Alexandria: A History and a GuideForster, E. M. (Edward Morgan)
History
Alexandria: A History and a Guide
Forster, E. M. (Edward Morgan)
Alexandria (Egypt) -- Guidebooks; Alexandria (Egypt) -- History
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.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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