Marsa Matrouh - Egypt

Mersa Matruh (Arabic مرسى مطروح, Marsā Maṭrūḥ) is a Mediterranean seaport in Egypt. It is 240 km (149 miles) west of Alexandria and 222 km from Sallum, on the main highway from the Nile Delta to the Libyan border. Another highway leads south from the town, toward the Western Desert and the oases of Siwa and Bahariya. During Ancient Egyptian times and during the reign of Alexander The Great, the city was known as Amunia. In Ptolemaic and Byzantine times it was known as Paraitonion (Παραιτόνιον), and in Roman times, as Paraetonium.
Marsa Matruh is a main Egyptian tourist city, and serves as a getaway resort for Europeans and Cairenes eager to flee the capital in the sweltering summer months. It is served by Mersa Matruh Airport. The city is known for its white soft sands and calm transparent waters; the bay is protected from the high seas by a series of rocks forming a natural breakwater, with a small opening to allow light vessels in.

The Beaches of Mersa

Mersa Matrouh is 524 km from Cairo, 290 km west of Alexandria, and 222 km from Sallum. Its claim to fame is its breath-taking, 7 km long Mediterranean beach. Visitors proclaim this beach to be among the most beautiful in the world. The beach is not only acclaimed for its soft, white sands and crystal-clear waters, but for the natural bay in which it resides. A series of rocks form a wall that protects the bay from the open sea, but with a narrow passage that permits the entry of light vessels.

This beach was originally known as "Paraetonium" (as well as "Amunia"), and dates back to the days of Alexander. It is reported that Alexander the Great paused there at Siwa to pay tribute and make a sacrifice to the god Amun, facilitating his claim of being Amun's son. Thereafter his rule becomes a historical continuation of the pharaohs.

At Matrouh you will also find the ruins of a temple from the time of Rameses II (1200 BC).

The Second Battle of El Alamein marked a major turning point in the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. The battle lasted from 23 October to 5 November 1942. The First Battle of El Alamein had stalled the Axis advance. Thereafter, Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery took command of the British Eighth Army from General Claude Auchinleck in August 1942.
The Allied victory turned the tide in the North African Campaign. It ended Axis hopes of occupying Egypt, taking control of the Suez Canal, and gaining access to the Middle Eastern oil fields.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_El_Alamein

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• matrouh
• Bernard
• Montgomery
• Erwin
• Rommel
• Alamein
• Egypt

[ChipsALaChocolat]

absolutely stunning.

[ahmedmoataz96]

i will visit it n ext week

[meedomado]

very very nice