Cleopatra Palace
Cleopatra Palace is one more piece of Egyptian history covered by water. Once it was the richest part of Alexandria, built on the separate island of Antirhodos. About 1400 years ago the whole island went under water after an earthquake.
The sunken island was explored in late 1990s by expedition launched by Franck Goddio’s, the President of the European Institute of Underwater Archaeology. Leading only by Strabo’s ancient descriptions, archaeologists found the queen Cleopatra’s palace, rich city quarters, temples, military barracks, different artifacts and statues, including 2 sphinxes. Another amazing discovery was finding the ruins of Alexandria’s lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. Now this area is available for divers and there are plans to open there an underwater museum.
