Pharos in Alexandria is one of the structures of the Ancient World, which Antipater of Sidon mentioned in his famous list of "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World". The lighthouse was built at the beginning of the 3rd century BC: construction began by Ptolemy Soter, ruler of Egypt, after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC.

The scale of the project of the lighthouse and its actual construction were impressive. Legends say that the light from it was visible from the sea for more than 50 km.

Alexandria

Pharos (the so-called Alexandria lighthouse) was built on the island of the same name, located in the harbor of the future Alexandria. When Alexander the Great arrived in Egypt in 332 BC. BC, Pharos was a shrine and home to Proteus, the god of the sea. When Alexander and his troops captured Memphis (the capital of ancient Egypt) and won, the Egyptian people were delighted and accepted him as their pharaoh.

When Alexander and his troops explored the new territory, they discovered the small fishing village of Rakotis. Its strategic location (on the coast) caught the attention of Alexander and he announced that there should be built new capital: Alexandria.

Huge and rich, this city in the future will become a stronghold for the development of all types of arts and will preserve its memory in world history as the place where the oldest and largest library was created.

The new coastal was stretched horizontally in terms of geography, like the rest of Egypt. The state did not have any reference points that could help ships navigate the sea.

Thus, the decision to build a lighthouse was linked to the needs of the sailors. Later, the Lighthouse of Alexandria will perform a protective, defensive function.

Lighthouse project

The Alexandria Lighthouse was designed by the Greek architect Sostratus of Cnidus. It was built of light colored stone that was reinforced with molten lead. This technology made it possible to protect the walls of the structure from violent sea waves.

The lighthouse consisted of three parts: the lower (square level) provided reliable support for the entire structure, an octagonal pillar rose in the middle of the lighthouse, and the upper level was a circular structure. A mirror was installed at the top of the lighthouse, which reflected the light of the sun during the day, and at night a fire was lit on the lighthouse.

Although many researchers refute this myth due to technological limitations, recent experiments have shown that fires could indeed have happened: the reflective abilities of the mirror would be enough.

Pharos in Alexandria existed unchanged until the earthquakes that occurred in 1303 and 1323. AD After natural disasters, only fragments remained from the legendary lighthouse.

In 1994, a group of archaeologists discovered the remains of the Alexandria Lighthouse in the harbor. The building materials left over from the destroyed Pharos were used in the construction of the Qite Bay Fort, which has survived from the 15th century. AD to this day.

Interesting facts about the Alexandria lighthouse

The construction of the lighthouse cost the ruler of Egypt 800 talents. Translated into modern money, this is about three million dollars.

The height of the lighthouse was about 137 meters.

The lighthouse in Alexandria ranks third in the list of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World that have survived to this day. The first place is the Great Pyramids of Giza, the second is the mausoleum at Halicarnassus.

He repeatedly mentioned the Lighthouse of Alexandria in his writings.
Today the lighthouse is used as a symbol on the coat of arms and flag of the city of Alexandria.

Just one of the seven wonders the ancient world had a practical purpose -. It performed several functions at once: it allowed ships to approach the harbor without any problems, and the observation post, located at the top of the unique structure, made it possible to follow the water expanses and notice the enemy in time.

Locals claimed that the light of the Alexandria lighthouse burned enemy ships even before they approached the coast, and if they managed to approach the coast, the statue of Poseidon, located on the dome of an amazing design, emitted a shrill warning cry.

Lighthouse of Alexandria: a short description for the report

The height of the old lighthouse was 140 meters - much higher than the surrounding buildings. In ancient times, buildings did not exceed three floors and against their background Pharos lighthouse seemed huge. Moreover, at the time of completion of construction, it turned out to be the most tall building of the ancient world and was such for an extremely long time.

The Alexandria lighthouse was built on east coast the small island of Pharos, located near Alexandria - the main seaport Egypt, built by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. He is also known in history as.

He is one of the most famous wonders of the ancient world, along with, and.
The great commander chose the place for the construction of the city very carefully: he initially planned to build a port in this region, which would be an important trade center.

