The Alexandria lighthouse, which belongs to the seven wonders of the Ancient World, has another name - Pharos. It owes the presence of a 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 need was the construction of a dam that could connect the coast to 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 volumes, since all trade was conducted through the port. But because of 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, an impressive sentry post 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. So the lack of manpower needed for the construction of the lighthouse was made up. No less important historical events then were the signing of the peace agreement by Ptolemy Soter and Demetrius Poliorketus (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 already glorified Tsar Ptolemy. However, fate wanted humanity to 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, intended 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 to equip pantries for storing food and fuel supplies.
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 boats. Subsequently, the dam, washed up 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 up to 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 a 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 there is a historical museum, in one of its parts there is a museum of marine biology, and opposite the building of the fort there are the Aquariums of the Museum of Hydrobiology.
Plans for the restoration of the Alexandria lighthouse
From the once majestic Alexandria lighthouse, only its base has remained, but it is also 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 are planning to include the construction of the lighthouse in a project called "Medistone". Its main tasks are the reconstruction and preservation of African architectural monuments dating back to the Ptolemaic era. Experts have estimated the project at $ 40 million - that is how much it will take to build a business center, a hotel, a diving club, a chain of restaurants and a museum dedicated to the Lighthouse of Alexandria.
Names and naming
Original name (local):
Φάρος της ΑλεξάνδρειαςEnglish name:
Lighthouse Alexandria
Year of commencement of work, reconstruction:
one of the 7 wonders of the world, was built in the 3rd century BC. BC in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, so that ships can safely pass the reefs on their way to the Alexandrian Bay. At night they were helped in this by the reflection of the flames, and during the day - by a column of smoke. It was the first lighthouse in the world, and it stood for almost a thousand years, but in 796 AD. e. was badly damaged by an earthquake. Subsequently, the Arabs who came to Egypt tried to restore it, and by the XIV century. the height of the lighthouse was about 30 m. At the end of the 15th century. Sultan Kayt-bey erected a fortress on the site of the lighthouse, which still stands today.
Started in approximately 283 BC
Coordinates: 31 ° 12′51 ″ s. sh. 29 ° 53′06 ″
- Model (photo and video)
- See the Alexandria (Pharos) lighthouse in the program "I want to believe!
- About the lighthouse in the Ukrainian program
During the time of the first Ptolemies, a lighthouse was built on the island of Pharos. According to the testimony of ancient and medieval authors, it was higher than the highest pyramid. But at the time when Strabo visited him, the lighthouse was no longer very different from other structures. It was half destroyed. Its highest part collapsed, and its fragments lay near the tower, which was covered with a temporary wooden roof, "and several watchmen lived in it."
The construction of lighthouses began in ancient times and this was due, first of all, to the development of navigation. At first, they were just bonfires located on high banks. Then there were artificial structures. The Alexandria Lighthouse was built in 283 BC. e., the construction of this gigantic, for those times, structures lasted only 5 years. But before proceeding with the description of this wonder of the world, you should learn a little about the geography and history of the area where it was built.
Alexandria
Alexandria, founded in 332 BC, is located in the Nile Delta, on the site of the Egyptian town of Rakotis. It was one of the first cities of the Hellenistic era, built according to a single plan. In Alexandria, there was the sarcophagus of Alexander the Great, and here was also the museion - the home of the muses, the center of arts and science. And so an etymological thread is being laid from the muses to the modern word "museum". Museion is both an academy of sciences, a dormitory for scientists, a technical center, a school, and the world's greatest library, which contained up to half a million scrolls. A passionate scribe and a vain man, Tsar Ptolemy II suffered from the fact that the library did not have some of the unique manuscripts of Greek playwrights. He sent an embassy to Athens for the Athenians to borrow scrolls for a while, to copy. Arrogant Athens demanded a fabulous deposit - 15 talents, almost half a ton of silver. Ptolemy accepted the challenge. The silver was delivered to Athens, and it was necessary to reluctantly fulfill the contract. But Ptolemy did not forgive such distrust of his bibliophile inclinations and his word of honor. He left a deposit to the Athenians, and the manuscripts to himself. But that's not the point ...
