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Alexandrian lighthouse, built on Pharos, is an ancient skyscraper, the like of which could only be created after 16 centuries. Due to its unprecedented height of more than 100 m, it is considered one of.

Alexandria Lighthouse - observation outpost

In 332 BC. at the mouth of the Nile River, on a spit flowing into the Mediterranean Sea, Alexander the Great founded the capital of his empire in Egypt and called it Alexandria. The prudent conqueror chose the place so that it would be a convenient harbor at the crossroads of waterways, invulnerable from land and not lack water in the arid African climate.

The desert, stretching a thousand miles to the south, a lake and one of the branches of the Nile Delta provided all the conditions for starting the construction of a city.

The seventh wonder of the world is the Faros Lighthouse.

The death of Alexander the Great 9 years later did not allow this project to be carried out during his lifetime. Diadochus (military leader) Ptolemy I, as a result of the division of the giant power, strengthened himself in Egypt and realized the plans of the Macedonian.

The founder of a family that ruled in Egypt for about 300 years, a descendant of a Greek aristocrat, a comrade-in-arms of the famous commander, an intelligent and careful ruler, managed to bury Alexander in his home, thereby placing his kingdom in a special position compared to other parts of the collapsed empire.

The last representative of this dynasty, Cleopatra, committed suicide in Alexandria after the news of the death of Mark Antony and the defeat of the Egyptian troops by Roman legionnaires.

Having invested considerable funds, he turned this settlement into a cultural center of civilization, where outstanding philosophers, poets, mathematicians, and sculptors such as Euclid, Heron, and Konstantinos Kafavis lived and worked.

The Library of Alexandria and the Museum appeared during the reign of the Ptolemies (co-ruler of Ptolemy I was his son).

Commercial ships from three continents dropped their anchors in the waters of Alexandria. The Egyptian fleet was dominant in the Mediterranean. A reliable port was required, which was what the capital was supposed to become.

The sea routes to Alexandria passed close to dangerous reefs, so the construction of a lighthouse was necessary. In addition, to protect against attacks from the sea, an observation outpost was needed, since the flat nature of the terrain did not allow the enemy to be seen from afar.

Alexandrian lighthouse.

Construction of the Alexandria Lighthouse

The lighthouse of Alexandria was built in a short time, in just 5 years (approximately 285 - 280 BC) and stood for almost ten centuries.

Such a short schedule is explained by the favorable circumstances that developed during this period: sufficient financial and labor resources and non-aggression agreements concluded by Ptolemy with his enemies.

According to the testimony of the ancient Greek historian Pliny the Elder, 800 talents were spent on the Pharos lighthouse.

The coast on which Alexandria was founded had no natural shelter, so a dam and a pier were built to create an artificial bay.

The dam served three functions:

• divided the water area into sea and river,
• prevented siltation of the bottom,
• It was used for supplies during further maintenance of the Alexandria lighthouse.

The pier protected the port complex from storms and hurricanes.

On the eastern rocky coast of Pharos, on a massive granite base with sides 180 by 130 meters, a three-tier fortress was erected with a total height, according to various estimates, from 110 to 180 meters, surrounded by a fortress wall.

The materials for construction were granite and limestone, lined with marble.

• The first tier was a structure approximately the height of a 20-story building, with a square base with a perimeter of 120 meters, oriented to the cardinal points.

On its flat roof stood four towers and statues of Tritons (mythical half-humans, half-fish, who with the movement of their tail pacified or raised waves).

Inside the first floor there was a garrison guarding the Alexandria Lighthouse and service personnel, as well as the necessary equipment and supplies of food and water in case of a siege.

• The second, forty-meter tier was an octagonal prism oriented in the direction of the winds. Inside this floor, supposedly, there was a ramp along which the fuel was raised to the upper tier.

According to legend, on the second tier there were extraordinary statues: one always pointed to the sun with its hand and lowered it when it set; the other is the wind direction; the third is the time of day.