It was extremely important that the Alexandria lighthouse was located at the intersection of both water and land routes of the three parts of the world - Africa, Europe and Asia. For the same reason, at least two harbors had to be built here: one for ships arriving from Mediterranean Sea and the other for those who sailed along the Nile.

Therefore Alexandria was not built in the Nile Delta, but a little to the side, twenty miles to the south. When choosing a place for the city, Alexander took into account the location of future harbors, while paying special attention to their strengthening and protection: it was very important to do everything so that the waters of the Nile did not clog them with sand and silt (especially for this, a dam was subsequently built connecting the continent with an island).

After the death of Alexander the Great (who, according to legend, was born on the day of destruction), the city fell under the rule of Ptolemy I Soter - and as a result of skillful management it turned into a successful and prosperous port city, and the construction of one of the seven wonders of the world significantly increased its wealth.

Lighthouse of Alexandria on the island of Pharos: purpose

The Alexandria lighthouse made it possible for ships to swim into the port without any problems, successfully bypassing pitfalls, shallows and other obstacles of the bay. Thanks to this, after the erection of one of the seven wonders, the volume of trade of light increased dramatically.

The lighthouse also served as an additional reference point for sailors: the landscape of the Egyptian coast is quite diverse - mostly only lowlands and plains. Therefore, the signal lights at the entrance to the harbor were very useful.

A lower structure would have successfully coped with this role, so the engineers assigned another important function to the Alexandria lighthouse - the role of an observation post: the enemies usually attacked from the sea, since the country was well defended by the desert from the land side.

It was also necessary to establish such an observation post at the lighthouse because there were no natural hills near the city where this could be done.

Construction of the Alexandria lighthouse

Such a large-scale construction required enormous resources. Moreover, not only financial and labor, but also intellectual. Ptolemy I solved this problem rather quickly. It was at that time that he conquered Syria, enslaved the Jews and took them to Egypt. Later he used some of them to build a lighthouse.
It was at this time (in 299 BC) that he entered into a truce with Demetrius Poliorketus, the ruler of Macedonia (his father was Antigonus, the worst enemy of Ptolemy, who died in 301 BC).

Thus, a truce, a huge amount of labor and other favorable circumstances gave him the opportunity to begin construction of a grandiose wonder of the world. Although the exact date for the start of construction work has not yet been determined, researchers are convinced that this happened sometime between 285/299. BC NS.

The presence of a dam, built earlier and connecting the island to the continent, greatly facilitated the task.

The construction of the Alexandria lighthouse was entrusted to the master Sostratus of Cnidia. Ptolemy wished that only his name be inscribed on the building, indicating that it was he who created this magnificent wonder of the world.

But Sostratus was so proud of his work that he first engraved his name in stone. And then he put a very thick layer of plaster on it, on which he wrote the name of the Egyptian ruler. Over time, the plaster crumbled, and the world saw the signature of the architect.

What the Pharos lighthouse looked like

There is no exact information about how exactly one of the seven wonders of the world looked, but some data is still available:

So that the fire could be seen from a great distance, a whole system of polished metal mirrors was installed near it, reflecting and amplifying the light of the fire. He, according to contemporaries, was visible even at a distance of 60 km;

There are several versions of how the fuel was lifted to the top of the lighthouse. The adherents of the first theory believe that a shaft was located between the second and third tiers, where a lifting mechanism was installed, with the help of which fuel for the fire was lifted upward.

As for the second, it implies that the site on which the signal light was burning could be accessed by spiral staircase along the walls of the structure, and this staircase was so flat that loaded donkeys carrying fuel to the top of the lighthouse could easily climb up the building.

Lighthouse of Alexandria: wreck

Served since 283 BC. until the 15th century, when a fortress was erected instead. Thus, he survived more than one dynasty of Egyptian rulers, saw Roman legionaries. This did not particularly affect his fate: whoever ruled Alexandria, everyone took care that the unique structure stood as long as possible. They restored the parts of the building that were destroyed due to frequent earthquakes, renovated the facade, which was negatively affected by wind and salty sea water.

