Attraction Details
Overview
The Bibliotheca Alexandrina
It is a modern cultural complex on the Alexandria waterfront, opened in 2002 as a revival of the spirit — if not the direct physical successor — of the ancient Library of Alexandria, which was one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world. Designed by the Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta following an international competition, the building is architecturally extraordinary: a massive tilted disc of gray Aswan granite inscribed with characters from 120 different world scripts, rising from a circular basin at the edge of the Mediterranean, with the main reading room descending in terraced levels under a roof of triangular glass panels that flood the interior with diffused natural light.
The library complex houses over 8 million books and documents across multiple specialized libraries, a planetarium, four museums, four art galleries, fifteen permanent exhibitions, a manuscript restoration laboratory, and several research centers. The main reading room — the largest in the world, with a capacity of approximately 2,000 readers simultaneously — is architecturally the building’s primary interior space, its stepped terraces descending toward the Mediterranean visible through the glass facade.
The Bibliotheca Alexandrina has established itself as the leading cultural institution in the Arab world and the primary international research center for Mediterranean studies, hosting conferences, concerts, film screenings, and academic events throughout the year. For visitors to Alexandria, it offers a compelling combination of architectural spectacle, museum content, and the cultural resonance of a modern attempt to reimagine one of antiquity’s great intellectual institutions.
History & Significance
The original Library of Alexandria was founded under Ptolemy I Soter around 300 BCE as part of the Mouseion (the institution that gave us the word ‘museum’) — a research institution modeled on Aristotle’s Lyceum and designed to collect all the world’s knowledge in one place. At its height the library reportedly held 700,000 scrolls — an enormous collection for antiquity. Its scholars included Euclid, Archimedes, Eratosthenes (who calculated the Earth’s circumference), and Hypatia.
The library’s destruction is one of history’s most debated mysteries — various sources attribute damage to Julius Caesar’s fire of 48 BCE, the Emperor Aurelian’s 270 CE assault, the Caliph Omar’s conquest of 641 CE, and the Christian bishop Theophilus’s destruction of the Serapeum in 391 CE. The most likely scenario is gradual decline through multiple events over several centuries rather than a single catastrophic destruction.
The modern Bibliotheca Alexandrina project was initiated by UNESCO in 1987 and supported by international funding from over 100 countries. The building was inaugurated in October 2002 and has operated continuously since, with a mission explicitly linking it to the spirit of ancient universalism in knowledge collection and dissemination.
What to See
Main Reading Room
The terraced interior descending under a triangular glass roof — the world's largest library reading room, flooded with diffused Mediterranean light and one of the most architecturally impressive interior spaces in Egypt.
Exterior Inscribed Disc
The massive tilted granite disc exterior inscribed with 120 world scripts — the building's iconic image, visible from the Corniche and reflecting the library's mission of universal knowledge.
Antiquities Museum
A significant collection of artifacts from the Greco-Roman and Islamic periods of Alexandria — complementing the Alexandria National Museum with objects relevant to the library's history and context.
Manuscript Museum
A museum dedicated to manuscript culture across multiple traditions — Arabic, Coptic, Greek, and Hebrew manuscripts displayed alongside restoration laboratory techniques.
Planetarium
A state-of-the-art digital planetarium — appropriate to Alexandria's ancient astronomical tradition, where Eratosthenes calculated the Earth's circumference and Ptolemy wrote the Almagest.
Photo Gallery
Visitor Information
Saturday–Thursday 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM; Friday 12:00 PM – 7:00 PM
⛔ Closed: NeverNo dress restrictions
Photography fee applies
Fully accessible
💡 Visitor Tips
Location & Map
🚕 How to Get There
Located on the Eastern Harbor Corniche in the Chatby district; accessible by tram from Raml Station (Chatby stop, 10 min), by taxi from central Alexandria (10 min), or on foot along the Corniche.
Quick Facts
