Once the centre of ancient civilisation, the city named for Alexander the Great now feels thrillingly modern. We step back in time to the 2nd-century AD Catacombs, the largest Roman cemetery in Egypt descending 35m (115 ft) underground and decorated with Pharaonic and Roman art. From serpents and medusas to the city’s National Museum; the Ottoman-Renaissance style royal Montazah Palace and its expansive public gardens; the evocative, soaring Pompey’s Pillar and ruins of the Temple of Serapis; and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, a contemporary nod to the Great Library of antiquity and a centre of scientific excellence and learning.