• The last tier of 8 ten-meter columns, covered with a dome, formed a lantern, inside of which a fire burned at night and smoke poured out during the day.

On the roof of the Faros lighthouse, facing the sea, stood a seven-meter bronze statue of Poseidon, the ancient Greek god of the seas and oceans.

The flame of the giant fire was kept alive by tarred wood around the clock, warning sailors about shoals, reefs and showing the way to the harbor. In fog and rain with poor visibility, the sound of a trumpet notified approaching ships about the proximity of a reliable pier.

Faros lighthouse.

In the Lighthouse of Alexandria, a system of mirrors (made of polished metal plates) was used for the first time, enhancing the glow of the fire and creating a directed beam visible over a hundred kilometers. It was so bright that in the darkness it looked like the radiance of a star and sometimes knocked sailors off course as they made their way, guided by the starry sky. The genius of the engineers there remained in the name of the modern optical device: headlight.

Upon completion of the work, this grandiose creation was immediately classified as a wonder of the world.

The Alexandria Lighthouse was designed and built by the architect and builder Sostratus of Cnidia. Pride in his creation forced him to carve his own name on the foundation stones in order to preserve it for future generations. The inscription said that he, Sostratus of Cnidus, dedicated the lighthouse to the savior gods for the glory of sailors.

But the monarch demanded that he be immortalized. The resourceful architect covered the message he had drawn with mortar and wrote “Ptolemy I Soter” on top. Years passed, the plaster fell away, revealing to everyone the real creator of the miracle.

Decline of the Alexandria Lighthouse

The Faros lighthouse was a symbol of Alexandria. It was admired, minted on money, decorated with vases and jugs, and made as souvenirs.

By the 12th century. the structure fell into disrepair, ships no longer came here due to silting and shifting trade routes. The parts were melted down into small banknotes.

In the XIV century. new tremors finally destroyed the masterpiece of culture and architecture. On its ruins, Sultan Qait Bey built a bastion, which has survived to this day.

Now this fortification is a naval base.

Divers found the remains of masonry, partially submerged after seismic activity. This was the reason for a small sensation picked up by the press.

Since 2015, the Cairo administration has been considering the possibility of reconstructing the Alexandria Lighthouse.

The first (lower) tier of the lighthouse with a square base resembled a fortress or castle with towers installed in the corners. The towers were oriented to the cardinal points. The height of the tier reached approximately sixty meters. The flat roof of the lower tier served as the basis for the second tier. Statues of tritons were also installed on the roof here. Inside the first tier there was a garrison guarding the lighthouse and maintenance personnel, as well as the necessary equipment and supplies of water and food in case of a siege.

II (middle) tier

The second (middle) tier with an octagonal base rose another forty meters. A ramp was presumably built inside the second tier, along which fuel for the signal fire was raised to the third (upper) tier.

III (upper) tier

On the third cylindrical tier, columns were installed to support the dome of the lighthouse. On the site among the columns a signal fire was lit. The light of the signal light was reflected and amplified by a whole system of polished bronze plates.

A huge golden statue of Poseidon was installed on the dome of the lighthouse. It seemed that Poseidon guarded Faros lighthouse, peering intently into their sea expanses.

Tower on Foros, salvation for the Greeks,

Sostratus Dexifanov,

The architect from Knidus erected

O Lord Proteus!

Posidippus .

Now we'll move to the delta Nila to see the seventh wonder of the world. But finding the seventh wonder of the world is a hopeless task. Lighthouse on the island Foros near Alexandria has long since disappeared without a trace.

The French call a lighthouse “ phare ", Spaniards and Italians " faro ", Greeks "Pharos", English " pharos".

