Kom Al Dikka Alexandria
Kom el Dekka is one of the historical areas of Alexandria and currently follows the central Alexandria neighborhood, on a hill that rises about eight to ten meters above sea level, in an area intermediate between the archaeological tourist areas and the commercial hubs of the city center, an artificial hill formed from the backfilling of buildings that have been demolished and piled on top of each other. this ancient neighborhood is the focus of the archaeological area in Alexandria and is still today full of excavations and antiquities, perhaps including the Tomb of Alexander the Great himself. the area was also used as a cemetery in the Greek, Roman, and Mamluk eras.
Naming
The area was known in ancient times as a bacropolis, i.e. the high place from the city on which temples and religious buildings were erected, similar to the country of Greece, which had the Acropolis. The name of the decking pile in this area dates back to the nineteenth century, when the Alexandrian historian Al-Nuwayri passed by and saw this high earthen Hill, which looks like a (decking) and is the result of the excavation works of Mahmudiyah Hill in the era of Muhammad Ali, where this earthen Hill was made of piles of rolled Earth.
The ancient legend
A very strange legend spread among the ancient people of Alexandria about the Kom el-Dekka neighborhood, one of the most famous neighborhoods of Alexandria, which says that Alexander the Great was sitting on a sofa "colloquially Dekka" made of gold and inlaid with diamonds, rubies, and precious jewels. When he decided to carry out one of his military campaigns abroad, he was afraid of theft on the sofa, so he came to one of the engineers and assigned him to build an underground room in which he put the sofa, and then he killed the engineer who knew the secret, so that there would be no one who knew the location of the sofa other than him, and ordered the whole place to be buried without putting anything in it indicating the location of the buried precious sofa. And Alexander the Great did not return to Alexandria. He died in that foray, which was his last, and the location of the sofa remained unknown, but he became famous as the "Kum of the bench".
Neighborhood planning
The neighborhood of “Kom el Deka” is located in the center of Alexandria, dividing it into two parts, one of which includes the neighborhoods of the upscale downtown area, while the second section includes the Old City neighborhoods. The neighborhood of “Kom Al-Dekka " is characterized by being located on a High Knoll, rising from the streets bounded on all four sides by about 60 meters, which confirms many archaeological studies that say that the neighborhood in its current form sits above a treasure of Antiquities, some of which date back to the Pharaonic era and others to the Greek and Roman eras, while other studies confirm that it stands above one of the most important ancient castles. Many historians of Alexandria in its modern era argue that the area of " Kom el-Dekka “was built in its current form hundreds of years ago on the ruins of an area that includes the graves of several ancient kings, and some even argue that the area includes the cemetery where Alexander the great, the founder of Alexandria, was buried during the reign of the first Ptolemies.
Neighborhood History
Ptolemaic era
When Alexander the Great entered Egypt and went to the present site of the city of Alexandria, there was a small village in this area called Raktos or Raktada, which is the current Kom el-Deka area, and this village was the nucleus of the city of Alexandria.
After the death of Alexander the Great, the Ptolemies were eager to divide the city into three quarters or sections:
Greek (proshum district).
Egyptian (raktos neighborhood, now known as Kom el Dekka)
Jewish (in the Eastern District of the city).
Modern times
In the era of Muhammad Ali, Alexandria was re-planned and the Kom Al-Dekka neighborhood became the center of the circle, its narrow, ascending and descending streets lead to various parts of the city: to the eastern port and the sea, to the main train station, the RAML and Manshiyat neighborhoods, the Latin Quarter, "Muharram Bey" and the commercial and university center of Alexandria. As the days passed, the Kom Al-Dekka neighborhood turned into an area inhabited by a popular majority, which included artisans, people of simple professions, and workers in the palaces of the rich in the surrounding neighborhoods. At the time of the British occupation, the occupation soldiers were afraid to approach that neighborhood "in which the national cause embodies a hot reality that political games cannot justify," so the inside of them was missing, and the outside of them was born. The people of the neighborhood gathered every evening, after they had finished their work, in a small Cafe, and their minds were most preoccupied with political affairs and the evils of Egypt at the hands of the colonialists and their followers, big landlords, merchants, owners of foreign agencies and the influence derived from the British occupation.
antiquities Kom el Dekka
The area of Kom el-Dekka abounds with many monuments of ancient Alexandria.
Roman theater
The Roman theater is one of the monuments of the Roman era and was erected at the beginning of the IV century AD. It is the only Roman Theater in Egypt. This building was discovered by chance, during the removal of dirt for the search for the Tomb of Alexander the Great by the Polish expedition in 1960. Archaeologists called it the Roman theater upon the discovery of the marble steps, but great controversy arose about the function of this archaeological building. Its excavation took about 30 years.
The Polish mission continued its research in partnership with the University of Alexandria until some study halls were discovered next to this Amphitheater in February 2004, and this changed the trend that the Roman amphitheater is a theater; this amphitheater could have been used as a large lecture hall for students, and in celebrations, it was used as a theater.
Bird Villa
The Villa of Birds is the only open Museum of mosaics in Egypt, the villa dates back to the first century AD, approximately the era of Emperor Hadrian (117-138 AD) and this house remained in use until the Byzantine era from the period 450 AD to 550 AD.
![Temple of Esna](https://www.cairotoptours.com/storage/3605/conversions/Temple of Esna "History"-webp.webp "Temple of Esna")
