Faros lighthouse is located ancient island Pharos (today a cape within the city of Alexandria in Egypt). In 332 - 331 BC. Alexander the Great founded the capital of Hellenistic Egypt, Alexandria. Here is the famous Alexandria Musseion - one of the main scientific and cultural centers of the ancient world, and with it the no less famous Library of Alexandria, which contained almost 700 thousand volumes of Greek and oriental books. Alexandria was the richest city of its time. Many remarkable structures were erected in Alexandria. Among them belongs Alexandrian lighthouse on rocky island Foros near the Nile Delta. The use of lighthouses began in ancient times and is associated with the development of navigation. At first these were fires located on high banks, and then artificial structures. One of the seven wonders ancient world- The Alexandrian, or Foros, luminous lighthouse was built in 283 BC. The construction of this gigantic structure took only 5 years, which in itself is remarkable. The main building materials for it were limestone, marble, and granite.

The lighthouse consisted of three gradually decreasing towers placed one on top of the other. The height of the lighthouse is enormous: according to some sources, 120 meters, according to the descriptions of Ibn al-Saikh (11th century) - 130-140 meters, according to some modern publications, even 180 meters.

The base of the lower tower is square - the side size is 30.5 meters. The lower tower, 60 meters high, was made of stone slabs decorated with exquisite sculptural work. The middle, octagonal, tower is 40 meters high, lined with white marble slabs. The upper tower - the lantern - is round, with a dome mounted on granite columns, and was crowned with a huge bronze statue of the patron of the seas, Poseidon, 8 meters high.

At the top of the third tower, in a voluminous bronze bowl, charcoal smoldered, the reflection of which, using a complex system of mirrors, indicated the location of the harbor 100 miles away. A shaft ran through the entire lighthouse, around which a ramp and stairs rose in a spiral. Carts pulled by donkeys drove along a wide, sloping ramp to the top of the lighthouse. Fuel for the lighthouse fire was delivered through the mine.

The tall lighthouse served as an excellent observation post. A system of metal mirrors was also used to view the sea, making it possible to detect enemy ships long before they appeared off the coast. A weather vane, a clock and astronomical instruments were installed here.

The lighthouse, erected on the island of Foros, was a one-of-a-kind structure due to its enormous size and complex system of light reflectors. This is how Achilles Tatius described it in his novel “Leucippe and Clitophon”: “... the structure is bizarre and amazing, the Mountain, lying in the middle of the sea, reached the very clouds, and water flowed under this structure, and it rose, hanging above the sea.”

The lighthouse of Alexandria stood for about 1,500 years, serving as a beacon, helping the Mediterranean “cybernetos” navigate, as the ancient Greeks called helmsmen. The lighthouse suffered from earthquakes twice, but was restored until it finally collapsed due to weathering of the stone. Then, on the ruins of the lighthouse, they erected medieval fortress.

From one of the seven "wonders of the ancient world", it seemed that nothing remained except the ruins built into Qayt Bay, where they still exist today, and the name. The name of the island turned into a symbol: “foros” began to mean “lighthouse”. Hence the modern "headlight".

In 1961, while exploring coastal waters, scuba divers found seabed statues, sarcophagi, marble boxes. In 1980, an international group of archaeologists discovered the remains of the Foros lighthouse on the seabed. At the same time, at a depth of 8 meters, the ruins of the legendary palace of Queen Cleopatra were discovered. This is one of the largest discoveries in archaeology.

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 monitor expanses of water and spot the enemy in time.

Locals claimed that the light of the Alexandria lighthouse burned enemy ships even before they approached the shore, and if they managed to approach the coast, the statue of Poseidon, located on the dome of an amazing design, uttered a piercing warning cry.

Alexandrian lighthouse: short description for the report

Height old lighthouse was 140 meters - much higher than the surrounding buildings. In ancient times, the buildings did not exceed three floors, and against their background the Faros Lighthouse seemed huge. Moreover, at the time of completion of construction it turned out to be the most tall building ancient world and remained so for an extremely long time.