During his conquest of the world, he not only destroyed cities, but also built them. He founded Alexandria near Issy, Alexandria Troad, Alexandria near the Tigris (later Antioch), Alexandria Bactrian, Alexandria Armenian, Alexandria Caucasian, Alexandria" on the edge of the world " and many others. In 332 BC. he founded Alexandria Egypt - the capital of the Hellenic world of Egypt. Previously, on the site of this Alexandria there was an old fishing settlement Rakotis. This is where I came from Memphis one day in the spring Alexander the Great together with its military leaders, historians, zoologists, botanists and dancers. Came here among these people Deinocrat- an architect known to us for Ephesus And Rhodes, he accompanied Alexander from Macedonia. In Ephesus, Deinocrates received his first task - to rebuild. But the “great day” of Deinocrates came only when Alexander conquered Egypt.The king saw not far from the island of Foros, next to the ancient Egyptian settlement Rakotis a natural harbor, on the shores of which there was a wonderful place for a port market, surrounded by fertile Egyptian lands and the proximity of the Nile. It was here that the king ordered Deinocrates to build Egyptian Alexandria, ordered and left, returned here 10 years later and in a golden sarcophagus (Alexander's sarcophagus was ordered by his military commander Ptolemy to be placed in the royal palace in Alexandria, in that part of it that was called Sema and where the sarcophagi of all subsequent kings will subsequently stand).
Immediately after Alexander's departure, they began to build the city. After Alexander's death in Babylonia, Alexandria was chosen as his residence by the Macedonian commander Ptolemy, who captured Egypt (first ruling here on behalf of the unborn son of Alexander, and from 305 BC on his own behalf) and founded the last, no longer Egyptian, dynasty of Egyptian pharaohs. And gradually the city became so famous for its grandeur and beauty that under the king Ptolemy X II and his sister Cleopatra(who treacherously tortured her two brothers, Ptolemy X II And X III to free the throne for his son Ptolemy X IV whom she gave birth to Julius Caesar) the Romans wanted to capture it. Over time, the Romans annexed Alexandria along with all of Egypt. Roman Empire.

With the coming of the Macedonian commander Ptolemy to power in Egypt and his establishment in Alexandria, the capital of the last Egyptian kingdom, as well as the capital of the entire Hellenistic world, the era of ancient culture began, which is commonly called Alexandrian. The heyday of this culture, which is a synthesis of Greek culture with the culture of the eastern peoples, occurred during the reign of the first three Ptolemies: Ptolemy ISotera(323-285 BC), Ptolemy IIPhiladelphia(285 – 246 BC) and Ptolemy IIIEvergeta(246 – 221 BC) Descendants of the Macedonian courtier Laga gained enormous power over millions of people. They were real pharaohs. Of course, they fought bloody wars with other heirs of the Great Alexander, but they also made a great contribution to the development of Hellenic culture. For example: Ptolemy I was one of those few rulers who understand that science brings the same glory as war and is also cheaper and less risky. It was under their dominance that two great structures were created.

In 308 BC, under Ptolemy I was opened here Alexandria musseion(“Temple of the Muses”) is one of the main scientific and cultural centers of the ancient world, and with it the no less famous Library of Alexandria, which contained almost 700 thousand volumes of Greek and oriental books (most of the books of which were acquired under Ptolemy II Philadelphia). During the musseion, scientists lived and worked, supported by the state. Ptolemy I Sauter himself was the author “The Campaigns of Alexander the Great”. Ptolemy's generosity attracted not only scientists to Alexandria, but also artists, sculptors, and poets. The Ptolemies made Alexandria a world scientific center.

The second magnificent building of the Ptolemies is the lighthouse on the islandPharos. He described it to us Straboin the seventeenth volume of his“Geographies”. This skyscraper of the ancient world was built on a rock in the middle of the sea and, in addition to its practical functions, it served as a symbol of the state.

