Under the rule of Ptolemy city florished and soon needed not only a symbol but also entirely practical building to guide ships into harbour. So Ptolemy authorised construction of Pharos and twenty years later it was finished. Pharos of Alexandria was first lighthouse in the world. And pharos (the name of island it was constructed) became the rooth for word lighthouse.

The lighthouse seems to have been a great tourist attraction. It is not fully clear how it was destroyed, but probably, as for many ancient buildings, it was an earthquake.