ABSTRACT
Alexandria in the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was a city of many nationalities and many faiths. At the end of the fourteenth century, according to Emmanuel Piloti, each Christian state had its own consul who negotiated for the group of merchants belonging to that state, and oversaw their well-being, their merchandise and their shipping, though men of other nationalities might also come under their jurisdiction. Three of the Tuscan pilgrims, Lionardo Frescobaldi, Giorgio Gucci and Simone Sigoli, wrote independent, lively accounts of the journey for the domestics who served them, as well as for other intending travellers back home. Zaccaria Pagani was astonished at the opulent guest-house - one of the finest in the city - allotted to the ambassador's party. Filippo Pigafetta tells us that the principal gates of the city were guarded, not by armed men, but by Alexandrian citizens who opened and closed them with large wooden keys.