The Alexandria lighthouse was built on east coast the small island of Pharos, located near Alexandria - the main seaport Egypt, built by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. He is also known in history as.

He is among the most famous miracles the ancient world, along with, and.
The great commander chose the location for the construction of the city extremely carefully: he initially planned to build a port in this region, which would be an important trading center.

It was extremely important that the Alexandria Lighthouse be located at the intersection of both water and land routes of three parts of the world - Africa, Europe and Asia. For the same reason, it was necessary to build at least two harbors here: one for ships arriving from outside Mediterranean Sea, and 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 location for the city, Alexander took into account the location of future harbors, paying special attention to their strengthening and protection: it was very important to do everything to ensure that the waters of the Nile did not clog them with sand and silt (a dam was subsequently built specifically for this purpose, 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.

Alexandria Lighthouse on the island of Pharos: purpose

The Alexandria lighthouse made it possible for ships to sail into the port without any problems, successfully avoiding underwater rocks, shoals and other obstacles in the bay. Thanks to this, after the construction of one of the seven wonders, the volume of light trade increased sharply.

The lighthouse also served as an additional reference point for sailors: the landscape of the Egyptian coast is quite diverse - mostly just lowlands and plains. Therefore, signal lights before entering the harbor were very useful.

A lower structure could have successfully fulfilled this role, so the engineers assigned another important function to the Lighthouse of Alexandria - the role of an observation post: enemies usually attacked from the sea, since the country was well defended on the land side by the desert.

It was also necessary to install such an observation post at the lighthouse because there were no natural hills near the city where this could be done.

Construction of the Alexandria Lighthouse

Such a large-scale construction required enormous resources. Moreover, not only financial and labor, but also intellectual. Ptolemy I solved this problem quite quickly. It was at that time that he conquered Syria, enslaved the Jews and took them to Egypt. He later used some of them to build a lighthouse.
It was at this time (in 299 BC) that he concluded a truce with Demetrius Poliorcetes, the ruler of Macedonia (his father was Antigonus, the worst enemy of Ptolemy, who died in 301 BC).

Thus, the truce, a huge amount of labor and other favorable circumstances gave him the opportunity to begin construction of a grandiose wonder of the world. Although the exact date of the start of construction work has not yet been determined, researchers are convinced that it happened somewhere 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 from Cnidia. Ptolemy wanted only his name to 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 carved his name on the 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 architect's signature.

What the Faros lighthouse looked like

Exact information about what exactly one of the seven wonders of the world looked like has not been preserved, but some data is still available:

• it was surrounded on all sides by thick fortress walls, and in case of a siege, supplies of water and food were stored in its dungeons;

• The height of the ancient skyscraper ranged from 120 to 180 meters;

• The lighthouse was built in the form of a tower and had three floors;

• Walls ancient building were laid out from marble blocks and fastened with mortar with a small addition of lead.

• The foundation of the structure had an almost square shape - 1.8 x 1.9 m, and granite or limestone was used as the building material;

• The first floor of the Alexandria Lighthouse was about 60 m high, with the length of the sides being about 30 m. Outwardly, it resembled a fortress or a castle with towers installed in the corners. The roof of the first tier was flat, decorated with statues of Triton and served as the basis for the next floor. Here there were residential and utility rooms in which soldiers and workers lived, and various equipment was also stored.

• The height of the second floor was 40 meters, it had an octagonal shape and was lined with marble slabs;

• The third tier had a cylindrical structure, decorated with statues acting as weather vanes. Eight columns were installed here that supported the dome;

• On the dome, facing the sea, stood a bronze (according to other versions - gold) statue of Poseidon, the height of which exceeded seven meters;

• Under Poseidon there was a platform on which a signal fire burned, indicating the way to the harbor at night, while during the day its functions were performed by a huge column of smoke;

So that the fire could be seen from a great distance, a the whole system made of polished metal mirrors that reflect and enhance the light of the fire. According to contemporaries, it was visible even at a distance of 60 km;

There are several versions of how exactly the fuel was lifted to the top of the lighthouse. Adherents of the first theory believe that between the second and third tiers there was a shaft where a lifting mechanism was installed, with the help of which fuel for the fire was raised upward.

