What kind of beer did Hitler drink? Hofbräuhaus - the legendary beer restaurant in Munich
Unfortunately, the earthquake almost completely destroyed the building, but, despite this, there were no fewer people wishing to see the lighthouse.
The Alexandria Lighthouse is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. In another way, the lighthouse is called Pharos, because of its location on the island of Pharos on the coast of Alexandria in Egypt. The city got its name from the Emperor Alexander the Great. He approached the location of the city very thoughtfully. At first, it will seem unusual that the Macedonian did not choose the Nile Delta, where two major strategic routes pass. However, if Alexandria were built on the Nile River, then harmful sand and silt would clog its harbor. Thus, the most the best way, because high hopes were pinned on the city.
Macedonian planned to create here the largest trading city where goods from all over the world will be delivered. And of course, such an important center required a harbor. Many famous designers of that time created a project according to which a dam was erected connecting the island and the mainland. Thus, two harbors were obtained, receiving ships from both the Nile and the sea.
The emperor's dream came true only after his death, when Ptolemy I ascended the throne. He made Alexandria the largest trading port city in all of Greece. With the growth and development of navigation, the island increasingly needed a lighthouse. Its construction would have made the sailing of ships at sea safer, and also attracted more sellers and buyers.
Amid the sparse landscape, the lighthouse would stand out for its lights, creating a powerful landmark for the lost. According to historians, Alexander the Great also planned to make a defensive structure out of the lighthouse in case of attacks from the sea. Therefore, the plans were to build a huge sentinel post.
Construction of the Alexandria lighthouse
Of course, the construction of such a large-scale facility required large financial and labor resources. Finding them in such a difficult time was not easy. But Ptolemy solved this problem by bringing in a huge number of Jews from the conquered Syria, who became slaves at the construction site. At this time, there are several more important events for the state. Ptolemy signs an amicable agreement with Demetrius Poliorketes and celebrates the death of Antigonus' blood enemy.
In 285 BC. led by the architect Sostratus of Cnidus, the construction of Pharos begins. To perpetuate his name, the architect creates an inscription stating that he is building this building for sailors. At the top, the inscription was covered with tiles bearing the name of Ptolemy. However, the secret has been revealed in our time.
Lighthouse structure
The Alexandria lighthouse had three rectangular tiers with a side of 30.5 meters. The edges of the lower tier were clearly turned to certain cardinal points. Its height was 60 meters. The lower tier on the sides was decorated with tritons and was used by workers for personal purposes. The stores of fuel and food were also stored here.
The middle tier was built in the form of a polygon, the edges of which were directed towards the winds.
The third tier resembled a cylinder and served directly as a luminary. At the top was a seven-meter sculpture of Isis-Faria, which the sailors revered as their keeper. According to some sources, there was a statue of Poseidon at the top, but this fact has not been proven. A complex design of mirrors was created here, which significantly increased the range of light. Fuel came to the lighthouse through special ramps that were transported by mules. It was for the convenience of movement that the dam was built. The Alexandria lighthouse, in addition to its direct duty, served as the defense of the city. There was a military garrison here. For complete safety, thick walls and small towers were erected around the lighthouse.
In general, the entire structure was 120 meters high, becoming the tallest in the world.
The fate of the lighthouse
After a millennium, the structure began to collapse. It happened in 796 during a powerful earthquake. Ruins of 30 meters in height remained from the majestic structure.
Later, the military fort of Kite Bay was built from the wreckage, inside which there are now several museums? Museum of Marine Biology and History Museum.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lighthouse | |
Alexandrian lighthouse |
|
Alexandrian lighthouse, drawing by archaeologist G. Tirsch (1909) |
|
| Country | Egypt |
| Location | Alexandria |
| Beacon height | 140 meters away |
| Distance | 50 kilometers |
| Acting | No |
| Alexandrian lighthouse at Wikimedia Commons | |
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 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. 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 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 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 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 are increasing. 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, 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 it was a short-lived clash involving small numbers of troops, 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 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 down 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 catching of marauders, the transfer of transports, the guerrilla war - all these were deviations from the rules.
The Pharos lighthouse got its name from the island on which it was located - Pharos. And later on this place the city of Alexandria was spread. Hence his middle name. The lighthouse is included in the list of the well-known "seven wonders of the world". And like most of them, the Pharos structure has not survived to our times.
The lighthouse was built in the 3rd century BC. The name of its creator remained unknown for a long time. As it turned out later, the architect was a certain Sostrat of Cnidus. He himself signed his creation, carving on one side of the lighthouse a mention that he devotes his work to "the gods-saviors for the sake of sailors." But for some reason Sostratus later covered the inscription with plaster. And only when, after several centuries, the layer of the mixture fell off, the world learned the truth.
The Pharos lighthouse has been under construction for almost 20 years. The result is a truly magnificent structure. Its height was 117 meters. And at that time it was the tallest building in the world. The architecture of the lighthouse consisted of three towers, stacked on top of each other and on a single massive foundation. The smallest and most spacious tower housed a military garrison. The workers who served the building also lived there. The second level is a technical room. And finally, the top of the structure is the lighthouse itself. It was a cylinder in which a fire burned at night, helping sailors to safely moor to the bay.
And all this splendor was crowned with an imposing statue of the god Poseidon - the lord of the seas. The height of the sculpture, according to documentary evidence, was at least 7 meters.
How the Pharos lighthouse worked
In the work on the lighthouse, Sostratus applied the most advanced technologies of the time. In the upper part of the tower, he installed bronze mirrors, which reflected the light from the fire and amplified it many times. The light was so bright that the sailors saw it 50 kilometers from the island. The lighthouse served as a landmark during the day. Firstly, it was clearly visible due to the height of the building. And secondly, the same mirrors reflected sunlight perfectly.
