Pompey's Pillar

Pompey's Pillar towers 27 metres over the ruins of the Serapeum, a single shaft of polished red Aswan granite that is the tallest ancient column of its kind still standing. Despite the name given by later travellers, it was actually raised around 297 AD to honour the emperor Diocletian.

Around its base sprawl the remains of Alexandria's great temple of Serapis, once home to part of the legendary library, along with sphinxes and underground galleries you can explore. It's a compact but atmospheric slice of the city's Greco-Roman heyday.

Combine it easily with the nearby Kom el-Shoqafa catacombs for a half-day of ancient Alexandria.