Taposiris Magna: Alexandria Travel Guide (4.5★)

A temple on the ridge at Abusir

Taposiris Magna stands on a strip of high ground. Lake Mariout lies to the south and the Mediterranean to the north, and you can see both from the temple walls. The Arabic name for the place, Abusir, is the word drivers recognise.

The temple was built under the early Ptolemies and dedicated to Osiris. Its thick limestone enclosure walls and the stepped pylon at the entrance still stand. Inside, the space is mostly open ground scattered with excavated remains: stone column fragments, wall footings and burial chambers cut into the rock.

Just outside the enclosure is the tower usually called the Abusir lighthouse. It’s a stacked square, octagonal and round structure, and it’s widely thought to echo the lost Pharos of Alexandria. It’s the closest you’ll get to imagining that wonder.

The Cleopatra connection

Archaeologist Kathleen Martínez has been excavating here for years. Her team is looking for the tomb of Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony. Nothing confirmed has turned up, but the dig has produced coins, statue fragments and tunnels under the temple, and those finds keep the site in the news.

Expect some areas to be fenced off or under active work. What’s open to you is the wall circuit, the pylon and the tower. The site is still fairly under the radar compared with Alexandria’s city monuments, so you’ll often share it with only a handful of others.

Getting out to Borg El Arab

There’s no useful public transport, so you’ll need a car. The usual route is west along the International Coastal Road towards Marsa Matruh. Allow roughly an hour from downtown Alexandria, depending on traffic.

• Ride-hail or taxi: easy to get out there. Getting back is harder, so agree on a waiting time with your driver before you set off.
• Pairing: the beach resorts of the North Coast begin just west of here. Borg El Arab Airport is also close, which makes this a good stop on your way in or out.
• Time on site: 1.5–2 hours covers the temple and the tower without rushing.

Google currently lists the site as open 24 hours. In practice the guards and the ticket window keep daytime schedules, so check locally before you plan anything outside daylight.

Walking the walls at Abusir

Timing counts most on weekends. BestTime’s forecast of typical foot traffic puts the busiest stretch at 7am–12pm on Saturdays and Sundays. That’s when Alexandrian families and school groups drive out. Weekend crowds usually thin between 12pm and 3pm.

On weekdays the quietest windows are 4pm–5pm and 6pm–8pm. A late-afternoon weekday visit also means lower sun over the ridge. The ground is open limestone with almost no shade, so bring water and a hat.

• Tickets: pay at the gate. The current price is posted there and on Egypt’s official antiquities ticketing pages.
• Guards: site guards may offer to unlock a section or point out burial shafts. A small tip in Egyptian pounds is the normal thanks, so carry low-value notes.
• Footing: the pylon stairs and wall tops are worn stone with uneven drops, and there are few railings.
• Photos: stand at the tower’s base looking east and you get the temple pylon in the same frame.