The Center organized a lecture entitled “Hajj Ceremony in Lewis Vartema's Views” on Tuesday, 11 February 2014, at 12:00 noon at the BA Auditorium, Main Library.

It was given by Dr. Mohamed Said Omran, Professor of European Medieval History and Civilization, Faculty of Arts, Alexandria University presented the lecture.

The lecture, which was the center’s first activities, tackled the journey of the Italian Traveler Lewis Vartema who traveled from Venice in 1503 to Cairo, Biuret, Tripoli, Aleppo, Damascus (where he learned Arabic), Medina, Mecca, Jeddah, then Jizan, and documented his observations especially the Muslim pilgrimage.