For more than 2,000 years Alexandria was the largest city of Egypt. It was founded in 332 BC by Alexander the Great and was well planned. About 6.5 km (4 mi) in length and 2-3 km (1-2 mi) in width, it had streets crossing at right angles. Two main avenues, the present-day Fuad and Nebi Daniel streets, were then as now the center of the commercial, cultural, and political life of the city. A lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, was built on the island of Pharos in 280 BC. The island was later connected to the mainland by an isthmus, called the Heptastadium, enclosing the Port of Pharos, now the East Harbor.
Famous buildings in the early city included the Temple of Serapis, the Temple of Poseidon, the Soma (mausoleum of Alexander the Great and the Ptolemies), a museum, a theater, an emporium, and the Alexandrian Library, founded by Ptolemy I. Under the Ptolemies, the city was the literary and scientific center of the Hellenistic world. Later, under the Romans, its location made it the center of world commerce. Many artifacts from the ancient city are displayed in the Greco-Roman Museum.
Alexandria was captured by the Arabs in AD 642 and nearly destroyed by them. The lighthouse was devastated by an earthquake in 1324. The new lighthouse that took its place stands at Ras el-Tin, overlooking the West Harbor. Napoleon Bonaparte held the city from 1798 to 1801. In 1882, Alexandria was bombarded and occupied by the British, and during World Wars I and II it served as a British naval base. Emigration of the once-large foreign community since the 1950s has made Alexandria a more Egyptian city.
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