Unfortunately, few sites in the city today have witnessed Alexandria`s past glory. Many of its famous buildings have disappeared in its turbulent history, letting probably only a small part of the cultural, religious and economic achievements of the city to survive for eternity.

Bibliotheca Alexandrina (the ancient Library of Alexandria)

The foundations for what would become the Library of Alexandria were probably laid for the rule of Ptolemy I with the construction of the Temple of the Muses - the Mouseion (from which the Latin word museum is derived). It housed a philosophical school, a library and staged musical and poetic performances, in other words, it was the cultural soul of the newly-conceived city. The first to get in charge of the institution is a student of Aristotle, named Demetrius. Under him and his followers, the Library developed into a prolific centre for text research, which was especially respected for editting and re-writing Homer`s texts. In the first several centuries a few famous ancient scientists contributed to the establishment of the Library of Alexandria, among them Zenodotus, Eratostanes, Aristophanes of Byzanthium and many others. Recent excavations suggest that the Library was able to house at least 5000 students, which is really impressive, especially for that period.

Although it is virtually impossible to determine how rich exactly the collection of the Library was, one thing is for sure, there were periods, when it was the richest library collection of the world and for most of the time of its existence it continually topped the list. The Ptolemaians are considered not only the founders, but also the greatest protectors of the Library. under them each foreigner was forced by Alexandrian law to surrender whatever written material they had upon entering the city. Then it was copied so skillfully at the Library, that sometimes a copy was returned to the owner without him suspecting the scheme. Another source for enriching the collection were Greek scripts, bought for a substantial amount of money from Athens. Mark Antony is believed to have robbed the rival Pergamon Library to make a huge donation to the Alexandrian Library as a wedding present to Queen Cleopatra. How the Library ended its existence is not documented and therefore is a field of numerous speculations. While some claim that after Julius Caesar's invasion a great amount of ancient papyruses was lost for ever in the fire, set to the coastal area of the city, where the Library was located, others maintain that a much greater damage was done when Emperor Aurelian choked a local revolt in the middle of the 3rd century. Emperor Theodosius decree in the 4th century, concerning the demolition of all pagan sanctuaries is believed to have additionally harmed the building. however, probably the biggest harm was done in 642, when the Arabs allegedly used a great amount of books as fuel to heat water for bathing the soldiers who took part of the siege of Alexandria. Although much of the information, concerning the last days of the great library has been dismissed as pure myths, evidence is clear that by the 8th century AD the Alexandrian Library was no longer an important cultural landmark of the city.

The Lighthouse of Alexandria

This is probably what one of the most long-lived Wonders of the Ancient world actually looked like (it was outlived only by the Pyramid of Giza)

The Lighthouse of Alexandria, known in the Hellenic world as the Pharos of Alexandria, was built between 285 and 247 BC on the isle of Pharos, just off the Alexandrian coast and immediately became a landmark of the city port and in Roman times began to be used as a port lighthouse. While modern scientists all share the opinion that its height was impressive for its time, it is hard to calculate how tall the tower exactly was. Estimations vary from 115 up to 180m - the first figure would classify the building as the third tallest man-made structure until the 14th century (its height being beaten only by the largest pyramids, those of the Pharaohs Khufu and Khafra). If the second figure is closer to reality, the Lighthouse of Alexandria was the tallest building until well into the Middle Ages.

The legend of the Lighthouse

Legend has it that Ptolemy prohibited the architect of the Lighthouse, Sostratus, to sign his name on the building. However, the architect found a cunning way to ensure no one would take later the credit for his tremendous work: he made an inscription, which read: Sostratus, the son of Dexiphanes, the Cnidian to Saviour Gods of the seafarers. He then put a plaster upon it with an inscription in honour to Ptolemy. Centuries later, after the plasterhad worn away, Sostratus` name came into daylight.

While Ptolemy I initiated the building of the Lighthouse, the reign of his son, Ptolemy Philadelphos, saw it through. Ancient authors claim the light of the Pharos could be seen more than 50 km away and according to some, it could burn enemy ships approaching Alexandria. Ancient depictions of the Lighthouse show it as a tall, three-part building, made of large, light-coloured square stones. The lowest part was square, the middle - an octagon, whereas the top was circular. During the day a mirror reflected the sunlight and served to guide ships along the otherwise flat coastline. During the night, a fire was lit for the same purpose. During the Roman reign the whole structure was topped by a statue of Poseidon and triton statues guarded each of the four corners of the base. The building was still in use in the 12th century, when an Arab traveller described it and by his description, it still looked very impressive and in good shape. However, destructive earthquakes in 1303 and 1323 had no mercy and for more than a century the spot was covered by ruins before Sultan Qaitbey of Egypt erected the Qaitbeit Citadel in 1480 on the very spot where the Ancient Wonder had been and even using part of the construction material. The Pharos did not only serve as a lighthouse of ancient Alexandria - it gave the root of the word for "lighthouse" to many European languages (through Greek) and had a strong impact on early Muslim minarets - they seem to have copied its peculiar shape. It inspired building of tombs, towers and even replicas throughout the world.