Alexandria's harbor, perhaps the busiest and busiest in the world, was inconvenient. The port in this harbor was founded by Alexander the Great during a visit to Egypt in 332 BC. e. The city thrived on maritime trade. But by the XII century A.D. e. the bay of Alexandria was so filled with silt that ships could no longer use it. From that time began the period of decline of Alexandria, about which very little is known today ...
Present-day Alexandria has over 2 million inhabitants and stretches for 25 kilometers along a sandy spit that once cut the sea bay, forming a large salt lake. But modern Alexandria has a completely different shape. In the northwest, where an elongated peninsula with a densely populated Arab quarter and the magnificent Abu al-Abbas mosque is now located, in ancient times there was a sea, more precisely, two marinas - the Great Marina and the Marina of Happy Return. From the side of the sea, they were covered by the rocky island of Pharos, which served as a natural breakwater.
History of the building
The Nile carries a lot of silt, and in the shallow waters among stones and shoals, very skillful pilots were required. To secure navigation, it was decided to build a lighthouse on the island of Pharos, on the way to Alexandria. In 285 BC, the island was connected to the mainland by a dam, and the architect Sostratus of Cnidus began work. Construction took only five years: Alexandria was an advanced technical center and the richest city of the then world, at the services of the builders were a huge fleet, quarries and the achievements of the Museion academicians.
This structure, like the pyramids, arose from the sweat and labor of slaves, and during the time of construction the whips of the overseers also whistled. But he had two fundamental differences: firstly, the lighthouse on the island of Foros brought "public benefit", and secondly, in those days when this last miracle of the ancient world was being created, technology reached considerable heights. The Archimedes' screw and pulley block, lifting devices, various construction tools were already known. The main building materials for the lighthouse were limestone, marble, granite. The construction was supervised by the famous Greek architect Sostratus of Cnidus. At the end of the work, he carved the inscription on the stone of the building: "Son of Dexiphanes Sostratus - to the guardian gods, for the good of those who swim." Sostratus covered this inscription with cement and on top marked the name of Ptolemy Soter, who ruled at that time. Sostratus did not hope to live up to the time when the plaster crumbled, and it was not in his interest to find out the reaction of the ruler to this act. After all, having done this, he went to a risky violation of the decrees of the Ptolemies. However, soon the cement crumbled, and everyone saw the first inscription. Possidipus, a contemporary of Sostratus, sang him in poetry that survived the lighthouse and brought to us the name of its creator.
And this name was widely known in the ancient world. Modern scientists have established that there were several structures similar to the "Hanging Gardens" of Babylon, and one of them was the "Hanging Promenade" on the island of Cnidus. Sostratus was its architect and engineer. He is credited with another grandiose structure: during the battles for Memphis, he allegedly diverted the waters of the Nile to capture the city.
Description of the lighthouse
The lighthouse turned out in the form of a three-storey tower 120 meters high (the first and most dangerous "rival" to the Egyptian pyramids). At the base, it was a square with a side of thirty meters, the first sixty-meter floor of the tower was composed of stone slabs and supported a forty-meter octagonal tower, faced with white marble. On the third floor, in a round, pillared tower, a huge bonfire was always burning, reflected by a complex system of mirrors. Firewood for the fire was delivered up a spiral staircase, so flat and wide that donkey carts drove along it to a height of one hundred meters. The tower contained a lot of ingenious technical devices: weather vane, astronomical instruments, watches. However, it is impossible to perceive this description, transmitted to us by one of the ancient inhabitants of Alexandria, as the only true one: each of those whose descriptions have come down to us, nevertheless, tried to somehow embellish what he saw, since the Alexandria lighthouse was truly a grandiose structure for the then world.
Among other descriptions, we meet the following: “The Pharos lighthouse consisted of three marble towers, standing on a base of massive stone blocks. The first tower was rectangular, it contained rooms in which workers and soldiers lived. Above this tower was a smaller, octagonal tower with a spiral ramp leading to the upper tower. " The common features of these two descriptions are visible. As a result, today we can take the following description as the most accurate and truthful one.
