Pompey’s Pillar is a single column of red Aswan granite, almost 27 meters high including its base, standing on a hill in southern Alexandria. It is one of the largest ancient columns ever made, and one of the few Roman monuments still standing in the city.
Pompey’s PillarA misleading name
It has nothing to do with Pompey the Great, the Roman general killed in Egypt in 48 BC. Medieval travelers believed his head was buried at the top. In fact an inscription on the base shows the column was raised in 297 AD in honor of the emperor Diocletian.
The Serapeum
The pillar stands on the site of the Serapeum, the great temple of the god Serapis, which once held part of the famous library of Alexandria. It was destroyed in 391 AD. You can still see granite sphinxes and the underground passages where the library’s scrolls may have been kept.
Visiting
Allow about 30 to 45 minutes. It is close to the Catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa. It is part of our Alexandria day tours from Cairo and our shore excursions from Alexandria port.
