Only one of the seven wonders of 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.

The 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.

Alexandrian lighthouse: short description to report

The height of the ancient lighthouse was 140 meters - much higher than the surrounding buildings. In ancient times, buildings did not exceed three floors, and against their background, the 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 the eastern coast of the small island of Pharos, located near Alexandria, Egypt's main seaport, 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 originally 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 Seaand 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 came 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 construction 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 in front of 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 it could be done.

Construction of the Alexandria lighthouse

Such large-scale construction required huge 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 made 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 building 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 it happened sometime between 285/299. BC e.

The presence of a dam, built earlier and connecting the island with 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 raised up.

As for the second, it implies that the site, on which the signal light was burning, could be accessed by a 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: no matter who ruled Alexandria, everyone took care that the unique structure would stand as long as possible. They restored 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 using a satellite, and after a while, scientists, using computer modeling, were able to more or less restore the image of a unique structure.

After the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great, a city was founded, named after him by Alexandria. The city began to actively develop and flourish, and became a major center of maritime trade. Soon there was an urgent need for the construction of the Alexandria lighthouse.

Alexandrian lighthouse. Information and interesting facts

The site for the lighthouse was the island of Pharos, located 1290 meters from Alexandria. The construction of the Pharos lighthouse, which later became the seventh wonder of the world, was led by the architect Sostratus, the son of Dexiphanes of Cnidus.

A dam was built to ensure the supply of building materials to the island. The construction itself was carried out by the standards of the ancient world at lightning speed, it took only six years (285-279 BC). The new building immediately "knocked out" the walls of Babylon from the list of classic wonders of the world, and took pride of place there to this day. The height of the Alexandria lighthouse, according to contemporaries, reached 120 meters. The light projected from the tower of the Lighthouse of Alexandria was visible up to 48 kilometers away.

The lighthouse had three tiers.

The first tier had a square shape with sides of 30.5 meters oriented to the cardinal points. The total height of this tier was 60 meters. The corners of the tier were occupied by statues of tritons. The room itself was intended to accommodate workers and guards, storerooms for fuel and food.

The middle tier of the Pharos lighthouse had an octagonal shape with edges oriented according to the prevailing winds here. The upper part of the tier was decorated with statues, some of which functioned as weather vane.

The upper tier of cylindrical shape played just the role of a lantern. It was surrounded by eight columns, covered with a dome-cone. The top of the dome of the Pharos lighthouse was decorated with a seven-meter statue of Isis-Faria (the patron saint of seafarers). A powerful lamp was projected using a system of concave metal mirrors. There is a long-standing controversy over the delivery of fuel to the top of the Alexandria Lighthouse. Some suggest that the delivery was carried out using hoisting mechanisms along the inner shaft, while others say that the hoisting was carried out using mules along a spiral ramp.

There was also an underground part in the lighthouse, where supplies of drinking water for the garrison were located. It is worth mentioning that the lighthouse also served as a fortress guarding the sea route to Alexandria. The Pharos lighthouse itself was even surrounded by a powerful fence with bastions and loopholes.

In the XIV century, the wonder of the world, the Pharos lighthouse was destroyed by an earthquake. Currently, only images on Roman coins and the remains of ruins testify to the appearance of the seventh wonder of the world. For example, research in 1996 made it possible to find the remains of the Alexandria lighthouse on the seabed.

Lighthouse on roman coins

A hundred years after the destruction in its place, Sultan Qayt-Bey built a fort. And now there are initiators who want to reconstruct the Pharos lighthouse, in the place where it was originally located - on the island of Pharos. But the Egyptian authorities do not want to consider these projects yet, and the Kait Bey fortress continues to guard the place of the former great structure of antiquity.

Fortress Kite Bay

The lighthouse was located on the island of Pharos near the coast of the ancient Egyptian city of Alexandria. The history of the lighthouse is connected with the founding of this city of Ancient Egypt. In fact, the city is not that old compared to other ancient Egyptian cities. It appeared in 332 BC. thanks to the famous conqueror of Ancient Egypt - Alexander the Great.

