Demolishing Alexandria’s heritage
Egypt's post-revolutionary instability has contributed to the demolition of Alexandria's historic districts.
ALEXANDRIA, Egypt — The penthouse of a multi-story, brick high-rise erected close to the city center yields up sweeping views across Alexandria’s historic bay and old town. The apartment on Sultan Husayn Street — a leafy boulevard studded with graceful early 20th century apartment buildings — is guarded 24 hours a day by watchmen. Being the tallest in the area, its balcony affords uninterrupted views across Alexandria’s historic downtown: from the eastern harbor’s Ottoman-era fort to the glitzy hotels and patisseries where the city’s multicultural bourgeoisie once frolicked.
With an asking price of just $200,000, this dream penthouse address appears too good to be true.
And perhaps it is: The almost certainly illegal building is one of more than 27,000 to have sprouted in the city since Egypt’s 2011 Revolution overthrew Hosni Mubarak and ushered in an era of instability and void in authority.
“Revolutions are always like this,” said Fouad Taman, an Alexandrian poet and former military prosecutor who claims to have inherited the moniker "the Bard of Alexandria" from celebrated Greek poet Constantine Cavafy, who lived and died there. “They happen and are tumultuous, but then subside into stability. Until that happens, everyone takes advantage to build illegally.”
