Egypt Guide
Alexandria and the Mediterranean coast
Cavafy Museum
Opening time: Mon– Wed, Fri & Sat 10am–3pm, Thurs & Sun 10am–5pm
Price: £E10
Off Nabi Daniel on Sharia Estanbul, the flamboyant Mohammed Feiter Building, emblazoned with majolica panels and monogrammed coronets, serves as a landmark for locating a narrow lane across the road, formerly called Rue Lepsius and now Sharia Sharm el-Sheikh. At no. 4, near the far end, a tiny sign in Greek identifies the Cavafy Museum, re-creating the second-floor flat where Constantine Cavafy (1863–1933) lived at the zenith of his poetic talent, above a bordello around the corner from the Greek Orthodox Church of St Saba. "Where could I live better?" he asked. "Below, the brothel caters for the flesh. And there is the church which forgives sin. And there is the hospital where we die." He died there indeed, and was buried in the Greek Cemetery at Shatby, where his grave bears the simple epitaph, Poet.