The Pharos (lighthouse) of Alexandria.

   The Pharos of Alexandria, in Egypt, was the forerunner of modern lighthouses. 
   The name belonged originally to an island lying off the coast. When Alexander 
   the Great laid out the city he connected the island of Pharos with the mainland 
   by means of a mole, or causeway.
   
   On the eastern point of the island his successors, Ptolemy I and Ptolemy II, er
   ected a great lighthouse made of white marble. It was this structure, said to 
   have been 400 feet high, that came to be known as the Pharos of Alexandria.

Notes on The Pharos of Alexandria.:

   Pharos, famous lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven  Wonders of the World 

   ALEXANDRIA, Egypt.  More than 2,000 years ago Alexandria was the capital and the
   greatest city of Egypt. Today, though it has been surpassed by Cairo in both 
   size and importance, Alexandria is Egypt's foremost seaport and its second 
   largest city. Roads, trains, and airlines connect it with Cairo, 110 miles 
   (175 kilometers) up the Nile Delta to the southeast.
 
   Miles of beautiful white sand along the Mediterranean coast provide the 
   setting for this trading city and holiday resort. Summertime brings crowds of 
   people to the beaches that stretch to the suburbs of Agami in the west and 
   Abu Qir in the east. Clear, calm waters make Abu Qir a popular place for 
   fishing and other water sports. Unlike most Egyptian cities, Alexandria is 
   sometimes chilly and rainy in winter.
   
   The center city is brightened by flowering plants in the Nuzhah, Zoological, 
   and Antoniadis gardens. Seaside gardens decorate the grounds of the Muntazah 
   Palace on a high dune overlooking Muntazah Bay. Muntazah was formerly the 
   summer residence of the Egyptian royal family.
   
   After the monarchy was overthrown in 1952, the palace buildings, known as 
   Haramlek and Salamlek, were put to other uses. The Haramlek contains a casino 
   on the ground floor and a museum of royal relics on the upper levels. The 
   Salamlek has been converted into a hotel.
   
   Stone structures remain from the time when Alexandria was part of the Roman 
   Empire. The Roman amphitheater of Kawm al Dikka, with its 12 marble galleries, 
   has been unearthed almost intact. Pompey's Pillar (AD 297), 82 feet (25 meters) 
   high, commemorates in granite the victories of the Roman emperor Diocletian. The 
   catacombs of Kawm ash Shuqafah are 2nd- and 3rd-century tombs, carved three 
   tiers deep in the rock. Ancient artifacts are displayed in the Greco-Roman 
   Museum.
   
   A peninsula that was once an island separates two harbors, one to the east and
   the other to the west. At the entrance to the eastern harbor, at the tip of the 
   peninsula, the three-story Fort of Qait Bay houses a naval museum. Not far from 
   the museum is the Marine Life Institute, with specimens of rare animals from the 
   surrounding waters.
   
   Islam is the chief religion of the citizens of Alexandria. The 17th-century 
   Mosque of Abu alAbbas, with its high minaret and four domes, is a city 
   landmark. Education is compulsory for children aged 6 to 12. Young people may 
   continue through technical school or university level free of charge. The 
   state-controlled University of Alexandria was founded in 1942.
   
   Industries produce cotton textiles, paper, chocolate, processed foods, 
   asphalt, and petroleum. Cotton is the most valuable export.
   
   Alexander the Great conquered Egypt and founded Alexandria in 332 BC. The 
   coastal city was designed to handle Mediterranean shipping between Greece, 
   which was the center of Alexander's empire, and his new Egyptian province. 
   After Alexander's death in 323 BC, his generals broke up his empire into 
   three major dynasties. One general, Ptolemy, took over the rule of Egypt with 
   Alexandria as his capital.
   
   Under the Ptolemaic Dynasty, Alexandria was a busy port and a center of Greek 
   culture. The Pharos of Alexandria, a lighthouse, was built at the entrance to 
   the harbor. Reaching a height of more than 400 feet (120 meters), it was 
   considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World (see Seven Wonders of the 
   World). The city was a renowned center of learning. Euclid wrote his famous 
   geometry text in Alexandria. The library of the ancient university (called the 
   Museum, home of the Muses) held half a million manuscripts the greatest 
   collection of classical writings in the ancient world. It was destroyed in 
   the late 3rd century AD. After the suicide of Cleopatra, the last Ptolemaic 
   monarch, in 30 BC, Alexandria (with the rest of Egypt) became part of the 
   Roman Empire.
   
   In the early Christian era Alexandria enjoyed its prominence in the Roman 
   world as a center of Christianity. Tradition says that St. Mark introduced 
   the new religion there from AD 45 to 62. Many Christian men moved to the 
   desert to live as hermits. Later these men joined together to form powerful 
   monastic communities. Theological ferment produced the orthodoxy of 
   Athanasius, the heresy of Arius, and the Gnosticism of Valentinus. Bishops 
   throughout a wide region answered to the patriarchs of Alexandria.
   
   The greatness of ancient Alexandria ended with the Arab conquest of 642. The 
   Arabs built a new capital at Cairo and neglected the older city, Alexandria. 
   Islam replaced Christianity as the leading religion. The Pharos crumbled. In 
   1480 Sultan Qait Bay built a fort on the lighthouse foundations for defense, 
   but he failed to save Egypt from Turkish conquest in 1517.
   
   In 1798 Napoleon landed French forces at Alexandria and marched inland to 
   drive out the Ottoman Turks. British troops helped the Turks to expel the 
   French from Egypt. By 1805 Muhammad Ali Pasha, a skillful politician from 
   Macedonia, had emerged as viceroy of Egypt. He made Alexandria his summer 
   capital and redeveloped the city as a center of trade and industry. 
   (See also Egypt.) Population (1986 estimate), 2,917,300.
   
 
Sarah Gibbard Cook