Egypt Guide
Alexandria and the Mediterranean coast
The Catacombs of Kom es-Shoqafa
Opening time: Daily 9am–5pm, Ramadan until 3pm
Price: £E25
One of Alexandria's most memorable monuments, the Catacombs of Kom es-Shoqafa combine spookiness and kitsch, never mind their prosaic Arabic name, "Mound of Shards". To get there, turn right around the corner after leaving Pompey's Pillar and follow the road straight on for five minutes; the entrance to the catacombs is on the left 150m beyond a small square. Cameras must be left here, as photography is not allowed inside.
Egypt's largest known Roman burial site, the catacombs were discovered in 1900 when a donkey disappeared through the ground. The triple-level complex, hewn 35m into solid rock, is reached via a spiral stairway, past the shaft down which bodies were lowered. From the vestibule with its well and scalloped niches, you can squeeze through a fissure (right) into a lofty hall riddled with loculi, or family burial niches, each once sealed with a stone slab on which were painted the names and ages of the deceased. Scholars named it the Hall of Caracalla after the Roman emperor who massacred Alexandrian youths at a review in 215 AD. In the Triclinium (left), relatives toasted the dead from stone couches. When the first archeologists entered the chamber they found wine jars and tableware, and recently murals, only visible under ultraviolet light.
But the main attraction is the Central Tomb downstairs, whose vestibule is guarded by reliefs of bearded serpents with Medusa-headed shields. Inside are comically muscle-bound statues of Sobek and Anubis wearing Roman armour, dating from the second century AD when "the old faiths began to merge and melt" (Forster). Water has flooded the Goddess Nemesis Hall (still accessible) and submerged the lowest level, hastening the catacombs' decay.