The Greek Community of Egypt: A Heritage Guide

Greeks lived in Egypt for centuries, and Alexandria held one of the largest Greek communities outside Greece. A guide to that history and what remains today.

Greeks have lived in Egypt since antiquity, and from the nineteenth century to the 1950s Alexandria held one of the largest Greek communities outside Greece. Greek merchants, cotton traders, grocers, tobacconists and confectioners shaped the city's commercial and café life. A smaller community remains, along with churches, schools and businesses like Délices.

Ancient roots

Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC and ruled by the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty for three centuries. The Library and the Lighthouse made it a capital of the Greek-speaking world. Greek presence in Egypt never entirely disappeared after that.

The modern community

Under Muhammad Ali and his successors in the nineteenth century, Greeks arrived in large numbers. They were prominent in the cotton trade, banking, and shops of every kind. The community built schools, hospitals and churches, and the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria remains an important institution.

Literature and memory

The poet Constantine Cavafy, born in Alexandria in 1863, lived most of his life in the city, and his apartment is now a museum. His poems are among the best-known portraits of Greek Alexandria.

Departure and continuity

After the Second World War and especially following the 1950s and 1960s, many Greeks left Egypt as economic and political conditions changed. Those who stayed kept institutions alive. Délices, established in 1922 by Greek confectioner Cleovoulos Moustakas, who had been trading in Alexandria since 1907, is still owned by the same family.

The poet's city, the merchant's city, and still a café on Saad Zaghloul Street.

Taste the heritage

Greek coffee, baklava and galaktoboureko at Délices are a small, edible part of that story.

Visit Délices

Come to 46 Saad Zaghloul Street, Raml Station, open daily 8 AM – 1 AM, or call +20 3 486 1432 to order ahead.