Place:
On l' old island of Pharos, maintaining a headland in the d' city; Alexandria in Egypt.

History:
Little time after d' death; Alexandre the Large one, his commander de Ptolémée Soter taken capacity in Egypt. It had attended the foundation d' Alexandria, and established its capital. Broad of the coast of the city an small island is: Pharos. Its name, according to the legend, is an alternative of l' island of Pharaon. L' island is connected to the continent by the means d' a dam - Heptastadion - which gave to the city a double port. And because of conditions of dangerous navigation and the littoral flat in the area, the construction industry d' a headlight was necessary. The project was conceived and initiated by Ptolémée Soter approximately 290 before J. - C., but was completed after its death, under the reign of his/her son Ptolémée Philadelphe. Sostrate, a contemporary d' Euclide, was l' architect, but the calculations detailed concerning the structure and of its accessories were carried out with the Library d' Alexandria/Mouseion. The monument was dedicated to the Sauveur gods: Ptolémée Soter (saver reads.) and its Bérénice wife. During centuries, the Headlight d' Alexandria (sometimes called the headlight of Pharos) was used to mark the port, l' use of fire the night and which reflects the rays of the sun during the day. It was even shown on the Roman currencies, just as of the famous monuments are represented on the currency d' aujourd' today. When the Arabs conquered l' Egypt, they admired Alexandria and its richness. The Headlight continues to be mentioned in their writings and the travellers accounts. But the new leaders moved their capital in Cairo, puisqu' they n' did not have bonds with the Mediterranean. When the mirror was cut down by error, they does not position it back. In 956 after JC, an earthquake shook Alexandria, and because little of damage to the headlight. It was later in 1303 and 1323 that two earthquakes left a strong impression significant on the structure. When celebrates it Arab traveller Ibn Battuta visited Alexandria in 1349, it could not enter the ruinous monument or even climb with its door. The final chapter in l' history of the headlight came in l' year 1480 when the sultan Mameluke d' Egypt, Qaitbay, decided to strengthen defense d' Alexandria. It built a medieval fortress, on the place even where drew up the headlight formerly, by using the fallen stone and the marble.

Description:
On the six wonders disappeared, the Headlight d' Alexandria was the last to disappear. C' is why we have a sufficiently precise knowledge of its site and its appearance. Old accounts, such as those by Strabon and Pline l' Old to give us a short description of the " tour" and the splendid white marble cover. They say to us how the mysterious mirror could reflect well the light of tens of kilometers. According to the legend, the mirror is also used to detect and burn the enemy ships before qu' they cannot reach the shore. In 1166, an Arab traveller, Abou-Haggag Al-Andaloussi visited the headlight. It documented a mine of information and a precise description gave structure which helped the modern archaeologists to rebuild the monument. It was made up of three stages: Lowest square, 55,9 m (183,4 pi) height with a cylindrical core, octagonal medium with a longor of 18,30 m (60,0 pi) and a 27,45 m height (90,1 pi) and the third circular of 7,30 m (24,0 pi) height. The total height of the building, including the base of the foundation was d' approximately 117 m (384 pi), equivalent at a modern building of 40 floors. The internal core was used like a tree of raising the fuel necessary for fire. With l' upper floor, the mirror reflects the sunlight during the day while fire was used during the night. In old times, a statue of Poséidon decorated the top of l' building. Although the headlight d' Alexandria n' jusqu' did not survive; at our days, it left its influence to various regards. D' an architectural point of view, the monument was used like a model for many prototypes length of the Mediterranean, as far as l' Spain. And d' a linguistic point of view, it gave its name - Pharos - to all the headlights in the world… It is enough to look at the dictionary for the French, Italian word or Spanish of headlight.