Pompey's Pillar, Alexandria (must see)

The largest Roman triumphal column constructed outside of the imperial capitals of Rome and Constantinople, Pompey's Pillar is one of the best-known ancient monuments still standing in Alexandria today. The only known free-standing column in Roman Egypt which was not composed of drums, it is one of the largest ancient monoliths and one of the largest monolithic columns ever erected. It is located on Alexandria's ancient acropolis - a modest hill located adjacent to the city's Arab cemetery—and was originally part of a temple colonnade. Including its pedestal, it is 30 meters high; the shaft is of polished red granite, 2.7 meters in diameter at the base, tapering to 2.4 meters at the top. The shaft is 27 meters high made out of a single piece of granite. Pompey's Pillar may have been erected using the same methods that were used to erect the ancient obelisks. The structure was plundered and demolished in the 4th century when a bishop decreed that Paganism must be eradicated. "Pompey's Pillar" is a misnomer, as it has nothing to do with Pompey, having been erected in 293 for Diocletian, possibly in memory of the rebellion of Domitius Domitianus.