As for the second, it implies that the platform on which the signal fire was burning could be reached 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 to the top of the building .

Alexandria Lighthouse: Wreck

Served from 283 BC. until the 15th century, when a fortress was erected instead. Thus, he experienced more than one dynasty of Egyptian rulers and saw Roman legionnaires. This did not particularly affect its fate: no matter who ruled Alexandria, everyone made sure that the unique structure stood for as long as possible. They restored parts of the building that had been destroyed due to frequent earthquakes, and updated the facade, which was negatively affected by wind and salty sea water.

Time has done its work: the lighthouse stopped working in 365, when one of the strongest earthquakes in the Mediterranean Sea caused a tsunami that flooded part of the city, and the number of dead Egyptians, according to chroniclers, exceeded 50 thousand inhabitants.

After this event, the lighthouse significantly decreased in size, but stood for quite a long time - until the 14th century, until another strong earthquake wiped it off the face of the earth (a hundred years later, Sultan Qait Bey built a fortress on its foundation, which can be seen Nowadays). After this, 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 with the help of a satellite, and after some time, scientists, using computer modeling, were able to more or less restore the image of the unique structure.

Alexandria lighthouse, standing on east coast Pharos Island, considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World. In the distant past, the city harbor of Alexandria was shallow and rocky, so in order to protect ships from harm, a stone lighthouse was built on the approach to the city. The first and only Pharos or Alexandria lighthouse on Greek soil was built by Sostratus of Knidos. Construction began in 283 BC. e. and lasted only 5 years. In the time of Ptolemy, the lighthouse erected was higher than the tallest 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 structure. The inscription read: “Sostratus, son of Dexiphanes of Cnidus, dedicated to the savior gods for the sake of sailors,” he buried it under a layer of plaster, on top of which he wrote praises to King Ptolemy Soter. But time put everything in its place and the world learned 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 (north, east, west and south), the eight faces of the second tier had the directions of the eight main winds, the top third floor had 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 her hand, so during the solstice in the sky she held her hand up, as if pointing to the sun; after sunset, sailors could see the statue with her hand down. Another statue chimed 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 amplify 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 Lighthouse of Alexandria was included in one of the seven wonders of the world. The territory of the lighthouse was surrounded by a fortress wall, behind which there was an entire 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 1,500 years, the lighthouse survived severe earthquakes and the effects of natural forces in the form of wind and rain. During this long period, enormous even for a stone, it began to collapse. Its fire went out forever, unable to withstand the earthquake (IV century). The upper tower, which had decayed over 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 13th century, the mainland came very close to the island and the lighthouse was no longer needed at all. 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.

Currently, only the base of the lighthouse has been preserved, which is entirely built into the medieval fortress. In 1962, in coastal waters, at a depth of 7 m, scuba divers discovered the remains of the Alexandria lighthouse. A cracked column and the famous statue of Poseidon, which crowned the dome of the lighthouse, were raised from the bottom of the sea.

Alexandrian lighthouse

In 285 BC. e. 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 Knidos. He set to work with enthusiasm, and five years later the three-story tower, about 120 meters high, was completed. The first floor in the form of a square was made of large slabs. Its walls, about 30.5 meters long, faced the four cardinal directions - north, east, south and west. The second floor was an octagonal tower, lined with marble slabs and oriented in the direction of the eight main winds. The round lantern of 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. King Alexander the Great founded Alexandria in the Nile Delta, which became the capital of Hellenistic Egypt. The city was remarkable because it was built according to a single plan. The richest quarter was Brucheyon - a quarter of palaces, gardens, parks and royal tombs. Here 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 greatly promoted by the world-famous Museion (temple of the muses), a place for scientific studies and an educational refuge for scientists working in various branches of science. Museion became the center of scientific life in the brilliant Egyptian capital, something like an academy of sciences.

