Lighthouse of Alexandria (Pharos)
Faro de Alejandría (torre de señales luminosas)
- Date
- c. 280 BCE · confidence medium
- Place
- Pharos Island, Alexandria, Egypt
- Credited to
- Sostratus of Cnidus, under Ptolemy I and II
- People
- 👤 Sóstrato de Cnido300 BCE–260 BCE
- Field
- Movement
What it is
A tower over 100 m tall in three sections with a permanent fire at the top, possibly reflected by bronze mirrors, visible 50 km away. The first monumental lighthouse and one of the Seven Wonders.
Details of the mirror and the height come from medieval Arab sources.
What it led to
- Safe night navigation towards the Mediterranean's greatest harbour
- The network of Roman lighthouses (Ostia, A Coruña, Dover) as state maritime infrastructure
- The word 'lighthouse' (faro/phare) in the Romance languages
- A signal-tower typology reproduced in minarets and medieval towers
Built on
- Signal fires
- Hellenistic masonry
- Artificial harbour