Pompey's Pillar Tour

Pompey's Pillar is a soaring red granite column, nearly 27 metres tall, erected for the Roman emperor Diocletian — despite its name, it has nothing to do with the Roman general Pompey; medieval travellers simply misattributed it. It's one of the largest ancient monolithic columns still standing anywhere in the world.

The site around the pillar includes the remains of the Serapeum, a once-major temple complex, along with a scattering of sphinxes and underground passages that hint at how significant this location was in Roman-era Alexandria.

A relatively quick, easy stop that's usually combined with the nearby Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa for a fuller half-day of Graeco-Roman sites.