pompey’s pillar is one of the most important tourist attractions in Egypt is undoubtedly the city of Alexandria. With such an appealing past and such an active social life today, it is impossible to escape the charm of the city.
In this respect, among all the monuments you can visit in the city, in today’s article we want to draw your attention to one in particular: the Pillar of Pompey.
In the archaeological site of Alexandria, right in the place where the famous Serapeum was found in ancient times, the Pillar or Column of Pompey is located today. Made of red granite from the quarries of Aswan, it is considered the largest that was built outside the great imperial capitals of the time, namely Rome and Constantinople.
Although its construction is surrounded by a good number of speculations, basically the name comes from the fact that, at the time of the Crusades, it was believed that this column indicated the place where Pompey had been buried, who had been killed by Ptolemy XIII, Cleopatra’s brother.
However, there are other versions that indicate that the column is the only remains that have come down to us from the mythical Library of Alexandria, and even that it was erected in honor of Diocletian to commemorate his victory over Achileus, Emperor of Egypt. In addition to all this, at its base, we can still see a series of hieroglyphics in which the names of Seti I and another pharaoh belonging to the Site dynasty appear.
With impressive characteristics (it is 26.85 meters high with a diameter of 2.71 meters at the base), in general, experts estimate that its total weight is around 285 tons. Of great beauty, the pillar has remained practically intact to this day.
