Alexandria - The City of Sciences

S1 E2: In the first episode of the »Metropolis« series, we experienced Athens in its heyday. Now we travel to the veritable heir apparent to the powerful city-state: Alexandria, the Pharaoh City of the Greeks. In the power struggle for dominance in the Mediterranean, the ruling scepter continually passes into new hands. It came to Alexandria in the form of a vision conceived by formidable commander Alexander the Great. A new center of Hellenic culture takes root in Egyptian soil: Alexandria blossoms into a truly cosmopolitan city, home to over a million souls. The famous Pharos lighthouse once stood here, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. We travel back in time in a staged scene and find ourselves right in the midst of its huge bustling construction site. Master builder Krates leans over his drafting plans, in the background we can see the almost-completed Pharos, hundreds of workers hauling massive stone blocks weighing tons. The construction work on one of the seven wonders of the ancient world is the starting point for our journey through the history of Alexandria. Today as well, boomtown Alexandria seems one giant construction site, making it difficult to happen upon testimonials to antiquity. In order to preserve the town’s cultural heritage, the Center for Alexandrian Studies, the Centre d’Etudes Alexandrines – CEA for short – was founded by Dr. Empereur in 1990. The CEA constitutes a special task force. Its mission: Save what can be saved. Wherever backhoes assail ancient grounds, the CEA specialists are right there alongside them. We join forces with these veterans in search of what remains of the former royal city. The dilemma the researchers face becomes apparent at the site of a gigantic excavation. While the foundations for a new shopping center rise in the background, at the edge of the site, we have scientists doggedly sifting through the past centimeter by centimeter.