The Lighthouse
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| The Lighthouse of Alexandria |
On the island of Pharos outside the harbours of Alexandria, Egypt c. 300 - 280 BCE, during the reigns of Ptolemy I and II. With a height of over 100 metres (330 ft), it was so impressive that it made it onto the established list of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Although now lost, the structure’s lasting legacy, after standing for over 1600 years, is that it gave its Greek name 'Pharos' to the architectural genre of any tower with a light designed to guide mariners. Perhaps influencing later Arab minaret architecture and certainly creating a whole host of copycat structures in harbours around the Mediterranean, the lighthouse was, after the pyramids of Giza, the tallest structure in the world built by human hands.
Nowadays Alexandria is Egypt's second largest city by population, and it is a coastal city of great importance, the country's gateway to the sea. But already in the 3rd century BC the city was a center of knowledge, in the sense that the world of the time was limited to the Mediterranean and the surrounding kingdoms. The most popular areas were literature, science, mathematics, astronomy and medicine. Many scholars make discoveries that we always remember or that are still used. On the architectural side, it is essentially the monuments that are remarkable. The city is covered with edifice whose purpose is to mark the power of the kingdom. These monuments are built over time, at different times.
By the end of the third century BC the population had increased considerably. The port before a strong activity, it is around him that will build the famous lighthouse.
The reasons for the construction of the Alexandria lighthouse
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| The Lighthouse of Alexandria |
reasons for the construction
There are two reasons for the construction of the Alexandria lighthouse. First of all a utilitarian reason. The city had, at a short distance, an island called "Pharos". Gradually brought closer to the land by the deposit of silt brought by the Nile, it became a peninsula, forming two curves tightening towards the earth, delimiting two natural harbors that were quickly used.
Still, the Egyptian coast is dangerous. Flanked by reefs flush with the surface and even under water, it has sent a large number of Greek and Roman ships to the bottom, causing human dramas and material losses. To secure the port it was necessary to build a lighthouse, which was done.
Still, the Egyptian coast is dangerous. Flanked by reefs flush with the surface and even under water, it has sent a large number of Greek and Roman ships to the bottom, causing human dramas and material losses. To secure the port it was necessary to build a lighthouse, which was done.
The other reason is symbolic. A lighthouse was a rare building in the world, it was difficult to build because the proximity to the sea made complex work and the maintenance of the building was much more difficult to achieve than for buildings on land. Moreover, such works were always more useful for other buildings than for a lighthouse, which had always been used by sailors. It was therefore not only useful to build a lighthouse at the entrance to the port. It also marked the power of Egypt, and more particularly of Alexandria. The lighthouse was therefore a symbol of power, it served to propagate the name of Alexandria in the World.
Note that its reputation was so great that the name of this island became a common name: The island of Pharos, originally the word "Pharus" in Latin, which became "Phare" in French. All the Latin languages have the same word to designate this edifice
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| The Lighthouse of Alexandria |
The exact design of the lighthouse, unfortunately, is not made clear by ancient writers, with descriptions often being vague, confusing, and conflicting. Most sources do agree that the tower was white (making it more visible) and that it had three floors - the lowest being rectangular, the middle one octagonal, and the top one round. Also (mostly) agreed upon is the presence of a statue of Zeus Soter on the top. Later Arab writers describe a ramp rising around the outside of the lower part of the tower and an internal staircase to reach the upper levels. Modern historians have debated the height of the tower, and estimates range from 100 to 140 metres (330-460 ft), which would, in any case, have made the Pharos the second tallest architectural structure in the world after the pyramids at Giza.
In the year 1303, on the 8th of August, there was a great earthquake in Alexandria, which caused the lighthouse to fall, and the third part of the town to fall.
It was only at the end of the 15th century that the lighthouse of Alexandria, or rather what remained of it, was completely dismantled. The stones were then used for the construction of Fort Qaitbay, which guards the entrance of the port of the city still today
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| The Lighthouse of Alexandria |
In the year 1303, on the 8th of August, there was a great earthquake in Alexandria, which caused the lighthouse to fall, and the third part of the town to fall.
It was only at the end of the 15th century that the lighthouse of Alexandria, or rather what remained of it, was completely dismantled. The stones were then used for the construction of Fort Qaitbay, which guards the entrance of the port of the city still today
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| The Lighthouse of Alexandria |
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