Downtown and Raml Station

Nowhere is Alexandria's cosmopolitan past more evident than Downtown, where its Italianate buildings house French cafés, Armenian jewelers, and Greek restaurants. Because so few buildings survived the British bombardment in 1882, it is no surprise that what stands today reflects the late-19th-century European city that rose from the rubble of the city's past. There are a few historical and cultural sights Downtown, including the Roman Theater, the Greco-Roman Museum, and the resurrected Great Library and Montazah Gardens, which are a bit of a side trip from the heart of Downtown.