Gillian Mciver

The Art Traveller at Alexandria Library

Bibliotheca Alexandrina

with Alexander the Great, on the Library piazza

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina was established in 2002 as a modern day revival and commemoration of the famed  Library of Alexandria of antiquity, a great temple of knowledge, one of the Wonders of the Known World that declined after the establishment of Christianity. 

Situated right next to the Mediterranean on the Alexandria Corniche, the library is an amazing place with a large collection of books in Arabic, French and other languages, as well as a complex of museums and many other facilities.

interior of the great Reading Room

Designed by Austrian architect Christoph Kapeller and Egyptian architect Ihab El Habbak, it is an unusual and wonderfully functional design that combines beauty and grace with comfort. The main reading room is underneath a 32-meter-high glass roof that tilts out toward the sea, reflecting the sea and sky, measuring some 160 m in diameter. The interior walls are made of granite from the deep south of Egypt, at Aswan. 

Library exterior
By Sailko – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47077723

In my next post I will show you some highlights of the collection!

https://www.bibalex.org/en/Page/overview