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FROM THE SQUARE TO NOUZHA.
ROUTE:—Take Nouzha Tram (green trefoil) at the lower end of the
Boulevard Ramleh, just off the Square. The Rond Point Tram (white star)
passes through the Square, but does not go further than the Water
Works—about half-way to Nouzha.
CHIEF POINTS OF INTEREST:—Municipal Gardens; Nouzha and Antoniadis
Gardens.
For the Boulevard Ramleh _see_ Section V. Having traversed it, the tram
bears to the right and passes the Alhambra Theatre, the only one in the
town—not a bad building.—Just beyond the Theatre a road leads left, to
the Cathedral of the _Coptic Catholic Patriarchate_, (p. 212) or Church
of the Resurrection. The building is not remarkable, but of interest to
all who would explore the ecclesiastical ramifications of Alexandria. It
was dedicated in 1902 by the Patriarch Cyril II and endowed by the
Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria, as an inscription by the entrance
(shortly to be removed) states; the alternative date—1618—reckons by the
Coptic Calendar, which begins not with the birth of Christ but with the
persecutions of the 3rd cent. (p. 47). The facade of the church imitates
that of St. John Lateran, Rome. Beyond the church are the British
Consulate and the Egyptian Government Hospital (Section V).
The Tram turns left, along the Rue Sultan Hussein, still popularly known
as the Rue d’Allemagne, and passes between the Menasce Schools (Jewish)
and Cromer Park, a small fenced garden reserved for ladies and
babies.—_Place Said_, a round space in the midst of which is a large
Ptolemaic Column, erected in memory of the retaking of Khartoum, Sept.
2nd, 1898; on each side of the column, statues of the lion-headed
goddess, Sekhet. The native women who sometimes sit in masses in the
Place are professional mourners and await a funeral out of the Egyptian
Government Hospital behind. Roads go from the Place: left, to Mazarita
Station on the Ramleh tram line (Section V); right, to the Rue Rosette.
(Section I).
Left, the _Municipal Gardens_, small but admirably planned; the
designer, M. Monfront, has shown real genius in his treatment of the
area. The gardens follow the line of the Arab Walls (p. 81) and also
cross the course of the old Farkha Canal that once connected the
Mahmoudieh Canal and the sea (p. 152). Both these features have been
utilised; the fortifications have turned into picturesque hillocks or
survive as masses of masonry, which, though of little merit in
themselves, have been cleverly grouped and look mediaeval by moonlight;
while the water of the canal has been preserved in an artificial pool,
the abode of ducks. The gardens should be thoroughly explored. In
them—visible from tram—is a _Statue of Nubar Pasha_, by Puech; the
tarboosh is too large but the general effect dignified; the left hand
rests on a tablet inscribed “La justice est la base de tout
Gouvernment,” and the same maxim appears on the pedestal. Nubar was an
Armenian—a politician whose honesty is variously estimated, though there
is no question as to his ability. He became minister under the Khedive
Ismail (1878) and tried to regulate his finance, also serving under
Tewfik. He was, as his favourite motto suggests, cautious in
temperament. He is buried outside the Armenian Church, (p. 143).
The tram touches the end of the Rue Rosette (Section I) and passes
through the belt of the gardens: they continue on the right, still
following the course of the vanished Arab walls and utilising the
acclivities, and are to be continued still further, as far as the
railway station; they will then form a great horseshoe.—Left are the
Roman Catholic Cemeteries, and in the second of these, at the end of the
main walk, is a fine _Antique Tomb_, which should be seen. It lies in a
hole; great walls of alabaster have fallen and exposed their shining
surfaces. The shrine (Heroon) of Pompey stood near here, and it has been
suggested that this was the actual place where his head was deposited
after his murderers had brought it to Julius Caesar; this is pure
conjecture, but the tomb may well date from the period (B.C. 48) for the
work is very good.—To the right, in the new part of the cemetery are
other ancient tombs, also a cemented shaft with foot holds cut on its
interior.
Almost opposite the entrance to the Cemetery is the War Memorial to
French Soldiers, a truncated obelisk of Carrara marble, designed as a
labour of love in memory of his fallen comrades by Mons. V. Erlanger,
the French architect of Alexandria and unveiled April 23, 1921 by Lord
Allenby.
The scroll facing the main thoroughfare bears the following inscription:
“In memory of French Soldiers fallen during the Great War and
offered by members of the British Community to the French Colony to
Commemorate the glorious deeds of arms, performed by the French
Armies 1914-1918.”
Now the tram turns, right, by the Rosetta Gate Police Station,
surmounted by a turret clock in commemoration of King Edward VII, and
comes to the Rond Point, where are the Waterworks, and up the rise Hadra
Prison; then crosses the railway, the ancient Hadra cemetery (_see_
Museum Room 19) and Hadra village, and reaches its terminus at Nouzha,
close to Nouzha railway station and to the Mahmoudieh Canal.
* * * * *
_Nouzha_ was in Ptolemaic times the suburb of Eleusis. Here lived
Callimachus the poet (p. 30); here (B.C. 168) Popillius the Roman
general checked the King of Syria who was about to seize Alexandria,
and, drawing a circle round him in the sand, obliged him to decide
forthwith between peace and war. Here (A.D. 640), were quartered the
cavalry of Amr (p. 55), before he entered the town.—The Gardens are
across the railway. They have been developed by the Municipality out of
a small park of Ismail’s, and are most beautiful; if one could judge
Alexandria by her gardens one would do nothing but praise. Some are
formalised, others free; those who like pelicans will find them in a
pond to the right; the zoological garden, a bandstand, and a restaurant,
are straight ahead; view from over the top over Lake Hadra towards Abou
el Nawatir (Section V).—Right of the bandstand is an enclosure entered
by payment; this too should be visited as the trees and flowers are
fine; glasshouses also.
Above the pelican pond a small gate leads from the Nouzha Gardens into
the _Antoniadis Gardens_ (entrance charge; varying according to the day
of week). These too belong to the Municipality of Alexandria. They are
full of modern statues, which, though of no merit, make a pleasant
formal effect. The trees and creepers are fine, and there is a beautiful
lawn at the back of the house. Here, until recently, lived the
Antoniadis family, wealthy Greeks.
In the field behind the Antoniadis Gardens is an antique _Tomb_. It is
easiest reached through the back gate, which a gardener will sometimes
unlock; otherwise one must return to the Nouzha Gardens, pass out, and
follow the canal for a little way, finally turning to the left. The tomb
is behind an absurd spiral of rockwork. It is reached down a flight of
steps and the hall is often under water. Same plan as at Anfouchi (p.
126); a sunken hall, out of which three tomb chambers open.
The road beyond the Gardens, along the edge of the Canal, is pretty, and
probably follows the course of the ancient Canal to Canopus, whither the
Alexandrians used to go out in barges, to enjoy themselves and to
worship Serapis. In one place it skirts the waters of Hadra.
The other way (west) the Canal flows into the city (Section II) finally
entering the Harbour.—(For history of the Canal _see_ p. 91).
There is a road direct from Nouzha to Sidi Gaber (Section V) by the side
of the lake. It passes, left, the place where two colossal statues were
discovered: Antony as Osiris, and Cleopatra as Isis: Antony is in the
Museum (Garden Court, p. 120).
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