Light House Cyclopedia

Question 55： The Pharos Lighthouse is considered the brightest lighthouse in the world

A:
The Lighthouse of Alexandria (The Pharos Lighthouse) is ranked as one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
The lighthouse was built 2,300 years ago. The lighthouse stands around 120 meters to 130 meters high. Its beams are reflected by several magnifying glasses to be seen within a distance of 30 to 50 kilometers.

The Lighthouse of Alexandria
All ancient cities have their uniqueness. You could feel Alexandria City is an old city when being there. You would take a train to the city from Cairo. When we got there at dusk, the train was approaching the destination along the coastal line. Crowds of shops were lightened up side by side as brilliantly as the clear moon shone. The bright and sparkling sea-spray shone over the Mediterranean Sea .
I have dreamed of going to Alexandria City since I was very young because the city was built by Alexander the Great. The father the emperor said to him that Macedonia was too small, and asked him to conquer other areas to form his empire.
Therefore, Alexander the Great built 34 Alexandria cities named after the emperor's name. According to my survey, the most famous and prosperous one is located here in Egypt among those cities.
After Alexander of the Great died, his general Ptolemy Philadelphus placed the capital in Alexandria City, and built a typical Greek dynasty. The last queen who ruled the dynasty was Cleopatra, also a fair-haired Macedonian. Then the queen suicided and ended this 300-year-old dynasty. Soon, the land was ruled by Romans. Afterwards, Christians, Arabians, Turks, Napoleon with his troop, and contemporary imperialists came to this place as well. However, who could be the real king this great land? Egyptians said, “No matter which invader comes in, Egypt wouldn't lose its cultural and history even under the exotic governance. Those invaders would disappear in the deserts finally.”
It is bright in the sky since the dawn. The Mediterranean Sea seemed to be newly shaped with clear waters. The sea waves seemed to murmur, “I am always here, and I always at the very beginning.”
The lighthouse was surrounded by tourists. The white yachts floated on the bay and went well with the azure blue sea.
Any visitor of the Lighthouse would think of that “Great Lighthouse of the Alexandria Port “ when they saw the lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The lighthouse was built 2,300 ago. It stands around 120 meters to 130 meters high. Its beams are reflected by several magnifying glasses to be seen within a distance of 30 to 50 kilometers. The tower was also used as an astronomical observatory. The city is well-known as an observatory place to generate many important astronomical theories like the Heliocentric Theory of the Universe . The p hysicist Archimedes once studied in this city. The great lighthouse attracted many visitors from different countries and races to this city. At that time, the high streets were measured 30 meters wide and paved by white marble. The buildings on the streets are built with white marble as well. The streets of buildings were as brilliant as a peal in the Mediterranean Sea, and regarded as the capital of the world as well. Someone once sang the praises of the city and said that Alexandria City owns everything brilliant and white except snow.”
This great lighthouse is located in Pharos Island at the west point of the Alexandria City, and sits adjacent to the Ras Al- Teen Palace, belongs to the former empire.
I once met with President Hosni Mubarak and my friend Egypt's Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni. When I asked where is the tomb of Alexander of the Great, the Minister of Culture directly answered that some researcher said he was possibly buried under the place we were standing on. However, the real site was unknown yet at present. Then the president opened the door and invited us to continue our talking session in the balcony. We stood there, we smelt the smell of the sea water, and saw sunlight was shimmering on the sea along with bright sky. The amazing scenery extended into my eyes. We can hear sound of splashing waves when we were talking.
The president struggled for creating communication channels among other countries to solve conflicts in the chaotic Middle East. I felt that he was full of boldness and resolutions to create a new history in this area.
The historical link is the connection to hope.
The descendants are encouraged and inspired by the merits and achievements from the ascendants, and then they are heading for other great goals to create new historical records. Those reactions hence result in history.
The hero Achilles, in Homer's epics, was the example to Alexander the Great. The honorable records from the hero Achilles and Alexander the Great also inspired Napoleon. Napoleon once said that French was too small; my stages are in Asia and the world. Napoleon's expedition was a kind of Black Ship to Egypt to put the country into the modern history. Several years later, Mohammed Ali established a new empire, and his palace was just the Ras Al- Teen Palace here.
Reactions in history could result from passions.
A young Indian saw the great expedition of Alexander of the Great and thought he could be as great and mighty as him. When Alexander of the Great retreated from India, he started a revolution to overthrow the ancient empire and took the tile of a king. This young man was just the grandfather of King Asoka. I thought that King Asoka heard about the brave deeds of Alexander of the Great when his grandfather told him stories of the country. King Asoka sent friendly Peace-keeping forces to other places over the world including the most prosperous Alexandria City. There are Greek Buddhists among those ambassadors. At present, I stepped on this city where they have gone.
There are chaotic and prosperous periods in between during these a few thousand years. People strove for wealth, power and love. During the process, people may run away or lost their power. After knowing these events in history, we would feel nothing worthy of attention any more at times. However, people would still live for exploring something new and look forward to the unknown future.
Creating a new era is no more a dream if this dream keeps inspiring and encouraging any descendant young man.
The president said that we were responsible for being tolerant as much as possible in the long run for our children and future generations. Young men were just the treasure of Egypt.
This kind of love drives history to proceed indeed!
Alexandria City is such an alluring city that is visible and remarkable from a long distance of 30 to 50 kilometers.

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