria, Egypt.
Opening Hours: The museum is open daily 9am–2pm
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