Library of Alexandria, Egypt

The Great Library of Alexandria (Library of Alexandria) was built in the early 3rd century BC in Alexandria and was the largest library in antiquity and also the largest science center of its time.
It was founded during the reign of the Egyptian ruler Ptolemy II. Demetrius Falerski and probably Stratton of Lampsack took part in the founding of the library. It is estimated that between 400,000 and 700,000 parchment scrolls were stored in it.
The Ptolemies issued a law requiring ships in the port to be inspected and any manuscripts unknown to the library to be returned. To harm their rival, the Pergamon Library, the Ptolemies banned the export of Nile's papyrus.
A fire in 391 burned down the Great Library of Alexandria, at which time the collection amounted to about 700,000 volumes of books by the greatest thinkers and writers of the ancient world. Mark Antony is thought to have given Cleopatra more than 200,000 scrolls for the library. In the vault, Archimedes invented his water pump, Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the Earth, and Euclid discovered the rules of geometry.
The Great Library of Alexandria was part of the so-called "Museum" - a university and research center, and was, according to researchers, the greatest intellectual work of the Ptolemaic dynasty.
At this place is now the new library, which can store about 5 million volumes and continues the glory of the ancient library. Designed by a Norwegian architect, it is built in the form of a solar disk that sinks into the water. Considered a true masterpiece of 21st century architecture, Alexandria's impressive new library was created in an attempt to revive the original's fame as a scientific center, as it is the largest and most developed library in the Arab world. It was the Library of Alexandria that helped the ancient capital, the Ptolemies, take its place on the world map.