Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Alexandria, Egypt

Open to visitors

The interior is normally open, possibly ticketed.

Strollie cannot guarantee access — always check before you travel.

Opening hours: Su-Th 09:30-17:00, Sa 10:00-14:00

From OpenStreetMap — confirm before travelling

Find out more

Situated on the Mediterranean shore in Alexandria, Egypt, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina is a major library and cultural complex completed in 2002, designed by the Norwegian firm Snøhetta in an expressionist architectural style. Built as a commemoration of the ancient Library of Alexandria, the modern institution boasts a reading room that was the world's largest at the time of construction and offers shelf space for eight million volumes in Egyptian, classical Arabic, English, and French. Beyond its library functions, the complex encompasses a conference center, specialized libraries, multiple museums and art galleries, a planetarium, and a manuscript restoration laboratory. A 2009 donation of 500,000 books from the Bibliothèque nationale de France established it as the sixth-largest Francophone library worldwide.