Time has done its job: the lighthouse stopped working in 365, when one of the strongest earthquakes in the Mediterranean caused a tsunami that flooded part of the city, and the death toll of Egyptians, according to chroniclers, exceeded 50 thousand inhabitants.

After this event, the lighthouse significantly decreased in size, but it stood for quite a long time - until the XIV century, until the next strongest earthquake wiped it off the face of the earth (a hundred years later, the Sultan Kait-bey built a fortress on its foundation, which can be seen and these days). After that, they remained the only ancient wonder of the world that has survived to this day.

In the mid-90s. The remains of the Alexandria lighthouse were discovered at the bottom of the bay with the help of a satellite, and after a while, scientists, using computer modeling, were able to more or less restore the image of a unique structure.

Alexandrian lighthouse

In 285 BC. NS. the island was connected to the shore by an artificial dam about 750 meters long. The construction of the lighthouse was entrusted to the famous architect Sostratus of Cnidus. He enthusiastically set to work, and five years later the three-story tower, about 120 meters high, was completed. The first floor in the form of a square was built of large slabs. Its walls, about 30.5 meters long, were facing the four cardinal directions - north, east, south and west. The second floor was an octahedral tower faced with marble slabs and oriented in the direction of the eight main winds. A round lantern on the third floor was crowned with a dome, on which stood a seven-meter bronze statue of the god of the seas, Poseidon.

Alexandrian lighthouse.

Alexandrian lighthouse

In 332-331. BC. Tsar Alexander the Great in the Nile Delta founded Alexandria, which became the capital of Hellenistic Egypt. The city was remarkable because it was built according to a single plan. The richest quarters were Brucheyon - a quarter of palaces, gardens, parks and royal tombs. There was also the tomb of Alexander the Great, whose body was brought from Babylon, where he died in 323 BC. The fame of Alexandria was also greatly facilitated by the world-famous Museion (temple of the muses) - a place for scientific studies and an educational refuge for scientists who worked in various branches of science. Museion became the center of scientific life in the brilliant Egyptian capital, something like an academy of sciences.

Lighthouse of Alexandria on the island of Pharos

Mathematics and mechanics developed especially successfully in Alexandria. Here lived and worked such outstanding scientists as the mathematician Euclid, who outlined the foundations of geometry in his work "Elements", and the inventor Heron of Alexandria, much ahead of his time. He created various automata and built a device, in fact, a real steam engine.

Sometimes the creations of scientists amazed the imagination of their contemporaries. One of these miracles was Alexandrian lighthouse... It was built on a cliff overlooking the eastern coast of the island of Pharos. Due to shoals, pitfalls, sediments and sediments at the bottom of the sea, ships passed to the harbors of Alexandria very carefully.

The height of the Alexandria lighthouse

The first floor in the form of a square was built of large slabs. Its walls, about 30.5 meters long, were facing the four cardinal directions - north, east, south and west.
The second floor was an octahedral tower faced with marble slabs and oriented in the direction of the eight main winds.
A round lantern on the third floor was crowned with a dome, on which stood a seven-meter bronze statue of the god of the seas, Poseidon.

The dome rested on eight polished granite columns. A lighthouse fire burned here. Its light intensified, reflecting in a system of metal mirrors. The sailors saw him from afar, 60 kilometers away. Fuel for the fire was brought up on donkeys along a gentle spiral staircase.

Some researchers believe that there was an elevator inside the building that lifted firewood and people serving Alexandrian lighthouse.

The lighthouse was at the same time a fortress. There was a large garrison here. In the underground part, the tower in case of a siege, there was a huge cistern for drinking water. Alexandrian lighthouse served also as an observation post - an ingenious system of mirrors made it possible to observe the sea space from the top of the tower and detect enemy ships long before they sailed to the city.

The octagonal tower was decorated with numerous bronze statues that served as weather vane or equipped with various mechanisms. Travelers told miracles about the statues.

One of them seemed to always point her hand at the Sun along the entire path of its movement across the firmament and dropped her hand when it set. The other beat every hour, day and night. It was as if there was such a statue that pointed with its hand to the sea if an enemy fleet appeared on the horizon, and issued a warning cry when the enemy ships approached the harbor.

