Marina, also Marina El Alamein ( ), ancient ''Leukaspis'' or ''Antiphrae'', is an upscale resort town catering mainly to the

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

ian upper class. It is located on the northern coast of

, with an long beach, about away from

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

, in the

El Alamein El Alamein (, ) is a town in the northern Matrouh Governorate of Egypt. Located on the Mediterranean Sea, it lies west of Alexandria and northwest of Cairo. The town is located on the site of the ancient city Antiphrai which was built by th ...

area.

Archaeological site

The archaeological site of Marina El-Alamein lies about 5 kilometers to the east of the modern town of El-Alamein (96 kilometers west of

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

). It encompasses extensive remains of a harbor city from the

Greco-Roman period The Greco-Roman world , also Greco-Roman civilization, Greco-Roman culture or Greco-Latin culture (spelled Græco-Roman or Graeco-Roman in British English), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and co ...

, which functioned from the 2nd century BC to the 6th century AD. Leukaspis was a large port town, with a population around 15,000. It was probably an important trading center between Egypt and

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

, and appears to have been a major center for Cretian imports. The settlement was destroyed in 365, when an earthquake off the coast of

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

created a

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

. The town was not rebuilt, partially due to the crumbling state of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

. Leukaspis was lost until 1986, when a group of engineers who were building roads in Marina revealed ancient houses and tombs. of surrounding land was designated an archeological area, and excavations began in the 1990s. Prior to the site's discovery, the port area of the settlement was destroyed to make a man-made lagoon for a resort. The area of archaeological investigations and conservation work extends about a kilometer along the sea coast and 550 meters inland. The archaeological and architectural research revealed the layout of the ancient city; several areas were distinguished. In the center lay the main square surrounded by

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

es, as well as Hellenistic and Roman baths and a

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

. The neighboring residential quarters were densely built-up. The port infrastructure (now destroyed) and storerooms were located to the north. A vast

necropolis A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...

and a second (early Christian) basilica were discovered in the southern part of the site. The necropolis functioned from the end of the 2nd century BC to the 4th century AD. It is quite well-preserved and features an extraordinary variety of funerary monuments. Among the several dozen tombs of different form, there are types which had not been found in Egypt before or, if they had, were very badly preserved. In 2010, the Egyptian government started to open up Leukaspis as an open-air museum in mid-September 2010, with the aim to increase tourism to Marina, and nearby

El-Alamein El Alamein (, ) is a town in the northern Matrouh Governorate of Egypt. Located on the Mediterranean Sea, it lies west of Alexandria and northwest of Cairo. The town is located on the site of the ancient city Antiphrai which was built by the ...

and

Taposiris Magna Taposiris Magna, also known as Tapusir Magna, is a city established by Pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphus between 280 and 270 BC. The name means "great tomb of Osiris", which Plutarch identifies with an Egyptian temple in the city. After Alexander t ...

History of research

Salvage excavations organized by the Egyptian Ministry of State for Antiquities began in 1986. From 1988, Polish-Egyptian conservation expeditions, directed by Włodzimierz Bentkowski (1988–1989) and Jarosław Dobrowolski (1990–1993), worked at the site. In 1995, the Conservation Mission started, headed first by Stanisław Medeksza, and then Rafał Czerner from the Faculty of Architecture of the

Wrocław University of Science and Technology Wrocław University of Science and Technology () is a technological university in Wrocław, Poland. With buildings and infrastructures dispersed throughout the city, its main facilities are gathered at a central location near Plac Grunwaldzki ...

. The project is conducted under the auspices of the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw (PCMA UW) in cooperation with the Faculty of Architecture of the Wrocław University of Science and Technology and the Egyptian Ministry of State for Antiquities. Since 1987, the PCMA UW has also carried out archaeological excavations – Wiktor A. Daszewski directed them until 2011. He was succeeded by Krzysztof Jakubiak, who in 2019, after the reframing of the project, became the director of an interdisciplinary project combining conservation and archaeological work.

Tourism

The resort is a gated community only accessible to those who own property inside or have been authorized to enter by a property owner. Spanning almost , this beach resort is split into seven different sections named Marina 1–7. Limestone villas and chalets with landscaped greenery characterize this exclusive part of the Middle East.

Historical overlay

The resort was the site of a bustling

Greco-Roman The Greco-Roman world , also Greco-Roman civilization, Greco-Roman culture or Greco-Latin culture (spelled Græco-Roman or Graeco-Roman in British English), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and co ...

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

two thousand years ago. The area was ruined during that period by a

that resulted from an earthquake that hit

to the northwest. File:Sentinel-2_L1C_image_on_2020-06-18.jpg, Satellite image Image:Marina egypt haddara.jpg, Beach at Marina Image:Limestone chalets.JPG, Limestone chalets in Marina Image:Porto marina 2.JPG, Venetian canals in Porto Marina. Image:Porto Marina 4.JPG, Hotels of Porto Marina. Image:Porto Marina (El Alamein).jpg, Porto Marina. Image:Marina sea bridge.jpg, A Sea bridge in Marina.

References

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External links