The lighthouse was 180 meters high from the base to the top. Such a calculation was made based on the testimony of the historian Flavius \u200b\u200bJosephus. According to other descriptions, its height was only 120 meters. Ibn al-Sayhah (XI century) calls the figure 130-140 meters. According to modern experts, from a purely practical point of view, this height was excessive, even if we take into account that the ancient lighthouses should be higher due to the weakness of their fire. The greatest European lighthouse at the mouth of the Garonne near Bordeaux is 59 meters above sea level. It was built by the Romans, taking the lighthouse on the island of Foros as a model. It remained in its original form until the 16th century, then it was rebuilt. The Cape Hatteras lighthouse is 58 meters high, the Florida coral reef lighthouse is 48 meters high. None of the modern lighthouses reaches the height of Alexandria.
The Ptolemies built this fantastic skyscraper on the cliff for more than just practical purposes. First of all, the lighthouse was a symbol of the power of their empire, a symbol of wealth and greatness, like a light in darkness. This structure had a base in the form of a square with sides of 180-190 meters (other sources give different figures). On this foundation there was a palace with four towers at the corners. A massive quadrangular tower 70-80 meters high rose from its center, which gradually narrowed, ending in battlements. On this tower stood another one, narrower, but also quite high, which ended in a stone platform. On this site, columns stood in a circle, supporting a cone-shaped tower, which was crowned with a statue of the patron saint of the seas, Poseidon, 8 meters high. According to some reports, a statue of Zeus the Savior stood at the top of the tower, and not his brother Poseidon.
At the top of the third tower, a fire was lit in a bulky bronze bowl, the gleam of which, with the help of a complex system of mirrors, could be seen 100 miles away. A shaft ran through the entire lighthouse, around which a ramp and a staircase rose. On a wide and sloping pandos, carts pulled by donkeys drove up to the top of the lighthouse. Fuel for the lighthouse was delivered through the mine.
The high lighthouse also served as an observation post. A sophisticated reflector system was also used to survey the sea, allowing enemy ships to be detected long before they appeared at the coast.
The destruction of the lighthouse
The inscription of Sostratus was seen by Roman travelers. At that time, the lighthouse was still functioning. With the fall of the Roman Empire, it ceased to shine, the upper tower, which had decayed over the centuries, collapsed, but the walls of the lower floor still stood for a long time.
The lighthouse of Alexandria stood for 1500 years, helping to navigate the Mediterranean "cybernetos" (as the ancient Greeks called the pilots). The lighthouse suffered from earthquakes and weathered stone, but during the time of the emperors Claudius and Nero it was restored. Its fire was extinguished forever during an earthquake in the 4th century. During Arab rule in the middle of the 7th century, it served only as a daytime beacon. During the time of the first Mamluk sultans (mid-XIII century), the mainland approached the island so much that the marinas were covered with sand and it was no longer needed as a daytime lighthouse. At the very beginning of the XIV century, it was dismantled into stones, and a medieval Turkish fortress was erected on the ruins of the lighthouse. The bronze plates, which served as mirrors, were probably melted down into coins. This fortress was subsequently rebuilt more than once and still stands on the site of the world's first lighthouse.
In the 1960s, while exploring the coastal waters, an unknown Italian diver descended to a shallow depth near the Sultan's fortress and found two marble columns. During further work, a statue of the goddess Isis of Pharos was raised from the bottom, which once stood in a nearby temple. In 1980, a group of archaeologists discovered the remains of the Pharos lighthouse on the seabed. At the same time, at a depth of 8 meters, the ruins of the palace of the legendary Queen Cleopatra were discovered ...
Fire visibility range:
Description of fire, sign
The height of the structure.
In 332 BC. Alexander the Great founded Alexandria. In 290 BC. ruler Ptolemy I. ordered to build a lighthouse on a small island of Pharos as soon as possible as a symbol of the city and a coastal landmark.
Pharos was located near the coast of Alexandria - it was connected to the mainland by a huge artificial cofferdam (dam), which at the same time was part of the city's harbor. The coast of Egypt is distinguished by the monotony of the landscape - it is dominated by plains and lowlands, and sailors for a successful voyage always needed an additional landmark: a beacon before entering the harbor of Alexandria. Thus, the function of the building on Pharos was determined from the very beginning. Actually, the lighthouse, precisely as a structure with a system of mirrors reflecting sunlight and signal lights at the top, dates back to about the 1st century AD. e., which dates back to the times of Roman rule. However, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, which served as a coastal sign for sailors, was erected in the 4th century BC.