Alexandria Lighthouse - Wonder of the World

The Pharos lighthouse stood until the XIV century. By 1326, when it was finally destroyed by an earthquake, the height of the lighthouse was no more than 30 meters, that is, a quarter of the original height. But even in this form, this monument of ancient architecture aroused the admiration of Arab authors (in 640, Alexandria was conquered by the Arabs).

The remains of the tower's high pedestal have survived to this day, but they are completely unacceptable for architects and archaeologists, since they turned out to be built into a medieval Arab fortress.

In ancient times, all lighthouses began to be called the word "pharos". The memory of the miracle of construction technology has come down to us in the word "headlight".

The Alexandria Lighthouse is one of the oldest engineering structures of mankind. It was built between 280 and 247 BC. NS. on the island of Pharos, located off the coast ancient city Alexandria (territory of modern Egypt). It is thanks to the name of this island that the lighthouse was also known as Pharos.

The height of this grandiose structure, according to the testimony of various historians, was approximately 120-140 meters. For many centuries, it remained one of the tallest structures on our planet, second only to the pyramids at Giza.

Beginning of construction of the lighthouse

The city of Alexandria, founded by Alexander the Great, was conveniently located at the intersection of numerous trade routes. The city developed rapidly, everything entered its harbor. more ships, and the construction of a lighthouse became an urgent need.

Some historians believe that, in addition to the usual function of ensuring the safety of mariners, the lighthouse could have an adjacent, no less important function. In those days, the rulers of Alexandria feared a possible attack from the sea, and such a colossal structure as the Alexandria lighthouse could serve as an excellent observation point.

Initially, the lighthouse was not equipped with a complex system of signal lights, it was built several hundred years later. At first, signals to ships were given using smoke from a fire, and therefore the lighthouse was effective only in the daytime.

Unusual design of the Alexandria lighthouse

Such a large-scale construction for those times was a grandiose and very ambitious project. However, the construction of the lighthouse was completed in a very short time - it lasted no more than 20 years.

For the sake of building a lighthouse between the mainland and the island of Pharos, a dam was built in a short time, along which the necessary materials were delivered.

It is simply impossible to tell briefly about the Alexandria lighthouse. The huge structure was built from solid marble blocks, connected to each other for greater strength with lead brackets.

The lower, highest level of the lighthouse was built in the form of a square with a side length of about 30 meters. The corners of the base were designed strictly to the cardinal points. The premises located on the first level were intended for storing the necessary supplies and for the residence of numerous guards and workers of the lighthouse.

A reservoir was built in the underground level, the supply of drinking water of which was supposed to be enough in case of even a prolonged siege of the city.

The second level of the building was made in the shape of an octagon. Its edges were oriented exactly in accordance with the wind rose. It was decorated with unusual bronze statues, some of which were movable.

The third, main level of the lighthouse was built in the shape of a cylinder and was crowned with a large dome on top. The top of the dome was decorated with a bronze sculpture at least 7 meters high. Historians still do not come to a consensus on whether this was an image of the god of the seas, Poseidon, or a statue of Isis-Faria, the patroness of sailors.

How was the third level of the lighthouse arranged?

For that time, the true miracle of the Alexandria lighthouse was a complex system of huge bronze mirrors... The light from the fire, which was constantly burning on the upper platform of the lighthouse, was reflected and amplified many times over by these metal plates. In ancient chronicles, they wrote that the shining light coming from the Alexandria lighthouse was capable of burning enemy ships far out to sea.

Of course, this was an exaggeration of the inexperienced guests of the city who saw it for the first time. ancient miracle light - Lighthouse of Alexandria. Although, in fact, the light of the lighthouse was visible for more than 60 kilometers, and for ancient times this was a huge achievement.

A very interesting engineering solution for that time was the construction of a spiral staircase-ramp inside the lighthouse, along which the necessary firewood and combustible materials were delivered to the upper tier. A huge amount of fuel was required to run smoothly, so carts drawn by mules constantly climbed and descended the inclined stairs.