Alexander the Great very carefully chose the place for the future city. He identified the area of \u200b\u200bsettlement not in the Nile Delta itself, but 20 miles to the south, although it would seem that it is in the Delta that two important waterways intersect: the sea and the Nile River. And yet the city was founded a little away from the Delta so that the waters of the great river would not clog the city's harbor with silt and sand. Alexandria was conceived as the most important shopping center at the intersection of river, sea and land routes of three continents. Such a center was supposed to have its own well-protected harbor.

To equip such a harbor, it was necessary to carry out a number of serious engineering and construction works. The first priority was the construction of a dam connecting the coast to the island of Pharos, as well as the construction of a breakwater to protect the harbor from sand and silt, which the numerous branches of the Nile Delta carry in abundance into the sea.

As a result, the city had two excellent harbors at once. One of them was intended for merchant ships arriving from the Mediterranean Sea, the other received ships sailing along the Nile River.

In 323 BC. Alexander died, and soon after that the city passed into the possession of the new ruler of Egypt - Ptolemy I Soter.

During his reign, Alexandria became a rich and prosperous port city, and the construction of a lighthouse played an important role in this.

The purpose of the lighthouse was to ensure the safety of navigation in coastal waters, and thanks to this, the volume of trade carried out through the port of Alexandria increased. The coast of Egypt is notable for the monotony of the landscape - it is dominated by lowlands and plains, and for a successful sailing sailors always needed an additional landmark: a signal light before entering the harbor of Alexandria. However, this task could be performed by a much lower beacon. Even a lighthouse with a height of 35 m (and this is the height of another Wonder of the World of Antiquity - the Colossus of Rhodes) would be somewhat excessive for these purposes.

Most likely, one of the most important functions of the Alexandria lighthouse was to provide security against attacks from the sea of \u200b\u200bthe capital of the Ptolemaic state. The sea could pose the greatest threat to Egypt, which was naturally defended by the desert from enemy attacks on land.

It was precisely to detect the enemy at a considerable distance from the coast that an observation post of considerable height was required. This was especially true in view of the absence of any natural heights near Alexandria, on which such observation posts could be organized.

The construction of such a grandiose structure required significant intellectual, financial and manpower resources that would have been difficult to attract in a turbulent wartime. However, by the beginning of the 3rd century. BC e. there was a favorable environment for the start of construction. At this time, having assumed the title of king, Ptolemy conquered Syria, taking a huge number of Jews as slaves to Egypt. Other important events were the conclusion of peace between Ptolemy Soter and Demetrius Poliorketes in 299 BC, as well as the death of Ptolemy's worst enemy, Antigonus, and the division of his kingdom between the Diadochi.

It was after 299 BC. and the construction of a lighthouse on the island of Pharos began. It is rather difficult to give the exact date of construction. They are called 290, 285, etc. years BC

Pharos island in 285 BC was connected by a dam with the mainland, which greatly facilitated the construction work.

The lighthouse on Pharos was completely unlike most modern structures of this type - thin single towers. It looked more like a futuristic skyscraper.

To this day, no precise information has been preserved about the size and design of the Alexandria Lighthouse.

The height of the lighthouse ranged from 120 to 180 m. It was a three-tiered tower, the walls of which were composed of marble blocks fastened with mortar mixed with lead.

The base of the lighthouse had a powerful foundation in the form of a square made of granite or limestone with a side length of about 180 - 190 m. On this site there was a palace or a fortress with four towers at the corners. This lowest tier of the lighthouse resembled a massive parallelepiped. Along its walls, there was an inclined entrance, along which a horse-drawn carriage could climb up.

The second tier was erected in the form of an octagonal tower, and the third tier of the Alexandria lighthouse resembled a cylinder topped with a dome resting on columns. At the top of the dome, a huge statue of the god Poseidon, the ruler of the seas, proudly looked at the world. A fire burned on the landing below him. There is evidence that the ships could see the light of this lighthouse at a distance of sixty, or even a hundred kilometers.