In addition, there were three more statues on the lighthouse, which served not only as decoration. So, one of them constantly pointed to the sun, and at night dropped her hand. Another sculpture recorded the direction of the wind. And the third told travelers the time, beating every hour. Unfortunately, today it is impossible to say how these statues were arranged. Only an external description has survived.
Paradoxical as it may sound, the lighthouse itself is to blame for the destruction of the lighthouse. The fact is that for his work a lot of firewood was required, which was delivered to the top of the structure along a special spiral ramp. And then the workers threw the ash into the sea. And after almost 15 centuries, the bottom of the island was so clogged up that it was dangerous to moor to it. Accordingly, the navigators began to look for other routes, and the lighthouse, left idle, began to collapse. The bronze mirrors were melted down, and the stones from which the structure was built were taken away for other needs. The "wonder of the world" was finally finished off by a powerful earthquake, which wiped it off the face of the earth.
Modern Pharos lighthouse
Today, only the basement floor of the Pharos lighthouse has survived. And it is fully embedded in modern base Egyptian Navy Kite Bay. Tourists who visit Alexandria can still be shown a few wrecks that were recently raised from the bottom of the sea. It is possible that other fragments also rest at depth, but the operation to find and raise them is too difficult and expensive, so at the moment almost no one is doing this.
But there is good news. The Egyptian government recently decided to rebuild the Pharos lighthouse and create an exact copy. And given the current pace of construction, a gigantic structure may appear in a few years. And then it will become one of the main attractions not only of Alexandria and Egypt, but of the whole world.
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 helmsmen, 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 the seven wonders of the world, "miracle number 2" - the walls of Babylon was immediately deleted, and its place was taken by the Pharos lighthouse.
100 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 keepers 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 is how the lighthouse remained during the 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. the 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 named after its creator on the remains of the lighthouse foundation. Today we can judge the appearance of the lighthouse only by its images on coins of the Roman time 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 Center for the Study of Alexandria, managed to find on seabed remnants of lighthouse structures that 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.
The Lighthouse of Alexandria has been one of the tallest man-made structures for nearly 1000 years and has survived nearly 22 earthquakes! Interesting, isn't it?
In 1994, French archaeologists discovered several ruins in the waters off the coast of Alexandria. Large blocks and artifacts were found. These blocks belonged to the Alexandria lighthouse. Built by the first Ptolemy, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, also called the Pharos lighthouse, was the only ancient miracle with the actual purpose of helping sailors and ships enter the harbor. It was located on the island of Pharos in Egypt and is a fine example of ancient architecture. The lighthouse was a source of income and a landmark for the city.
History
◈ Alexander the Great founded the city of Alexandria in 332 BC.
◈ After his death, Ptolemy I Soter declared himself as a pharaoh. He built a city and commissioned a lighthouse.
◈ Pharos was a small island associated with Alexandria by a mound called Heptastadion.
◈ Alexander named 17 cities by his own name, but Alexandria is the only city that has survived and is flourishing.
◈ Unfortunately, Alexander could not see this beautiful structure in his city, since he died in 323 BC.
Construction
◈ The Alexandria Lighthouse was built between 280 and 247 BC. It is about 12 to 20 years for construction. Ptolemy I died before its completion, so it was discovered by his son Ptolemy of Philadelphia.
◈ The construction cost was about 800 talents, which is equivalent to $ 3 million today.
◈ The lighthouse was approximately 135 meters high. The lowest part was square, the middle one was octagonal, and the top was round.
◈ Limestone blocks were used to build the lighthouse. They were sealed with molten lead to withstand strong waves.
◈ Spiral staircases led to the top.
◈ In a huge curved mirror, light was reflected during the day, and at night there was a fire at the very top.
◈ The light of the lighthouse could be seen according to various sources at a distance of 60 to 100 km.
◈ Unconfirmed sources say the mirror was also used to identify and burn enemy ships.
◈ 4 statues of the god Triton stood at the four corners at the top and a statue of Zeus or Poseidon in the center.
◈ The designer of the lighthouse was Sostrat of Cnidus. Some sources attribute sponsorship to him as well.
◈ Legend has it that Ptolemy did not allow Sostratus to inscribe his name on the walls of the lighthouse. Even then, Sostratus wrote "Sostratus, son of Dextiphon, dedicated to the savior gods for the sake of the seas" on the wall, and then put plaster on top and wrote the name of Ptolemy.
Destruction
◈ The lighthouse was badly damaged during an earthquake in 956 and then again in 1303 and 1323.
◈ Although the Lighthouse survived nearly 22 earthquakes, it finally collapsed in 1375.
◈ In 1349, the famous Arab traveler Ibn Battuta visited Alexandria, but was unable to climb the lighthouse.
◈ In 1480, a remnant of stone was used to build Fort Kite Bay at the same site.
◈ Now on the site of the lighthouse there is a military fortress of Egypt, so researchers cannot get there.
Meaning
◈ The monument has become an ideal model of a lighthouse and is of great architectural importance.
◈ The word "Pharos" - the lighthouse comes from the Greek word φάρος in many languages such as French, Italian, Spanish and Romanian.
◈ The Lighthouse of Alexandria is mentioned by Julius Caesar in his works.
◈ The lighthouse remains the civic symbol of the city of Alexandria. His image is used on the flag and seal of the province, as well as on the flag of the University of Alexandria.
One of the most prominent monuments of the ancient world is now in ruins under water. But everyone can swim around the ruins with equipment.