The architect who built the miracle

During the construction of the lighthouse, the king of Alexandria was Ptolemy I Soter, a talented ruler under whom the city turned into a prosperous Trading port... Having decided to build a lighthouse in the harbor, he invited one of the talented architects of that time, Sostratus of Cnidus, to work.

In ancient times, the only name that could be immortalized on the constructed structure was the name of the ruler. But the architect who erected the lighthouse was very proud of his creation and wanted to preserve for posterity the knowledge of who really was the author of the miracle.

At the risk of incurring the wrath of the ruler, he is on one of the stone walls the first level of the lighthouse was carved with the inscription: "Sostratus of Cnidia, son of Dextiphan, dedicated to the gods-saviors for the sake of sailors." Then the inscription was covered with layers of plaster and already on top of it were carved the prescribed praises to the king.

Several centuries after the construction, pieces of plaster gradually fell off, and an inscription appeared that preserved in stone the name of the person who built one of the seven wonders of the world - the Alexandria lighthouse.

First of its kind

In ancient times in different countries The flames and smoke of bonfires were often used as a warning system or to transmit danger signals, but the Alexandria Lighthouse was the first specialized structure of its kind in the entire world. In Alexandria, it was called Pharos, after the name of the island, and all the lighthouses that were built after him were also called Pharos. This is reflected in our language, where the word "headlight" means a source of directional light.

The ancient description of the Alexandria lighthouse contains information about unusual "living" sculptures, statues, which can be called the first simple automata. They turned, made sounds, performed simple actions. But these were not at all chaotic movements, one of the statues pointed with its hand at the Sun, and when the Sun went down, the hand automatically dropped. A clockwork was mounted in another figure, which marked the beginning of a new hour with a melodic ringing. The third statue was used as a weather vane, showing the direction and strength of the wind.

A brief description of the Alexandria lighthouse, made by his contemporaries, could not convey the secrets of the structure of these statues or an approximate diagram of the ramp through which the fuel was delivered. Most of these secrets are lost forever.

Destruction of the lighthouse

The firelight of this unique structure has guided sailors along the way for centuries. But gradually, during the decline of the Roman Empire, the lighthouse also began to decline. Less and less funds were invested in maintaining it in working order, besides, the harbor of Alexandria gradually became shallower due to the large amount of sand and silt.

In addition, the area where the Alexandria lighthouse was built was seismically active. A series of strong earthquakes caused serious damage to it, and the catastrophe of 1326 finally destroyed the seventh wonder of the world.

Alternative version of destruction

In addition to the theory explaining the decline of the colossal structure due to insufficient funding and natural disasters, there is another interesting hypothesis about the reasons for the destruction of the lighthouse.

According to this theory, the blame was the enormous military importance that the beacon had for the defenders of Egypt. After the country was captured by the Arabs, the Christian countries, and above all the Byzantine Empire, hoped to recapture Egypt from the people. But these plans were greatly hampered by the Arab observation post located at the lighthouse.

Therefore, a rumor was spread that somewhere in the building in ancient times, the treasures of the Ptolemies were hidden. Believing, the Arabs began to dismantle the lighthouse, trying to get to the gold, and in the process damaged the mirror system.

After that, the damaged lighthouse continued to function for another 500 years, gradually decaying. Then it was finally dismantled, and in its place was erected defensive fortress.

Recoverability

The very first attempt to restore the Alexandria lighthouse was made by the Arabs in the XIV century AD. BC, but it turned out to build only a 30-meter semblance of a lighthouse. Then the construction stopped, and only 100 years later, the ruler of Egypt, Kite Bey, built a fortress in its place to protect Alexandria from the sea. At the base of this fortress, part of the foundation of the ancient lighthouse and almost all of its underground structures and a reservoir remained. This fortress still exists today.

Often, enthusiastic historians consider the likelihood of recreating this famous building in its original state. But there is one problem - there is practically no reliable description of the Alexandria lighthouse or its detailed images, on the basis of which it would be possible to accurately reconstruct its appearance.

