Marsa Matrouh

Marsa Matrouh is a port city and the capital of Matrouh Governorate in Egypt, 240 kilometres west of Alexandria and 222 kilometres east of Sallum on the main highway from the Nile Delta to the Libyan border, and it is also reached from the south by a highway through the Western Desert toward Siwa Oasis and Bahariya Oasis. As Mersa Matruh it was a major grain port under the Romans and a military base of the British Empire. During World War II several battles were fought around it as the Italo-German Panzer Army Africa tried to capture the port; it fell to the Axis in the Battle of Mersa Matruh and was recaptured after the Second Battle of El Alamein. It is served by Mersa Matruh International Airport, and the city features soft white sand beaches and calm transparent waters. Its climate is a dry-summer hot desert climate, moderated by winds from the Mediterranean Sea.