Inside the two upper floors, there was a shaft with a lifting mechanism that made it possible to deliver fuel for a fire to the very top.

A spiral staircase led along the walls to the top of the lighthouse, along which attendants and visitors climbed to the platform, where a signal light was burning. There was a massive concave mirror, most likely made of polished metal. It was supposed to reflect and enhance the light of the fire. According to sources, the bright reflected light at night showed ships the way to the harbor, and in the daytime a huge smoke column, visible from afar, rose up instead of it.

The Alexandria lighthouse was immediately recognized as one of the seven wonders of the world after the completion of construction, becoming an object of admiration for the entire ancient world. Its silhouette was depicted on vessels, minted on coins, cast and carved in the form of souvenir figurines for Greek and Roman travelers. The lighthouse became the symbol of Alexandria. Strabo and Pliny the Elder described the lighthouse in enthusiastic tones.

For almost 1000 years, the Alexandria lighthouse pointed the way to ships. Earthquakes destroyed it little by little. In 1183, he still towered on the island, this year the traveler Ibn Jabar visited Alexandria. The grandiose structure shocked him so much that he exclaimed: "No description can convey all its beauty, there is not enough eyes to look around it, and there are not enough words to tell about the greatness of this sight!" By the 12th century, the Bay of Alexandria was so filled with silt that ships could no longer use it. The lighthouse has fallen into disrepair. In the XIV century, it was completely destroyed by an earthquake. In 1480, the Mamluk Sultan Kayt Bey built a fortress on the foundation of the lighthouse, which received the name of its creator. This fortress stands to this day.

about the lighthouse of Alexandria

The lighthouse was erected in the city of Alexandria, founded by Alexander the Great. The great commander founded at least 17 cities with the same name at various ends of his immense empire. Almost all of these cities disappeared without a trace. And only Egyptian Alexandria flourished for centuries and continues to thrive to this day.

The lighthouse was created by the architect Sostratus from Knidia. Ptolemy II, who inherited the throne after his father Ptolemy Soter, wished that only his royal name be engraved on the stones, and that he was honored as the creator of the Alexandria lighthouse. Sostratus, proud of his creation, found a way to perpetuate his name. He knocked out the following inscription on the stone wall: "Sostratus, son of Dexiphon, a Cnidian, dedicated to the savior gods for the health of the sailors!", Then covered this inscription with a layer of plaster, and on top he wrote the name of Ptolemy. Centuries passed, and the plaster crumbled, revealing to the world the name of the true builder of the lighthouse.

The Lighthouse of Alexandria - the seventh wonder of the world - is actually the eighth wonder. The walls of Babylon were considered the second wonder of the world before its construction. When the lighthouse was erected, contemporaries were so amazed by this outstanding structure that the walls of Babylon were simply deleted from the list of the Seven Wonders of the World and added the lighthouse to it as the latest, newest miracle.

The news of the Miracle spread all over the world, and the lighthouse was called after the island of Pharos or simply - Pharos. Later, the word "pharos", as a designation for a lighthouse, was fixed in many languages \u200b\u200b(French, Spanish, Romanian).

And in Russian, the word "headlight" comes from him.

