Explore Alexandria Egypt: Top Attractions and Landmarks Alexander the Great founded it. Queen Cleopatra lorded over it. Alexandria’s birth and early history is a calling card of famous names. This was the Mediterranean’s dazzling jewel of a city, home to the Great Library of Alexandria and the colossal Pharos Lighthouse — one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. In more recent times, from the late 19th century up until the 1950s, Alexandria was something of a bohemian bad boy, with a glittering cast of writers, poets, and artists who made the city their home.