Cistern Al-Nabih

The cistern Al-Nabih , true underground cathedral, from now on is opened to the public thanks to a coincidence and with the will of three personalities: the general Abdel Salam Al-Mahgoub, governor of Alexandria, Zahi Hawass, general secretary of the Supreme council of Egyptian Antiquities, and the archeologist Jean-Yves Emperor.

Alexandria had been called Ville with the thousand cisterns : as of its foundation in 331 av. J. - C., the city had had to mitigate its distance of the river-god the Nile by a subterfuge, the creation of immense underground tanks. At the time of believed of the river, in August - September, a channel connected to the canopic branch of the Nile filled the cisterns. With the urban expansion, the tanks multiplied. Beyond their utility aspect, the cisterns became, during the centuries, of the places of visit for the travellers, come to admire these monumental crypts of which some remained used until in 1896.

Cistern Al-Nabih is one of these underground cathedrals, combining grace and balance with its three stages of interlaced colonnades. Dug under the dynasty toulounide, at the 9th century, in the tender limestone of the basement alexandrine, construction testifies to the harmonious re-employment to columns gréco-Romans or Byzantines. Located under the gardens of Chalalat, in the center of Alexandria, the cistern, restored in the Years 1950, opened to the public forever, in particular because of the difficulty of access. Only a window located on the third floor made it possible to foresee the monument - without the narrow prospect giving the measurement of its splendor. To go further, it was necessary to exploit travelling acrobat a rung and cable ladder.

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