Attarine Mosque

In 370 AD, the Church of St. Athanasius was built on the site of a Mithraic temple in the northern part of the Canopic street.

In the 7th century, monks began building cells around an ancient church, laying the foundation for a monastery in the area. This initial monastery was destroyed by an earthquake, and was later rebuilt by the wealthy Alexandrian Sabbas, who dedicated it to his patron Saint Sabbas the Sanctified.[2]

The Attarine Mosque looking northwards across the Canopic Way

On November 8, 641 AD, Alexandria fell into Muslim control by the caliph, Umar after a 14-month siege under the leadership of Amr ibn al-As when the Roman Empire surrendered the city and a treaty was signed. Since then, the church was turned into a mosque by the Muslims.

Vivant Denon's drawing of the interior of the mosque showing an octagonal building

In 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte led the French campaign in Egypt and Syria. The Attarine Mosque was once thought by the French to house the Tomb of Alexander the Great. Vivant Denon's drawing of the mosque courtyard depicted a small octagonal building housing a sarcophagus closely resembling the "House of Alexander the Great" which leads to speculations whether this was the tomb of the city's founder. It was realised in the early 20th century that the sarcophagus was made for Nectanebo II.[3][4] This supports its use for Alexander's tomb, because Diodorus 16.51 records that Nectanebo II fled to Ethiopia in about 341BC in the face of a Persian invasion. There is no evidence that he ever returned and the Persians ruled Egypt until Alexander's arrival in 332BC. Therefore this sarcophagus was available to Ptolemy Soter in a new, complete and unused state when he needed to entomb Alexander at Memphis in about 321BC.

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