In the middle of Alexandra is an unassuming stone building, almost covered in grass — beneath which is the huge underground necropolis of the Catacomb of Shouqafa.

Alexandria was the site of the ancient Mousieon, a temple of the muses, which was the center of learning and arts. Under Ptolemy I Soter, the schools here were built, and under his son, Ptolemy II, the great library was built.