The lighthouse was created by the architect Sostratus from Knidia. Proud of his creation, he wanted to leave his name on the foundation of the structure, but Ptolemy II, who inherited the throne after his father Ptolemy Soter, forbade him to commit this free act. Pharaoh wanted only his royal name to be carved on the stones, and that he was honored as the creator of the Alexandria lighthouse. Sostratus, being an intelligent man, did not argue, but simply found a way to bypass the order of the lord. First, he engraved 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 it with a layer of plaster, and on top he wrote the name of Ptolemy. Centuries passed, and the plaster was covered with cracks and crumbled, revealing to the world the name of the true builder of the lighthouse.
Construction dragged on for 20 years, but as a result, the Alexandria lighthouse became the world's first lighthouse, and the tallest structure of the ancient world, not counting the Great Pyramids at Giza. Soon, the news of the Miracle spread all over the world and the lighthouse began to be called by the name of the island of Pharos or simply - Pharos. After, the word "Faros", as a designation for a lighthouse, was fixed in many languages \u200b\u200b(Spanish, Romanian, French)
In the 10th century, two detailed descriptions of the Alexandria lighthouse were compiled by the travelers Idrisi and Yusuf el-Shaikh. According to them, the height of the building was equal to 300 cubits. Since such a measure of length as "cubit" had different sizes for different peoples, then when translated into modern parameters, the height of the lighthouse ranges from 450 to 600 feet. Although it seems that the first figure is more true. 
The lighthouse on Pharos was not at all like most modern structures of this type - thin single towers, but rather resembled a futuristic skyscraper. It was a three-story (three-tiered) tower, whose walls were built of blocks of marble, fastened with a solution mixed with lead.
The ground floor was over 200 feet high and 100 feet long. Thus, the lowest tier of the lighthouse resembled a massive parallelepiped. Inside, along its walls, there was an inclined entrance, along which a horse-drawn carriage could climb up.
The second tier was built in the form of an octagonal tower, and the upper level of the lighthouse resembled a cylinder, topped with a dome supported by columns. The top of the dome was decorated with a huge statue of the god Poseidon - the ruler of the seas. There was always a fire on the landing under him. It is said that from ships one could see the light of this lighthouse at a distance of 35 miles (56 km).
At the very bottom of the lighthouse there were many service rooms where inventory was kept, and inside the two upper floors there was a mine with a lifting mechanism that allowed delivering fuel for the fire to the very top.
In addition to this mechanism, a spiral staircase led along the walls to the top of the lighthouse, along which visitors and service personnel climbed to the platform, where a signal light was burning. According to sources, a massive concave mirror was installed there, probably made of polished metal. It was used to reflect and amplify the light of a fire. It is said that at night the ships' path to the harbor was indicated by a bright reflected light, and during the day - by a huge column of smoke visible from afar.
Some legends say that the mirror at the Pharos lighthouse could also be used as a weapon: supposedly it was capable of focusing the sun's rays so that it burned enemy ships as soon as they appeared in sight. Other legends say that in it one could see Constantinople on the other side of the sea, using this mirror as a magnifying glass. Both stories seem too far-fetched.
Its fullest description was left by the Arab traveler Abu Haggag Yusuf ibn Mohammed el-Andalussi, who visited Pharos in 1166. His notes read: " The Alexandria Lighthouse is located at the very edge of the island. Its base has a square base, the sides of which are approximately 8.5 meters long, while the north and west sides are washed by the sea. The height of the east and south walls of the basement is 6.5 meters. However, the height of the walls facing the sea is much higher, they are more steep and resemble a steep mountain slope. The stonework of the lighthouse is especially strong here. I must say that the part of the building that I described above is the most modern, since it was here that the masonry was dilapidated most of all and needed to be restored. On the side of the plinth, which faces the sea, there is an ancient inscription, which I cannot read, because the wind and sea waves exuded the stone base, which caused the letters to partially crumble. The size of the letter "A" is a little less than 54 cm. And the upper part of the "M" looks like a large hole in the bottom of a copper boiler. The sizes of the rest of the letters are similar.