Alexandria Lighthouse on Faros Island

Mathematics and mechanics developed especially successfully in Alexandria. Such outstanding scientists as the mathematician Euclid, who outlined the foundations of geometry in his work “Elements,” and the inventor Heron of Alexandria, who was far ahead of his time, lived and worked here. He created various machines and built a device that was, in fact, a real steam engine.

Sometimes the creations of scientists captured the imagination of their contemporaries. One of these miracles was Alexandrian lighthouse. It was built on a rock rising on the eastern shore of the island of Pharos. Due to shoals, underwater rocks, sediments and sediments on the seabed, ships approached the harbors of Alexandria very carefully.

Height of Alexandria Lighthouse

In 285 BC. e. 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 Knidos. He set to work with enthusiasm, and five years later the three-story tower, about 120 meters high, was completed.

• The first floor in the form of a square was made of large slabs. Its walls, about 30.5 meters long, faced the four cardinal directions - north, east, south and west.
• The second floor was an octagonal tower, lined with marble slabs and oriented in the direction of the eight main winds.
• The round lantern of 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. The lighthouse fire burned here. Its light intensified, reflecting in a system of metal mirrors. Sailors saw him from afar, 60 kilometers away. Fuel for the fire was carried upstairs 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 also a fortress. There was a large garrison here. In the underground part of the tower, in case of a siege, there was a huge tank for drinking water. Alexandrian lighthouse it also served as an observation post - an ingenious system of mirrors made it possible to observe the sea 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 vanes or were equipped with various mechanisms. Travelers talked about the statues and miracles.

One of them seemed to always point her hand at the Sun along the entire path of its movement across the sky and lowered her hand when it set. The other chimed every hour day and night. There was also a statue that pointed its hand to the sea if an enemy fleet appeared on the horizon, and uttered a warning cry when enemy ships approached the harbor.

Lighthouse of Alexandria - wonder of the world

The Faros lighthouse stood until the 14th 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 its 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 high pedestal of the tower have survived to this day, but for architects and archaeologists they are completely unacceptable, since they turned out to be built into a medieval Arab fortress.

In ancient times, the word “faros” began to be used to refer to all lighthouses. The memory of the miracle of construction technology has reached us in the word “headlight”.

Tower on Foros, salvation for the Greeks,

Sostratus Dexifanov,

The architect from Knidus erected

O Lord Proteus!

Posidippus .

Now we'll move to the delta Nila to see the seventh wonder of the world. But finding the seventh wonder of the world is a hopeless task. Lighthouse on the island Foros near Alexandria has long since disappeared without a trace.

The French call a lighthouse “ phare ", Spaniards and Italians " faro ", Greeks "Pharos", English " pharos".

During his conquest of the world, he not only destroyed cities, but also built them. He founded Alexandria near Issy, Alexandria Troad, Alexandria near the Tigris (later Antioch), Alexandria Bactrian, Alexandria Armenian, Alexandria Caucasian, Alexandria" on the edge of the world " and many others. In 332 BC. he founded Alexandria Egypt - the capital of the Hellenic world of Egypt. Previously, on the site of this Alexandria there was an old fishing settlement Rakotis. This is where I came from Memphis one day in the spring Alexander the Great together with its military leaders, historians, zoologists, botanists and dancers. Came here among these people Deinocrat- an architect known to us for Ephesus And Rhodes, he accompanied Alexander from Macedonia. In Ephesus, Deinocrates received his first task - to rebuild. But the “great day” of Deinocrates came only when Alexander conquered Egypt.The king saw not far from the island of Foros, next to the ancient Egyptian settlement Rakotis natural harbor, on the banks of which there was a wonderful place for a port market, around fertile Egyptian lands and the proximity of the Nile. It was here that the king ordered Deinocrates to build Egyptian Alexandria, ordered and left, returned here 10 years later and in a golden sarcophagus (Alexander's sarcophagus was ordered by his military commander Ptolemy to be placed in royal palace in Alexandria, in that part of it that was called Sema and where the sarcophagi of all subsequent kings will subsequently stand).
Immediately after Alexander's departure, they began to build the city. After Alexander's death in Babylonia, Alexandria was chosen as his residence by the Macedonian commander Ptolemy, who captured Egypt (first ruling here on behalf of the unborn son of Alexander, and from 305 BC on his own behalf) and founded the last, no longer Egyptian, dynasty of Egyptian pharaohs. And gradually the city became so famous for its grandeur and beauty that under the king Ptolemy X II and his sister Cleopatra(who treacherously tortured her two brothers, Ptolemy X II And X III to free the throne for his son Ptolemy X IV whom she gave birth to Julius Caesar) the Romans wanted to capture it. Over time, the Romans annexed Alexandria along with all of Egypt. Roman Empire.

