The ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria stood on the island of Pharos off Egypt’s Mediterranean coast.
The lighthouse was built during the Ptolemaic Kingdom to guide ships into the busy port of Alexandria. Construction is generally dated to the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, in the early third century BC, and the architect is traditionally identified as Sostratus of Cnidus.
Pharos was connected to the mainland by a causeway called the Heptastadion. The island’s name became so closely linked with lighthouse architecture that words for lighthouse in several languages, including French “phare,” derive from Pharos.
Earthquakes damaged the monument over several centuries, and its remaining ruins eventually disappeared. Medieval accounts describe a massive multi-level structure topped by a light, but its exact appearance is reconstructed from archaeological evidence and historical descriptions.