Alexandria — Dr. Thomas Faucher, Head of the Centre for Alexandrian Studies (CEAlex) and a member of The Alexandria Project’s Friends of the Project Expert Network, presented Alexandria’s underwater archaeological heritage to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and French President Emmanuel Macron during their visit to Qaitbay Citadel.

During their tour of the historic citadel, Presidents El-Sisi and Macron received a presentation on underwater archaeological excavations connected to the remains of the ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria — the Pharos, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

The presentation was delivered by Dr. Faucher alongside Mohamed El-Sayed, Senior Inspector at the General Administration of Underwater Antiquities at Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. The two experts presented discoveries and archaeological treasures recovered from different periods of Alexandria’s history through underwater excavation missions.

The occasion placed Alexandria’s extraordinary submerged heritage — and the decades of archaeological research devoted to understanding it — before the leaders of Egypt and France.

For The Alexandria Project, it was particularly meaningful to see Dr. Faucher, a valued member of our Friends of the Project Expert Network, sharing this work on such a significant international stage.

Our Friends of the Project network brings together leading archaeologists, historians, researchers and specialists whose knowledge and scholarship contribute to the wider understanding of ancient Alexandria and help inform the intellectual landscape surrounding our work.

The presidential visit offered a powerful reminder of why that work matters. Beneath Alexandria’s waters lies an archaeological landscape of global importance — one that continues to reveal new chapters of the city’s history through research, exploration and international scientific collaboration.

We congratulate Dr. Faucher and his colleagues on this important moment for Alexandria’s underwater archaeology and its visibility on the world stage.