The entrance to the lighthouse is located at a considerable height, because an embankment with a length of 183 meters leads to it. It rests on a series of arches, the width of which is so great that my companion, standing under one of them and spreading his arms to the sides, could not touch its walls. There were sixteen arches in total, each larger than the last. The most recent arch is particularly striking in its size.".
How did the world's first lighthouse end up on the bottom of the Mediterranean? Most sources say that the lighthouse, like other structures of antiquity, fell victim to earthquakes. The lighthouse on Pharos stood for 1500 years, but tremors in 365, 956 and 1303 AD. e. seriously damaged it. And the earthquake of 1326 (according to other sources in 1323) completed the destruction.
The story of how much of the lighthouse in 850 was turned into ruins by the intrigues of the emperor of Constantinople seems completely unreliable. Since Alexandria very successfully competed with the aforementioned city, the ruler of Constantinople conceived a cunning plan to destroy the lighthouse on Pharos. He spread rumors that a treasure of fabulous value was hidden under the foundation of this building. When in Cairo the caliph (who at that time was the ruler of Alexandria) heard this rumor, he ordered to demolish the lighthouse in order to find the treasures hidden under it. Only after the gigantic mirror was broken and two tiers had already been destroyed, the Caliph realized that he had been deceived. He tried to restore the building, but his attempts were unsuccessful. Then he rebuilt the surviving first floor of the lighthouse, turning it into a mosque. However, no matter how colorful this story is, it cannot be true. After all, travelers who visited the Pharos lighthouse already in 1115 A.D. e. testify to the fact that even then he still remained whole and unharmed, regularly performing his function.
Thus, the Lighthouse was still on the island when the traveler Ibn Jabar visited Alexandria in 1183. What he saw shocked him so much that he exclaimed: "No description will be able to convey all its beauty, there will not be enough eyes to take a look at it, and there are not enough words to tell about the greatness of this spectacle!"
Two earthquakes in 1303 and 1323 destroyed the lighthouse on Pharos so badly that the Arab traveler Ibn Batuta could no longer get inside this structure. But even these ruins have not survived to this day: in 1480, Sultan Kayt Bey, who ruled Egypt at that time, erected a citadel (fort) on the site of the lighthouse. The remains of the lighthouse masonry were taken for construction. Thus, the lighthouse became part of the medieval fort of Kite Bay. However, the blocks from which the Alexandria Lighthouse was once composed can still be discerned in the stone walls of the fort, thanks to their gigantic size.
Alexandrian lighthouse
| Lighthouse of Alexandria, drawing by archaeologist H. Thiersch (1909) |
|
| Lighthouse name | |
|---|---|
| original name |
Φάρος της Αλεξάνδρειας |
| Location | |
| Coordinates |
31.214167 , 29.885 31 ° 12'51 ″ s. sh. 29 ° 53'06 ″ east etc. / 31.214167 ° N sh. 29.885 ° E etc. (G) (O) |
| Height |
140 meters |
| Acting | |
| Distance |
56 kilometers |
| at Wikimedia Commons | |
Alexandria (Pharos) lighthouse - one of the 7 wonders of the world, was built in the III century BC. e. in the Egyptian city of Alexandria so that ships can safely pass the reefs on their way to the Alexandria Bay. At night, they were helped in this by the reflection of the flames, and during the day - by a column of smoke. It was the first lighthouse in the world, and it stood for almost a thousand years, but in 796 AD. e. was badly damaged by an earthquake. Subsequently, the Arabs who came to Egypt tried to restore it, and by the XIV century. the height of the lighthouse was about 30 m. At the end of the 15th century. Sultan Kayt-bey erected a fortress on the site of the lighthouse, which still stands today.
The lighthouse was built on the small island of Pharos in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Alexandria. This bustling port was founded by Alexander the Great during a visit to Egypt in 332 BC. e. The structure was named after the island. Its construction was supposed to take 20 years, and it was completed around 283 BC. e. , during the reign of Ptolemy II, king of Egypt. The construction of this gigantic structure took only 5 years. Architect - Sostrat of Cnidus.
