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{{User.Mail}} {{User.EmailUtente}}Continent: Africa
Country: Egyptian Republic
Capital: Cairo
Geographical position: 240 km west of Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast
Currency: Egyptian Lira (EGP)
Official language: Arabic. English is fluently spoken
Time difference with Italy: +1 hour in winter and from March until the last Thursday of September
International phone code: 0020 46 and then the local phone number
Document for entry: passport or Identity Card, for travels in an organized group, along with two recent passport-size photographs
Electricity: 220 V
Marsa Matrouh is the major centre in Egypt close to the Libyan border. In ancient times it was visited by Alexander the Great, on his travels to reach the oracle of Amon in Siwa, and by the historical couple Cleopatra and Mark Antony. During WW II the entire region was involved in some of the most significant military events that saw the army of the Axis Italy-Germany, led by the German General Rommel who was also known as the Desert Fox, face the English forces. Subsequently it has become a renowned tourist and sea destination for the Egyptians and, since 2005, also for the Italians, thanks above all to the opening of three holiday resorts, among which the Villaggio Bravo run by Alpitourworld in the nearby bay of Almaza, which means “pearl” in Arabic.
The Military Museum, Cleopatra’s beach, the Museum and the Italian, German and Allied Forces’ shrines at El Alamein, the oasis of Siwa.
The Ptolemaic and Byzantine name of Marsa Matrhou was Paraitonion while the ancient Romans called it Paraetonium. As in all Arab Countries, the weekly holiday at Marsa Matrhou is Friday.