Roman Theater, Catacombs, and Greco-Roman Alexandria Tour

Kom el Dikka lies a short walk from the main railway station, in the middle of the modern city. It was a mound of rubble until the early 1960s, when work on a new building uncovered ancient remains, and excavations led by a Polish archaeological mission have continued here for decades.

The best-known find is the small Roman theater, a semicircle of white marble tiers that once seated several hundred people. It is often described as the only Roman theater of its kind found in Egypt. Archaeologists believe it was used as an odeon for music and recitals, or as a meeting hall, in the late Roman period, and the column bases around it show that it was once roofed or partly covered.

Behind it you will see a row of lecture halls, which suggest that Kom el Dikka was a place of teaching in late antiquity. Your guide explains how students and teachers used them.

The rest of the park reveals everyday Roman Alexandria. The Villa of the Birds, a wealthy townhouse of the Roman period, takes its name from a floor mosaic of birds set in square panels, among the finest mosaics found in the city. It is protected by a modern shelter, which may have its own ticket or opening times.

Nearby are the ruins of a large public bath complex, built of red brick, with the furnaces and water channels that heated it, and a cistern that stored the city's water. Walk along the excavated street of the residential quarter and you can trace the outlines of houses and workshops on either side.

Your guide will help you picture the area as a busy neighborhood, with the theater, baths, and schools close together, and explain how archaeologists date each layer of the site.

From Kom el Dikka you drive south to the old quarter of Karmouz. Here, on a rocky hill, stood the Serapeum, the temple of the Greco-Egyptian god Serapis and one of the great sanctuaries of the ancient world.

Its most visible survivor is Pompey's Pillar, a single column of red Aswan granite about 27 meters high. The name is a medieval mistake; the inscription on the base shows it honored the emperor Diocletian around AD 297. Around it are two granite sphinxes, the foundations of the temple, and underground galleries cut into the rock, which your guide will help you interpret.

For this tour the hill is a turning point: from the public life of Kom el Dikka you move to the religion of the Roman city, and then to its tombs.

The day ends a few minutes away, underground. The Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa were cut into the rock in the 2nd century AD and form a multi-level burial complex reached by a spiral staircase around a central shaft.

The main tomb is one of the most remarkable monuments of Roman Egypt. Its facade uses classical columns and Egyptian sun discs, carved serpents guard the entrance, and inside the reliefs show Anubis and other Egyptian gods dressed as Roman soldiers. Look for the banquet hall where families shared funeral meals and the long galleries of shell-topped burial niches. A separate chamber, traditionally called the Hall of Caracalla, held the bones of both people and horses.

Expect cool, damp air and uneven steps. The lowest level is often flooded and closed. Afterward your driver takes you back to your hotel or the cruise port.