Lighthouse of Alexandria in our time. Lighthouse of Alexandria: a short description for the report

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 Brucheion - 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 a variety of machines 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

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.

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 of 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, which 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, 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 on the territory of 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 ​​the 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 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 sailing from the Mediterranean, and the other - ships that came along the Nile River.

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 sailors. 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 carried out 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, an impressive outpost 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 nevertheless, an economically favorable environment for the construction of a lighthouse was due to the fact that Ptolemy, who conquered Syria in the title of king, 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 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 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 its top 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 on fire, 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, 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 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. Of the huge 120-meter building of the lighthouse, only ruins remained, but even they reached a height of about 30 m. A little later, the wreckage of the lighthouse was useful for the construction of a military fort, which was rebuilt several times. This is how the Pharos lighthouse turned into Fort Qayt 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 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 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.

After the conquest of Egypt in 332 BC. Alexander the Great founded in the Nile Delta a city named after him - Alexandria. During the reign of Ptolemy I, the city achieved wealth and prosperity, and the Alexandrian harbor became a lively center of maritime trade. With the development of navigation, the pilots, who brought ships with cargo to Alexandria, felt the need for a lighthouse more and more sharply, which would show ships a safe route among the shallows. And in the III century. BC. on the eastern tip of the island of Pharos, lying in the sea at a distance of 7 stadia (1290 m) from Alexandria, the architect Sostratus, son of Dexiphanes of Cnidus, built the famous lighthouse, which became one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
For the supply of building materials, the island was connected to the mainland by a dam. The work took only six years - from 285 to 279 BC. Seeing this tower suddenly sprung up on a deserted island, contemporaries were shocked. From the list of seven wonders of the world, "miracle number 2" - the walls of Babylon was immediately deleted, and its place was taken by the Pharos lighthouse.
one hundred was completed in late summer 1997. In October 1998, this project received the prestigious Project of the Year award, awarded annually by the International Concrete Institute.

The Alexandrian poet Posidippus (c. 270 BC) sang this amazing structure in one of his epigrams:
The tower on Pharos, salvation to the Greeks, Sostratus Dexiphanes, the Architect of Cnidus, erected, O Lord Proteus!
There are no island watchmen on the cliffs in Egypt, But a pier was drawn from the Earth for anchorage of ships,
And high, dissecting the ether, the tower rises, Everywhere for many miles it is visible to the traveler during the day, At night, from afar, they see those floating by the sea all the time, Light from a large fire at the very top of the lighthouse. Per. L. Blumenau
This lighthouse remained in the days of Roman rule. According to Pliny the Elder, he shone "like a star in the darkness of the nights." This monumental structure had a height of at least 120 m, and its light could be seen at a distance of up to 48 km.
According to Strabo, the lighthouse was built from local limestone and faced with white marble. Decorative friezes and ornaments are made of marble and bronze, columns are made of granite and marble. The lighthouse seemed to grow out of the center of a spacious courtyard, surrounded by a powerful fence, at the corners of which there were powerful bastions reminiscent of the pylons of ancient Egyptian temples. D them, as well as along the entire wall, numerous loopholes were cut.
The lighthouse itself consisted of three tiers. The first, square in plan (30.5 × 30.5 m), oriented to the cardinal points and faced with squares of white marble, had a height of 60 m. At the corners of it were installed monumental statues depicting tritons. Inside the first tier, premises for workers and guards were located at different levels. There were also pantries where fuel and food were stored. On one of the side facades one could read the Greek inscription: "To the gods-saviors - for the salvation of sailors", where the gods meant the king of Egypt Ptolemy I and his wife Berenice.

The smaller octagonal middle tier was also faced with marble slabs. Eight of its faces were deployed in the directions of the prevailing winds in these places. Above the perimeter were numerous bronze statues; some of them could serve as weather vane indicating the direction of the wind. The legend has survived that one of the figures with an outstretched hand followed the movement of the sun and lowered his hand only after its sunset.
The upper tier was in the shape of a cylinder and served as a lantern. It was surrounded by eight polished granite columns and topped with a cone-shaped dome topped with a 7-meter bronze statue of Isis-Faria, the patron saint of seafarers. However, some researchers believe that there was a statue of the sea god Poseidon.
Light signaling was carried out using a powerful lamp placed in the focus of concave metal mirrors. It is believed that lifting mechanisms installed inside the tower delivered the fuel to the top - in the middle of the lighthouse there was a shaft leading from the lower rooms up to the lighting system. According to another version, the fuel was brought along a spiral ramp on carts drawn by horses or mules.

In the underground part of the lighthouse there was a drinking water storage for the military garrison located on the island: both under the Ptolemies and under the Romans, the lighthouse simultaneously served as a fortress, preventing the entry of enemy ships into the main port of Alexandria.
It is believed that the upper part of the lighthouse (cylindrical, with a dome and a statue) collapsed in the 2nd century, but the lighthouse was still in operation in 641. In the XIV century. an earthquake finally destroyed this masterpiece of ancient architecture and construction technology. A hundred years later, the Egyptian Sultan Kite Bey ordered to build a fort on the remains of the lighthouse foundation, named after its creator. Today we can judge the appearance of the lighthouse only by its images on coins of the Roman period and a few fragments of granite and marble columns.
In 1996, underwater archaeologists led by the famous French scientist Jean-Yves Emperer, founder of the Alexandria Research Center, managed to find the remains of the structures of the lighthouse on the seabed, which collapsed into the sea as a result of an earthquake. This has generated a lot of interest around the world. In 2001, the Belgian government even took the initiative to rebuild the Pharos lighthouse on the same site where it was built 2,200 years ago. However, now the walls of the fortress of Qayt Bey still rise here, and the Egyptian government is in no hurry to agree to its demolition.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alexandrian lighthouse (Pharos lighthouse) is a lighthouse built in the 3rd century BC. NS. 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 Alexandrian 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. NS. 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. NS. The structure was named after the island. Its construction was supposed to take 20 years, and it was completed around 283 BC. NS. , 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 in which workers and soldiers lived. Above this section was a smaller, octagonal tower with a spiral ramp leading up to the top. The upper part of the tower was shaped like a cylinder in which a fire burned.

Guide light

The death 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 (edit)

Excerpt from 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 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 strength of the peoples. The army won the victory, and at once the rights of the victorious people increased to the detriment of the vanquished. The army was defeated, 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 powers of France increase. The French victory at Jena and Auerstät 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, not Russia ceased to exist, but the six hundred thousandth 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 reason for 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 Great 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 rob the city and generally did not show heroic feelings personally, and all the countless number of 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 concerns 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 result 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 catching of marauders, the transfer of transports, the partisan war - all these were deviations from the rules.

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 not far from 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.

The 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 Alexandria lighthouse 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 put out of action 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 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 found a large 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 construction 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 withering 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. The city was created 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 the 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 light source. 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 of Tritons. This room was an octahedral white marble tower 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 point, for scientists - an astronomical observatory. The records state that there was a large amount of very interesting technical equipment - clocks of all shapes and sizes, a weather vane, as well as many astronomical and geographical instruments. Other sources talk about the presence of a huge library and school in which the elementary disciplines were taught, 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 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 structure 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 they never did it, 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.