As Strabo writes, he built it Sostratos from Knida, son Dexifana and “friend of kings” (the first two Ptolemies). Before the lighthouse, Sostratos had already built a “hanging boulevard” on the island of Knidos (a similar hanging structure). It is also known that Sostratus was an experienced diplomat.
The lighthouse of Alexandria stood for about 1,500 years, helping to navigate the Mediterranean "cybernetos", this is what the ancient Greeks called helmsmen. Under the Byzantines, in the 4th century, it was damaged by an earthquake and the fire went out forever. In the 7th century, under the Arabs, this structure served as a day lighthouse. At the end of the 10th century, the lighthouse survived another earthquake and what remained of it was fourth part. In the middle of the 13th century, it was no longer needed as a day lighthouse: the shore was so close to the island that the Ptolemaic harbors turned into a sand quarry. And already at the beginning of the 14th century, the population began to dismantle it for building materials, just like the Roman one in its time The Colosseum. And the destruction of the lighthouse was completed by an earthquake in 1326. Today, the island of Faros is completely united with the mainland, moreover, its outline has completely changed and therefore the place where the lighthouse stood today has not yet been identified. The lighthouse on the island of Foros, the tallest lighthouse in the world, disappeared without a trace.

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The Alexandria Lighthouse, which stood on the eastern shore of the island of Pharos, is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World. In the distant past, the city harbor of Alexandria was shallow and rocky, so in order to protect ships from harm, a stone lighthouse was built on the approach to the city. The first and only Pharos or Alexandria lighthouse on Greek soil was built by Sostratus of Knidos. Construction began in 283 BC. e. and lasted only 5 years. In the time of Ptolemy, the lighthouse erected was higher than the tallest pyramid. For its construction, Sostratus of Cnidus used all the latest inventions and achievements of Alexandrian scientists. He immortalized his name on the marble wall of the majestic structure. The inscription read: “Sostratus, son of Dexiphanes of Cnidus, dedicated to the savior gods for the sake of sailors,” he buried it under a layer of plaster, on top of which he wrote praises to King Ptolemy Soter. But time put everything in its place and the world learned the true name of the architect and builder of one of the wonders of the world, after a thin layer of plaster fell off the wall. The lighthouse was a grandiose three-tiered structure, 120 meters high. Its lower floor had four faces facing the parts of the world (north, east, west and south), the eight faces of the second tier had the directions of the eight main winds, the top third floor was a lighthouse dome with a majestic seven-meter statue of Poseidon.

One of the statues that adorned the lighthouse tower showed the time of day with the direction of her hand, so during the solstice in the sky she held her hand up, as if pointing to the sun; after sunset, sailors could see the statue with her hand down. Another statue chimed every hour day and night, another indicated the direction of the blowing wind. Scientists came up with a complex system of metal mirrors for the lighthouse, which helped to amplify the light of the fire so that sailors could see it from afar. All this is unique and fantastic for that time period. It is not for nothing that the Lighthouse of Alexandria was included in one of the seven wonders of the world. The territory of the lighthouse was surrounded by a fortress wall, behind which there was an entire military garrison.

The lighthouse regularly performed its duties until the 14th century. With the fall of the Roman Empire, it ceased to shine. Having stood for 1,500 years, the lighthouse survived severe earthquakes and the effects of natural forces in the form of wind and rain. During this long period, enormous even for a stone, it began to collapse. Its fire went out forever, unable to withstand the earthquake (IV century). The upper tower, which had decayed over centuries, collapsed, but the walls of the lower floor still stood for a long time.

Even when it was half destroyed, its height was about 30 m. In the middle of the 13th century, the mainland came very close to the island and the lighthouse was no longer needed at all. At the beginning of the 14th century, it was dismantled into stones, and a medieval Turkish fortress was built on its ruins, which still stands on the site of the world's first lighthouse.

Currently, only the base of the lighthouse has been preserved, which is entirely built into the medieval fortress. In 1962, in coastal waters, at a depth of 7 m, scuba divers discovered the remains of the Alexandria lighthouse. A cracked column and the famous statue of Poseidon, which crowned the dome of the lighthouse, were raised from the bottom of the sea.