Touch the history

For the first time, some fragments of the lighthouse were discovered by archaeologists at the bottom of the sea in 1994. Since then, the expedition of the European Institute of Underwater Archeology at the bottom of the harbor has discovered a whole quarter of ancient Alexandria, the existence of which scientists had not previously suspected. Remains of many ancient structures have survived under the water. There is even a hypothesis that one of the found buildings may be the palace of the famous Queen Cleopatra.

The Egyptian government in 2015 approved a large-scale reconstruction of the ancient lighthouse. In the place where it was built in ancient times, it is planned to build a multi-storey copy of the great lighthouse. Interestingly, the project provides for the construction of an underwater glass hall at a depth of 3 meters, so that all amateurs ancient history could see the ruins of the ancient royal quarter.

One of the Seven Wonders of the World is the Lighthouse of Alexandria, a structure built on the island of Pharos in the third century BC. The building is located near the famous Alexandria, in connection with which it was given such a name. Another option could be the phrase "Pharos lighthouse" - from the name of the island on which it is located.

Purpose

The first wonder of the world - the Lighthouse of Alexandria - was originally intended to help lost sailors who want to get to the coast, safely breaking the underwater reefs. At night, the path was illuminated by tongues of flame and signal beams of light emanating from a huge fire, and by day - columns of smoke emanating from a fire located at the very top of this sea tower. The lighthouse of Alexandria served faithfully for almost a thousand years, but was very badly damaged by the earthquake in 796. After this earthquake, five more very powerful and long-term tremors are recorded in history, which finally knocked out this magnificent creation of human hands. Of course, they tried to reconstruct it more than once, but all attempts led only to the fact that a small fortress was left of it, which was built by Sultan Kait-bey in the 15th century. It is this fortress that can be seen today. She is all that remains of this magnificent human creation.

History

Let's delve a little deeper into history and find out how this wonder of the world was built, because it is really exciting and interesting. How many things happened, what features of the construction and its purpose - we will tell you about all this below, do not be too lazy to just read.

Where is the Lighthouse of Alexandria

The lighthouse was built on a small island called Pharos, which is located off the coast of Alexandria in the Mediterranean Sea. The entire history of this lighthouse is originally associated with the name of the great conqueror Alexander the Great. It was he who was the creator of the first wonder of the world - a thing that all mankind is proud of. On this island, Alexander the Great decided to establish big port, which he actually did in 332 BC during his visit to Egypt. The building received two names: the first - in honor of the one who decided to build it, the second - in honor of the name of the island on which it is located. In addition to such a famous lighthouse, the conqueror also decided to build a city of the same name - one of the largest ports in the Mediterranean. It should be noted that in his entire life, Alexander the Great built about eighteen city-states with the name "Alexandria", but it was this one that went down in history and is known to this day. First of all, the city was built, and only then its main attraction. Initially, the construction of the lighthouse was supposed to take 20 years, but that was not the case. The whole process took only 5 years, but despite this, the building saw the world only in 283 BC, after the death of Alexander the Great - during the government of Ptolemy II - the king of Egypt.

Construction features

I decided to approach the construction issue very carefully. According to some sources, he chose the site for the construction of the port for more than two years. The conqueror did not want to create a city in the Nile, for which he found a very good replacement. The construction site was set up twenty miles south, not far from the withered Lake Mareotis. Previously, there was a platform of the Egyptian city of Rakotis, which in turn made the whole process of construction a little easier. The whole benefit of the location was that the port was able to receive ships from both the Mediterranean Sea and the Nile, which was very profitable and diplomatic. This not only increased the profits of the conqueror, but also helped him and his followers build strong bonds with both the merchants and sailors of the time. They managed to create the city during the life of the Macedonian, but the Alexandria lighthouse was the development of the first Soter Ptolemy. It was he who finalized the design and brought it to life.

Alexandrian lighthouse. Photo

Looking at the image, we can see that the lighthouse consists of several "layers". Three large marble towers stand on the foundation of huge stone blocks weighing several hundred thousand tons. The first tower has the shape of a huge rectangle. Inside are rooms for the soldiers and workers of the port. Above was a smaller octagonal tower. The spiral ramp was a transition to the upper cylindrical tower, inside which there was a large fire, which served as a source of light. The entire structure weighed several million thousand tons, excluding the decorations and appliances inside it. Because of this, the soil began to sink, which caused serious problems and required additional reinforcement and construction work.