The Lighthouse of Alexandria, located on the east coast of Pharos, is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World. In the distant past, the city's harbor of Alexandria was shallow and rocky, so a stone lighthouse was built on the way to the city to protect ships from harm. The first and only Pharos or Alexandrian lighthouse on Greek soil was built by Sostratus of Cnidus. Construction began in 283 BC. e. and lasted only 5 years. During the time of Ptolemy, the erected lighthouse was higher than the highest 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 building. The inscription read: "Sostratus, the son of Dexiphanes of Cnidus, dedicated to the gods-saviors for the sake of sailors", he buried her under a layer of plaster, on top of which they wrote praises to King Ptolemy Soter. But, time put everything in its own place and the world recognized 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 (to the north, east, west and south), eight faces of the second tier had the directions of eight main winds, the uppermost 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 the hand, so during the solstice in the sky she held her hand up, as if pointing to the sun; after sunset, the sailors could see the statue with her hand down. Another statue beat off 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 enhance 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 Alexandria lighthouse was credited to one of the seven wonders of the world. The territory of the lighthouse was surrounded by a fortress wall, behind which there was a whole 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 1500 years, the lighthouse survived the strongest earthquakes and the effects of natural forces, in the form of wind and rain. During this long period, huge even for a stone, it began to collapse. Its fire went out forever, unable to withstand the earthquake (IV century). The upper tower, dilapidated over the 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 XIII century, the mainland came close to the island and the lighthouse was no longer needed. 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.

At present, only the base of the lighthouse has survived, which is entirely built into the medieval fortress. In 1962, in the coastal waters, at a depth of 7 m, scuba divers discovered the remains of the Alexandria lighthouse. From the bottom of the sea, a cracked pillar and the famous statue of Poseidon that crowned the dome of the lighthouse were raised.

The Alexandria lighthouse, which belongs to the seven wonders of the ancient world, has another name - Pharos. It owes the presence of the second name to its location - the island of Pharos, located off the coast of the city of Alexandria, which is located in Egypt.

In turn, Alexandria got its name from the name of the conqueror of the ancient Egyptian lands - Alexander the Great.

He approached the choice of a place for the construction of a new city rather carefully. At first glance, it may seem strange that the area of \u200b\u200bthe settlement was determined by the Macedonian 20 miles from the south of the Nile Delta. If he had arranged it in the delta, the city would have found itself at the intersection of two waterways important for that area.

These roads were both the sea and the Nile River. But the fact that Alexandria was based south of the delta had a weighty justification - in this place the river waters could not clog the harbor with sand and silt harmful to it. Alexander the Great had high hopes for the city under construction. His plans included turning the city into a solid trade center, because he successfully located it at the intersection of land, river and sea routes of communication of several continents. But such a significant city for the country's economy needed a harbor.

For its arrangement, it was required to implement many complex engineering and construction solutions. An important necessity was the construction of a dam that could connect the sea coast with Pharos, and a breakwater to protect the harbor from sand and silt. Thus, Alexandria received two harbors at once. One harbor was to receive merchant ships from the Mediterranean, and the other was to receive ships that came along the Nile.

Alexander the Great's dream of transforming a simple city into a prosperous trade center came true after his death, when Ptolemy I Soter came to power. It was under him that Alexandria became the richest port city, but its harbor was dangerous for seafarers. As both shipping and maritime trade developed continuously, the need for a lighthouse was felt more and more acutely.

The tasks for this structure were as follows - to secure the navigation of ships in coastal waters. And such concern would lead to an increase in sales, since all trade was conducted through the port. But due to the monotonous landscape of the coast, the sailors needed an additional reference point, and they would be quite satisfied with a signal light illuminating the place of the entrance to the harbor. According to historians, Alexander the Great pinned other hopes on the construction of the lighthouse - to ensure the city's safety from the attacks of the Ptolemies, who could attack from the sea. Therefore, to detect enemies who could be at a considerable distance from the coast, a sentry post of impressive size was needed.

Difficulties in the construction of the Alexandria lighthouse

Naturally, the construction of such a solid structure required many resources: financial, labor and intellectual. But it was not easy to find them at that turbulent time for Alexandria. But still, an economically favorable environment for the construction of a lighthouse was due to the fact that Ptolemy, who conquered Syria in the title of tsar, brought countless Jews to his country and made them slaves. Thus, the lack of manpower required for the construction of the lighthouse was made up for. No less important historical events then were the signing of the peace agreement by Ptolemy Soter and Demetrius Poliorketes (299 BC) and the death of Antigonus, the enemy of Ptolemy, whose kingdom was given to the Diadochi.

