Bibliotheca Alexandria
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Overview
El Shatby, P.O. Box 138 Alexandria 21526 AlexandriaThe new Bibliotheca Alexandria is striking in its architecture and also contains a Planetarium and Science Museum. The main library is encased in a giant cylindrical building at the far northern end of the corniche.
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Description
A striking piece of 21st century architecture that is pure high-tech while simultaneously evoking the glory of the ancient Ptolemaic capital, the new Bibliotheca Alexandria is the largest and most advanced library in the Arab world, and it has helped put the city back on the map.
The library has an impressive precedent. The original Great Library, founded in the early third century B.C., shortly after the city itself, was perhaps Alexandria finest achievement. It held as many as half a million texts, and legend has it that every vessel entering the city’s harbor had to hand over any manuscripts for copying. The library was a part of a larger institution known as the Mouseion, or house of the Muses, forerunner of universities everywhere. Here in Alexandria scholars first accurately measured the circumference of the Earth, mapped the stars and planets, and dissected bodies to discover the central nervous system. No one knows how the Great Library was destroyed, but when it disappeared much of this knowledge was lost.
The library and the cultural center was re-inaugurated in October 2002, more than two millennia after the original building was destroyed.
The new Bibliotheca Alexandria is striking in its architecture and also contains a Planetarium and Science Museum. The main library is encased in a giant cylindrical building at the far northern end of the corniche. The outer circular wall is made of granite engraved with letters from world Alphabets. The party-glazed roof which tilts towards the sea is designed to angle sunlight on to the desks of the seven tier 2,000-seat reading rooms. Eventually, the library will contain 8 million volumes.
Hours of work
Daily 11:00 am - 7:00 pm
Friday 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Tuesday 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Thursday 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm
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