The Probert Encyclopaedia of Places of the World

ALEXANDRIA

Alexandria is a city - the second largest after Cairo - and seaport of Egypt. An ancient city and seaport in Egypt, Alexandria is located at the north-west angle of the Nile delta, on a ridge of land between the sea and Lake Mareotis. Ancient Alexandria was founded by, and named in honour of, Alexander the Great, in 332 BC, and was for a long time a great and splendid city, the
centre of commerce between the east and west, as well as of Greek learning and civilization, with a population at one time of perhaps 1,000,000. It was especially celebrated for its great library, and also for its famous lighthouse, one of the wonders of the world, standing upon the little island of Pharos, which was connected with the city by a mole.

Under Roman rule it was the second city of the empire, and when Constantinople became the capital of the East it still remained the chief centre of trade; but it received a blow from which it never recovered when captured by Amru, general of Caliph Omar in 641, after a siege of fourteen months. Its ruin was finally completed by the discovery of the passage to the Cape of Good Hope, which opened up a new route for the Asiatic trade. Modern Alexandria stands partly on what was formerly the island of Pharos, partly on the peninsula which now connects it with the mainland and has been formed by the accumulation of soil, and partly on the mainland. At the beginning of the 19th century Alexandria was an insignificant place of 5000 or 6000 inhabitants. The origin of its more recent career of prosperity it owes to Mohammed Ali.

Alexandria is a former manufacturing town on the River Leven in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland.

Alexandria is a city and port on the Potomac River in Virginia, USA. The city was founded in 1749 and in 1814 was captured and plundered by the British. When the District of Columbia was formed, Alexandria was ceded, only to be returned to Virginia in 1846. In 1861 the city was entered by Union troops under Colonel Ellsworth who was shot while hauling down the Confederate flag.

Alexandria is a town on a tributary of the Dnieper river in southern Russia.

Alexandria is a city in Madison County, Indiana, USA.
Alexandria is a town in DeKalb County, Tennessee, USA.
Alexandria is a city in Hanson County, South Dakota, USA.
Alexandria is a borough in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, USA.
Alexandria is a village in Licking County, Ohio, USA.
Alexandria is a township in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, USA.
Alexandria is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, USA.
Alexandria is a town in Jefferson County, New York, USA.
Alexandria is a village in Thayer County, Nebraska, USA.
Alexandria is a township in Divide County, North Dakota, USA.
Alexandria is a city in Clark County, Missouri, USA.
Alexandria is a township in Douglas County, Minnesota, USA.
Alexandria is a city in Douglas County, Minnesota, USA.
Alexandria is a city in Rapides Parish Louisiana, USA.
Alexandria is a city in Campbell County, Kentucky, USA.
Alexandria is a township in Leavenworth County, Kansas, USA.
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