The Pharos lighthouse consisted of three marble towers, which stood on a base of massive stone blocks. The first tower was rectangular, it contained rooms in which workers and soldiers lived. Above this tower was a smaller, octagonal tower with a spiral ramp leading to the upper tower. The upper tower was shaped like a cylinder in which a fire was burning.
Guide light
The destruction of the lighthouse
In the XIV century, the lighthouse was completely destroyed by an earthquake. A few years later, its fragments were used to build a fortress. The fortress was subsequently rebuilt more than once.
Literature
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
See what "Lighthouse of Alexandria" is in other dictionaries:
Alexandrian lighthouse - Alexandrian lighthouse … Russian spelling dictionary
This article is about the artistic image. For other meanings of the term in the title of the article, see the Pillar of Alexandria. The Pillar of Alexandria is an image used by Alexander Pushkin in the poem "Monument" in 1836 ... Wikipedia
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It can mean: The literary image introduced by Alexander Pushkin in the poem "Monument" The informal name of the Alexander Column, which goes back to this image of the Alexandria Lighthouse, according to a number of Pushkin scholars, was implied by Alexander S. ... ... Wikipedia
Lighthouse - Lighthouse, UK. LIGHTHOUSE, a tower-type structure, usually installed on the shore or in shallow water. Serves as a navigational guide for ships. Equipped with so-called beacon lights, as well as devices for giving sound signals, ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary
LIGHTHOUSE, a tower-type structure, usually installed on the shore or in shallow water. Serves as a navigational guide for ships. Equipped with so-called beacon lights, as well as devices for giving sound signals, radio signals (radio beacon) ... Modern encyclopedia
A tall, tower-like structure, standing on the seashore, on the route of ships to show the way to mariners. A fire is maintained at the top of M. at night. Indicative M. are built in the open sea, on separate small rocks and shallows, and ... ... Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron
A lighthouse, a tower-type structure that serves as a reference point for identifying banks, determining the position of the vessel and warning of navigational hazards. M. are equipped with light-optical systems, as well as other technical means of signaling: ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
Lighthouse of Alexandria (Pharos) - a lighthouse on the island of Pharos near Alexandria in Egypt, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Built in 285,280. BC. Sostratus of Cnidus in order to make the entry of ships into the harbor of Alexandria safe. It was a three-tiered tower ... The ancient world. Reference dictionary.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lighthouse | |
Alexandrian lighthouse |
|
Alexandrian lighthouse, drawing by archaeologist G. Thirsch (1909) |
|
| Country | Egypt |
| Location | Alexandria |
| Beacon height | 140 meters |
| Distance | 50 kilometers |
| Acting | not |
| Alexandrian lighthouse at Wikimedia Commons | |
Alexandrian lighthouse (Pharos lighthouse) is a lighthouse built in the 3rd century BC. e. on the island of Pharos near the Egyptian city of Alexandria, one of the 7 wonders of the world.
Construction history
The lighthouse was built so that ships could safely pass the reefs on their way to the Alexandria Bay. At night, they were helped in this by the reflection of the flames, and during the day - by a column of smoke. The lighthouse stood for almost a thousand years, but in 796 AD. e. was badly damaged by an earthquake. Subsequently, the Arabs who came to Egypt tried to restore it, and by the XIV century. the height of the lighthouse was about 30 m. At the end of the 15th century, Sultan Kayt-Bey erected a fortress on the site of the lighthouse, which still stands today.
The lighthouse was built on the small island of Pharos in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Alexandria. This bustling port was founded by Alexander the Great during a visit to Egypt in 332 BC. e. The structure was named after the island. Its construction was supposed to take 20 years, and it was completed around 283 BC. e. , during the reign of Ptolemy II, king of Egypt. The construction of this gigantic structure took only 5 years. Architect - Sostrat of Cnidus.
The Pharos lighthouse consisted of three marble towers, which stood on a base of massive stone blocks. The first part of the tower was rectangular; it contained rooms where workers and soldiers lived. Above this section was a smaller, octagonal tower with a spiral ramp leading to the top. The upper part of the tower was shaped like a cylinder in which a fire burned.
Guide light
The destruction of the lighthouse
Research
In 1968, under the auspices of UNESCO, the ruins of the lighthouse were examined by the famous underwater archaeologist Honor Frost: much later, in 1997, for this expedition she received the medal "For innovative underwater archeology in Egypt" from the French government.
