The Graeco-Roman Museum of Alexandria is one of Egypt's principal museums, the oldest building in Egypt to be architecturally designed for the purpose of preserving and displaying antiquities. Furthermore, it is the only museum fully dedicated to the antiquities and civilization of Egypt during the Greek and Roman eras.
Since 1889, the Italian Giuseppe Botti sought to establish a museum for Alexandria that would protect its antiquities from displacement and destruction. He continued to work on that until the decision to establish the museum was issued on June 1, 1892. The museum began in a modest rented property, and Khedive Abbas Helmy II inaugurated it on 17 October 1892. Giuseppe Botti was its first director.
Since its inception, the museum has sparked a cultural renaissance about interest in the city’s archaeological activities. Discoveries increased, and there became a pressing need for a new spacious building. On September 12, 1894, Nubar Pasha laid the cornerstone for the new museum to be built on land owned and adjacent to the Municipal Council. The new structure was designed by the architects Dietrich and Stenon in a neoclassical style. The construction process took one year, and it was inaugurated again by Khedive Abbas Helmy II on September 26, 1895.