With the coming of the Macedonian commander Ptolemy to power in Egypt and his establishment in Alexandria, the capital of the last Egyptian kingdom, as well as the capital of the entire Hellenistic world, the era of ancient culture began, which is commonly called Alexandrian. The heyday of this culture, which is a synthesis of Greek culture with the culture of the eastern peoples, occurred during the reign of the first three Ptolemies: Ptolemy ISotera(323-285 BC), Ptolemy IIPhiladelphia(285 – 246 BC) and Ptolemy IIIEvergeta(246 – 221 BC) Descendants of the Macedonian courtier Laga gained enormous power over millions of people. They were real pharaohs. Of course, they fought bloody wars with other heirs of the Great Alexander, but they also made a great contribution to the development of Hellenic culture. For example: Ptolemy I was one of those few rulers who understand that science brings the same glory as war and is also cheaper and less risky. It was under their dominance that two great structures were created.

In 308 BC, under Ptolemy I was opened here Alexandria musseion(“Temple of the Muses”) is one of the main scientific and cultural centers of the ancient world, and with it the no less famous Library of Alexandria, which contained almost 700 thousand volumes of Greek and oriental books (most of the books of which were acquired under Ptolemy II Philadelphia). During the musseion, scientists lived and worked, supported by the state. Ptolemy I Sauter himself was the author “The Campaigns of Alexander the Great”. Ptolemy's generosity attracted not only scientists to Alexandria, but also artists, sculptors, and poets. The Ptolemies made Alexandria a world scientific center.

The second magnificent building of the Ptolemies is the lighthouse on the islandPharos. He described it to us Straboin the seventeenth volume of his“Geographies”. This skyscraper of the ancient world was built on a rock in the middle of the sea and, in addition to its practical functions, it served as a symbol of the state.

As Strabo writes, he built it Sostratos from Knida, son Dexifana and “friend of kings” (the first two Ptolemies). Before the lighthouse, Sostratos had already built a “hanging boulevard” on the island of Knidos (a similar hanging structure). It is also known that Sostratus was an experienced diplomat.
The lighthouse of Alexandria stood for about 1,500 years, helping to navigate the Mediterranean "cybernetos", this is what the ancient Greeks called helmsmen. Under the Byzantines, in the 4th century, it was damaged by an earthquake and the fire went out forever. In the 7th century, under the Arabs, this structure served as a day lighthouse. At the end of the 10th century, the lighthouse survived another earthquake and what remained of it was fourth part. In the middle of the 13th century, it was no longer needed as a daylight: the shore was so close to the island that the Ptolemaic harbors turned into a sand quarry. And already at the beginning of the 14th century, the population began to dismantle it for building materials, just like the Roman one. The Colosseum was destroyed by an earthquake in 1326. Today the island of Pharos is completely connected to the mainland, and its outline has completely changed and therefore the place where the lighthouse stood today has not yet been identified. The lighthouse on the island of Foros, the tallest lighthouse in the world, disappeared without a trace.

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