Known since antiquity, the cisterns of Alexandria long attracted the admiration of dozens of voyagers. There were said to hundreds of them, creating indeed a true underground city. However, by the beginning of the 1990s, only one sole example could be visited. The Centre d’Etudes Alexandrines then set about the task of rediscovering these cisterns, using documentation from the Graeco-Roman Museum, the memories of elderly Alexandrians, and on site research during salvage excavations. Tens of these monuments have now been inventoried and some of them closely studied. The next step is restoration and presentation to the public. This film offers a visit to the most beautiful of the town’s cisterns along with the history of their development.

a film by Raymond COLLET Production : CNRS (USR 3134) - Centre d’Etudes Alexandrines 13 minutes - © 2009 - CNRS / CEAlex Distribution : Harpocrates Publishing - 9, rue Sesostris, Attarine, Alexandrie, Egypte • camera : Raymond COLLET, Vincent DUMENIL, André PELLE • editing : Raymond COLLET • drawings antic Alexandria : Jean-Claude GOLVIN • photos : Francis CHOËL, Raymond COLLET, Stéphane COMPOINT, Jean- Yves EMPEREUR, Isabelle HAIRY, Félix NADAR • drawings : Achille ADRIAN, Norman de GARIS DAVIS, George PINWELL, Edmond POTTIER • narration : Colin CLEMENT, Renee GIAN • music : Ferdinand CARULLI - LOEILLET • thanks to : Aude QUERRÉ, Oueded SENNOUNE, Cécile SHAALAN, Ahmed RASHWAN, Lycée Français du Caire

CEAlex 13’ MA13EN