The construction of the lighthouse began in 285 BC, and all work was directed by the architect Sostratus of Cnidus... Wanting to immortalize his name in history, Sostratus carved an inscription on the marble wall of the lighthouse, indicating that he was building this structure for the sake of sailors. Then he hid it under a layer of plaster, and on it he glorified Tsar Ptolemy. However, fate wished that humanity would recognize the name of the master - gradually the plaster fell off and revealed the secret of the great engineer.

Design features of the Alexandria lighthouse

The Pharos structure, designed to illuminate the harbor, had three tiers, the first of which was represented by a square with sides of 30.5 m. All four sides of the lower square tier were facing all cardinal points. It reached a height of 60 m, and its corners were decorated with statues of tritons. The purpose of this room was to accommodate workers and guards, as well as the arrangement of storerooms for storing supplies of food and fuel.

The middle tier of the Alexandria lighthouse was built in the form of an octagon, the edges of which were oriented towards the direction of the winds. The upper part of this tier was decorated with statues, and some of them were weather vane.

The third tier, made in the form of a cylinder, was a lantern. It was surrounded by 8 columns and covered with a dome-cone. And on top of it they erected a 7-meter statue of Isis-Faria, who was considered the guardian of sailors (some sources claim that it was a sculpture of Poseidon - the king of the seas). Due to the complexity of the metal mirror system, the light of the fire lit at the top of the lighthouse was intensified, and the guards monitored the sea space.

As for the fuel needed to keep the lighthouse in flames, it was delivered along a spiral ramp in carts pulled by mules. A dam was built between the mainland and Pharos to facilitate shipping. If the workers did not do this, the fuel would have to be transported by boat. Subsequently, the dam, reclaimed by the sea, became an isthmus that currently separates the western and eastern harbors.

The Alexandria lighthouse was not only a lamp - it was also a fortified fortress guarding the sea route to the city. Due to the presence of a large military garrison in the building of the lighthouse, an underground part was also provided for supplying drinking water. To enhance security, the entire structure was surrounded by strong walls with watchtowers and loopholes.

In general, the three-tiered lighthouse tower reached a height of 120 m and was considered the tallest structure in the world.... Those travelers who saw such an unusual structure, subsequently enthusiastically described the unusual statues that served as the decoration of the lighthouse tower. One sculpture pointed to the sun with its hand, but lowered it down only when it went beyond the horizon, another served as a clock and hourly reported the current time. And the third sculpture helped to recognize the direction of the wind.

The fate of the Alexandria lighthouse

After standing for almost a thousand years, the Alexandria lighthouse began to collapse. It happened in 796 A.D. due to a powerful earthquake, the upper part of the structure simply collapsed. From the huge 120-meter building of the lighthouse, only ruins remained, but even they reached a height of about 30 m. Somewhat later, the fragments of the lighthouse were useful for the construction of a military fort, which was rebuilt several times. So the Pharos lighthouse turned into the fort of Kite-bey - it got this name in honor of the sultan who built it. Inside the fort is historical Museum, in one of its parts there is a Museum of Marine Biology, and opposite the building of the fort there are Aquariums of the Museum of Hydrobiology.

Plans for the restoration of the Alexandria lighthouse

From the once majestic Alexandria lighthouse, only its plinth remained, but it is completely built into the medieval fortress. Today it is used as the base of the Egyptian navy. The Egyptians plan to carry out work to recreate the lost wonder of the world, and some countries of the European Union wish to join this venture. Italy, France, Greece and Germany plan to include the construction of the lighthouse in a project called "Medistone". Its main tasks are the reconstruction and preservation of African monuments dating back to the Ptolemaic era. Experts estimated the project at $ 40 million - that is how much it will take to build a business center, hotel, diving club, a chain of restaurants and a museum dedicated to the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

The Athenian lighthouse sparkling golden. Alexandria (Pharos) lighthouse - interesting historical facts