Egypt Guide
Alexandria and the Mediterranean coast
Pompey's Pillar
Opening time: Daily 9am–5pm, Ramadan 9am–3pm
Price: £E15
Pompey's Pillar towers 25m above a limestone ridge and garden, surrounded by the fruits and pits of excavations. Despite its name, the red-granite column was actually raised to honour the Roman emperor Diocletian, who threatened to massacre the dissenting populace "until their blood reached his horse's knees", but desisted when his mount slipped and bloodied itself prematurely. The column is often erroneously described as coming from the Temple of Serapis that once stood nearby. Begun by the Greek architect Parmeniscos in the reign of Ptolemy III (246–221 BC), it rivalled the Soma and Caesareum in magnificence. Cleopatra later installed a "Daughter Library" of 42,800, which outlived the Mother Library by almost a century, only to be destroyed by Christian mobs in 391 AD.
Three subterranean galleries where the sacred Apis bulls were interred are all that remain: you'll find them west of the ridge, which also features a Nilometer, three sphinxes (originally from Heliopolis) and some underground cisterns.