Name of Object:

Alexandria: The Consuls’ Square Rebuilt

Other name of the Object (second name):

The Consuls' Square in Alexandria (Egypt) rebuilt after being destroyed by a fire in 1882

Name in original language:

Alessandria: Piazza dei consoli ricostruita

Location:

Rome, Italy

Holding Institution:

Italian Geographical Society (SGI)

 About Italian Geographical Society (SGI), Rome

Holding Institution (original language):

Società Geografica Italiana (SGI)

Date of Object:

First years of the 20th century

Description:

The large, rectangular square initially know under the French name “Place des Consuls” (later as Muhammad 'Ali Square), was officially inaugurated in 1860. It was designed by Francesco Mancini, chief engineer of the “Commissione d’ornato” (Board of Works), a committee set up in 1834 by Muhammad 'Ali (ruler of Egypt in 1805-1848), and modelled after similar urban-planning committees already functioning in some Italian cities. In 1872, an equestrian statue of Muhammad 'Ali was erected in the square, which took his name. In July 1882, after anti-foreign rioting in Alexandria, the British fleet heavily bombed the city, causing major destructions to the buildings surrounding the square.

Archival or Bibliographical Reference:

Licurgo Santoni, Alto Egitto e Nubia, Roma, Modes e Mendei, 1905.

Citation of this web page:

Patrizia Pampana, Giulia Barrera "Alexandria: The Consuls’ Square Rebuilt" in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2025.
https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;AWE;it;97;en

Prepared by: Patrizia Pampana, Giulia Barrera
Copyedited by: Anne Dowell

MWNF Working Number: IT1 097