Pompey's Pillar

This soaring red granite column, originally erected to honor Roman Emperor Diocletian, stands as a haunting sentinel over Alexandria's western harbor and the ruins of the ancient Serapeum temple complex. Despite its misleading name—locals mistakenly attributed it to Pompey the Great—this 27-meter monument is actually one of Egypt's tallest surviving structures from the Greco-Roman period. Visiting here offers an intimate encounter with monumental history, where you can wander among scattered sphinx statues and feel the weight of centuries in an often-quiet archaeological setting.