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Literature
- Shishova I.A., Neikhardt A.A. Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
- ... Peter A. Clayton
Notes
Excerpt from the Alexandria Lighthouse
The battle of Borodino, followed by the occupation of Moscow and the flight of the French, without new battles, is one of the most instructive phenomena in history.
All historians agree that the external activity of states and peoples, in their clashes with each other, is expressed by wars; that directly, as a result of greater or lesser military successes, the political power of states and peoples increases or decreases.
No matter how strange the historical descriptions of how some king or emperor, having quarreled with another emperor or king, gathered an army, fought with the army of the enemy, won a victory, killed three, five, ten thousand people and, as a result, conquered the state and the whole people in several million; no matter how incomprehensible why the defeat of one army, one hundredth of all the forces of the people, forced the people to submit - all the facts of history (as far as we know it) confirm the truth that the greater or lesser successes of the troops of one people against the troops of another people are the reasons or, at least, significant signs of an increase or decrease in the power of peoples. The army won the victory, and immediately the rights of the victorious people increased to the detriment of the vanquished. The army suffered defeat, and immediately, according to the degree of defeat, the people are deprived of their rights, and with the complete defeat of their army, they completely submit.
So it was (in history) from ancient times to the present. All Napoleon's wars serve as confirmation of this rule. According to the degree of defeat of the Austrian troops - Austria is deprived of its rights, and the rights and forces of France increase. The French victory at Jena and Auershtet destroyed the independent existence of Prussia.
But suddenly in 1812 the French won a victory near Moscow, Moscow was taken, and after that, without new battles, it was not Russia that ceased to exist, but the 600,000th army ceased to exist, then Napoleonic France. It is impossible to drag facts onto the rules of history, to say that the battlefield in Borodino remained with the Russians, that after Moscow there were battles that destroyed Napoleon's army, is impossible.
After the Borodino victory of the French, there was not a single not only general, but any significant battle, and the French army ceased to exist. What does it mean? If this were an example from the history of China, we could say that this is not a historical phenomenon (historians' loophole when something does not fit their standard); if the matter concerned a short-lived clash, in which small numbers of troops would participate, we could take this phenomenon as an exception; but this event took place in front of our fathers, for whom the question of the life and death of the fatherland was being decided, and this war was the greatest of all known wars ...
The period of the 1812 campaign, from the Battle of Borodino to the expulsion of the French, proved that a won battle is not only not a cause of conquest, but not even a permanent sign of conquest; proved that the power that decides the fate of peoples lies not in the conquerors, even in armies and battles, but in something else.
French historians, describing the position of the French army before leaving Moscow, argue that everything in the Grand Army was in order, except for cavalry, artillery and carts, and there was no fodder for horses and cattle. Nothing could help this disaster, because the surrounding peasants burned their hay and did not give it to the French.
The won battle did not bring the usual results, because the peasants Karp and Vlas, who, after the French performance, came to Moscow with carts to plunder the city and generally did not show heroic feelings personally, and all countless such peasants did not bring hay to Moscow for good money, which they offered, but burned him.
Let us imagine two people who went out to a duel with swords in accordance with all the rules of the art of fencing: fencing continued for quite a long time; suddenly one of the opponents, feeling himself wounded - realizing that this was not a joke, but about his life, threw his sword and, taking the first club he came across, began to turn it around. But let us imagine that the enemy, who so reasonably used the best and simplest means to achieve the goal, at the same time inspired by the legends of chivalry, would want to hide the essence of the matter and insist that he, according to all the rules of art, won with swords. One can imagine what confusion and ambiguity would arise from such a description of the fight that took place.
The swordsman who demanded a fight according to the rules of the art were the French; his opponent, who threw down his sword and raised a club, were Russians; people trying to explain everything according to the rules of fencing are the historians who wrote about this event.
Since the fire of Smolensk, a war began, which does not fit any previous legends of wars. The burning of cities and villages, the retreat after the battles, the blow of Borodin and again the retreat, the abandonment and fire of Moscow, the capture of marauders, the transfer of transports, the guerrilla war — all these were deviations from the rules.
