Midan Saad Zaghlul

At the centre of this square stands a statue dedicated to an Alexandrine nationalist leader called Saad Zaghlul. On the other side of this monument stands a statue dedicated to Cleopatra. The park that surrounds the statue is one of the busiest squares in Alexandria.

There once used to be the Caesareum here, a temple begun by Cleopatra for her lover Antony. In this temple, completed by her enemy Octavian, Cleopatra committed suicide in 30 BC. In the 4th century AD it became the Christian cathedral of Alexandria. In 1877 the two giant obelisks that used to stand in front of the temple, known as the Cleopatra's needles, were moved to the Thames embankment in London and to the Central Park in New York.

Midan (=square) Saad Zaghlul was the setting of Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria Quartet.

Close to this square you’ll find many coffee houses, cinemas, restaurants and night spots.

Directions: The heart of Alexandria, Down town area & cornich