Eastern Harbour of Alexandria

The Eastern Harbour is a roughly semicircular bay on the Mediterranean coast in central Alexandria. It is bounded on the west by the promontory on which the Citadel of Qaitbay stands and on the east by the headland of Silsila. This was the city's ancient port, known in antiquity as the Great Harbour or Portus Magnus.

The royal quarter of the Ptolemies, with its palaces and temples, stood along the shores of this harbour, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria, counted among the wonders of the ancient world, rose at its entrance. Over the centuries, earthquakes, land subsidence and rising sea level submerged large parts of the ancient shoreline. Since the 1990s, underwater archaeological missions working on the harbour floor have recorded quays, columns, statues, sphinxes and stone blocks thought to be remains of the lighthouse.

Today the Alexandria Corniche runs around the harbour, fishing boats and small yachts are moored in its waters, and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina overlooks it from the east. Commercial shipping has long since moved to the Western Harbour.