Quick answer
Kom el-Dikka is an excavated quarter of Roman and late Roman Alexandria in the city centre, with Egypt's only known Roman theatre, a row of lecture halls from an ancient university, public baths and the Villa of the Birds, a house with fine mosaic floors. It takes about an hour to see properly.
What is Kom el-Dikka?
It is a city block of late Roman Alexandria, uncovered when a hill of rubble in the centre was cleared for building in the 1960s, and excavated ever since, mostly by archaeologists from the University of Warsaw's Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology. Below the rubble they found something rare in a city that has been continuously built over for 2,300 years: whole streets of public buildings, houses and workshops. The name means "mound of rubble" in Arabic.
Most of what you see dates from the 4th to the 7th centuries AD, when Alexandria was a Christian city and still one of the great centres of learning in the eastern Mediterranean, with some earlier Roman houses beneath.
Is it a theatre or an odeon?
It is a small, horseshoe-shaped theatre with about a dozen tiers of white marble seats, often called the only Roman theatre found in Egypt; it may originally have been roofed, as an odeon for music and recitals. It seated several hundred people. Look for Greek letters and numbers carved on some of the seats, which may have been seat markers, and the remains of columns from the portico that stood behind the top row.
In its later life the building seems to have been used for public meetings and gatherings rather than plays. Sit in the upper tiers, and the acoustics still carry a voice from the stage clearly. It is used for occasional concerts and events today.
What were the lecture halls?
Along the street east of the theatre, archaeologists found about 20 rectangular halls with tiered stone benches on three sides and a raised seat for the teacher, the best evidence yet discovered of a late antique university. Dating from about the 5th and 6th centuries AD, they could each hold perhaps 20 to 30 students. Alexandria was then famous for teaching medicine, philosophy and rhetoric, and these rooms are where some of that teaching probably happened. Few visitors notice them, but they are arguably the most important find on the site. Walk slowly along the row: in several halls the benches are still in place, and you can picture students arguing over Aristotle or Galen while carts rattled along the street outside. The complex sat close to the city's main colonnaded street, at the heart of what was then one of the largest cities of the Byzantine empire, until the Arab conquest of the 640s. Our guide to Roman Egypt explains the city's role in that period.
What can you see in the Villa of the Birds?
It is the remains of a wealthy townhouse of the 2nd century AD whose floors have well-preserved mosaics, the best known being a panel of birds including a peacock, pigeons and a parrot. A protective building covers the villa, and visitors look down onto the floors from walkways. Other rooms show geometric patterns and a panther. The villa was destroyed by fire, probably in the 3rd century, which helped seal the floors. Access has sometimes required a separate ticket, so ask at the entrance.
What else is on the site?
Large Roman baths with brick-vaulted service rooms, cisterns, workshops and an open-air display of statues and sphinxes recovered from the harbour seabed. The underwater finds come from the area around the Citadel of Qaitbay and the Eastern Harbour and include granite sphinxes and parts of colossal statues. Labels are limited, so a guide adds a great deal here.
The bath complex is large by the standards of Roman Egypt. You can see the brick furnaces and channels that heated the water, and the cisterns that stored it, probably filled from the canal that brought Nile water to the city. Around the edges are the remains of houses and workshops, some with mosaic floors and wall plaster still visible, giving a sense of an ordinary neighbourhood rather than a monument.
Practical tips for visiting
Allow an hour, wear comfortable shoes and avoid the middle of a summer day, as there is little shade. The site is in the city centre, a few minutes' walk from Misr Station and about 10 minutes by car from the Corniche, so it is easy to slot between the catacombs and lunch. Ground surfaces are uneven, with some steps. Buy tickets at the gate and check prices on egymonuments.gov.eg. It is visited on the Alexandria day of our Christian Egypt tour, and we can add it to any private itinerary through our trip planner.
Kom el-Dikka Roman Theatre: FAQs
Is Kom el-Dikka the only Roman theatre in Egypt?
It is usually described as the only Roman theatre so far found in Egypt, although it is small and may have been a roofed odeon rather than an open-air theatre.
How old is the Kom el-Dikka theatre?
Its present form is generally dated to the late Roman period, around the 4th century AD, though the site was used from earlier Roman times.
What is the Villa of the Birds?
A 2nd-century AD house on the site with fine mosaic floors, the most famous showing birds such as a peacock and pigeons. It is covered by a protective shelter.
How long do I need at Kom el-Dikka?
About an hour to see the theatre, lecture halls, baths and the Villa of the Birds.
