The man who changed Alexandria was Mohammed Ali, who declared Egypt as an autonomous state under the Ottoman sovereignty and modernized the city. When he took the power this was a city with no more than 8,000 inhabitants, and when he died the city had more than 60,000. He built a canal to bring water from the Nile, he designed the city center (Mansheya), he rebuilt the Western harbor and he signed peace treaties with British and Americans. Although some historians consider him just another despotic dictator, the true is that during his reign Egypt experienced a renaissance age.
The construction of the Suez canal (1867), after the death of Mohammed Ali, would be the spark that would awaken the sleeping ancient city. In 1882, the British occupied Egypt, after a local revolt against the foreign intervention in the local affairs. The British stayed in this county for 70 years.