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This
light house of Alexandria was one of the
useful wonders among all the seven wonders of the world
(for the sailors to
return to the Great Harbor). This is a
small point that differentiates it from the
rest of the wonders of the world. The mirror
which was mounted on this lighthouse
could reflect the light more than 35
miles off-shore. Of the 6 ancient
destroyed wonders, this was the last to
be destroyed around 1480 AD.
Location:
On the ancient island of Pharos, now a promontory on the harbor of
the city of Alexandria in Egypt.
Description:
This lighthouse was built around 280 BC and was around 134 m in
height. This was built in the city of
Alexandria.
The light house had a good mirror which can reflect the sun light
to a very long distance. Mythical
stories used to say that this mirror was
used to burn the enemy ships.
The Macedonian conqueror, Alexander during his successful reign,
had tried establishing approximately 17
cities in the name of Alexandria. The
only one survived long was the one in
Egypt. That too even this city was not
completely built by Alexander. The
completion of the construction of this
city was achieved by his commander
Ptolemy I Soter.
Ptolemy connected Alexandria to the Pharos island by a bridge. It
was realized that the sailing in this
coastal region is very dangerous. That
is why he decided to build a light
house. This project was initiated during
Ptolemy's reign in 290 BC and completed
after his death by his son Ptolemy
Philadelphus. Sostratus who lived in the
same time as Euclid, was the architect.
This used to remain in the harbor for
centuries. This wonder of the world also depicted in the
Roman coins that time.
The writings of the Arab conquerors are very good source of
information about this lighthouse. The
new rulers moved the capital to the
Cairo. So this place had lost its
importance. Three earthquakes stuck in
various periods (around AD 956, AD 1303
and AD 1323 ) have damaged the
lighthouse significantly. The during AD
1480 the Egyptian Mamelouk Sultan, has
built a medieval fort at the same place.
That was the end to the story of the
light house.
There are some more tales to the light house. Sostratus after he
completed the lighthouse wanted his name
to be carved on the light house. This
was not allowed by Ptolemy II
Philadelphus. Ptolemy II wanted his name
to be carved on the structure. But what
Sostratus did is he first carved his
name underneath, put plasters on it and
then carved Ptolemy II's name. After
some years, the plasters worn out and
his name has come out to be known to
all.
The design of the lighthouse was unlike the modern slim lighthouse towers.
This was built in 3 stages, each built
on top of the lower.
This lighthouse was so popular that the word Pharos came
into French, Spanish and Italian to mean
lighthouse. |