Start of fire

Despite the fact that the Pharos lighthouse was built during 285 - 283 BC, it began to work only at the beginning of the first century BC. It was then that the entire signaling system was developed, working thanks to the large bronze discs directing the light into the sea. In parallel with this, a composition of gunpowder was invented, which gave off a huge amount of smoke - a way to show the way during the day.

Height and range of outgoing light

The total height of the Alexandria lighthouse is from 120 to 140 meters (the difference is the difference in ground height). Due to this arrangement, the light from the fire was visible at a distance of more than 60 kilometers in bright weather (there is evidence that the light could be seen for 100 kilometers or more in calm weather) and up to 45-50 kilometers during a thunderstorm. The direction of the rays was due to a special arrangement in several rows. The first row was a tetrahedral prism, the height of which reached 60-65 meters, with a square base, an area of 900 square meters. Equipment and everything needed to supply fuel and maintain the "eternal" fire were kept here. The middle part was based on a large flat lid, the corners of which were decorated with large statues Tritonov. This room was an octagonal tower made of white marble 40 meters high. The third part of the lighthouse is built of eight columns, on top of them there is a large dome, which is adorned with a large eight-meter statue of Poseidon made of bronze. Another name for the statue is Zeus the Savior.

"Eternal flame"

Maintaining the fire was a challenging task. More than a ton of fuel was required every day so that the fire could burn with the necessary strength. Wood, which was the main material, was delivered in specially equipped carts along a spiral ramp. The carts were pulling mules, which required more than a hundred for one lift. In order for the light from the fire to spread as far as possible, behind the flame, at the foot of each column, huge bronze sheets were placed, with the help of which the light was directed.

Additional purpose

According to some manuscripts and surviving documents, the Alexandria lighthouse served not only as a source of light for lost sailors. For soldiers, it became an observation post, for scientists - an astronomical observatory. The accounts say what was there a large number of very interesting technical equipment - clocks of all shapes and sizes, weather vane, as well as many astronomical and geographical instruments. Other sources talk about the presence of a huge library and school, which taught elementary disciplines, but this does not have any significant evidence.

Doom

The destruction of the lighthouse occurred not only due to several powerful earthquakes, but also due to the fact that the bay almost ceased to be used, since it was very silted up. After the port became unusable, the bronze plates, with the help of which the light was directed into the sea, were melted down into coins and jewelry. But it wasn't over yet. The complete destruction of the lighthouse occurred in the 15th century during one of the most powerful earthquakes that have ever occurred off the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. After that, the remains were restored several times and served as a fortress, as well as a dwelling for the few inhabitants of the island.

In modern world

Today, the Pharos lighthouse, a photo of which can be found very easily, is one of the few architectural monuments lost in history and time. This is something that is still of interest to both scientists and ordinary people who like centuries-old things, because many events, literary works and scientific discoveries that are important for the entire development of the world are associated with it. Alas, not much is left of the 7 wonders of the world. The Alexandria lighthouse, or rather only a part of it, is one of those structures that mankind can be proud of. True, all that remains of it is just the lower tier, which served as a warehouse and residence for the military and workers. Thanks to many renovations, the building was not completely destroyed. It was converted into something like a small fortress castle, inside which the remaining inhabitants of the island lived. This is exactly what you can see when visiting the island of Pharos, which is quite popular among tourists. After complete construction and cosmetic repairs, the lighthouse has a more modern look, which makes it a modern building with a long history.

Future plans

The Lighthouse of Alexandria is one of the sites under the protection of UNESCO. Thanks to this, various repairs are carried out annually in order to protect the fortress from destruction. There was even a time when they talked about completely resuming the previous view, but this was never done, because then the lighthouse would have lost the status of one of the wonders of the world. But you must see it if you are really interested in history.

Report of the seven wonders of the world Pharos lighthouse. Alexandria (Pharos) lighthouse - interesting historical facts. Touch the history