despite the decline in the eastern port area, the great lighthouse, which was one of the seven ancient wonders of the world, and was built by Ptolemy the first, and Ptolemy the second in the third century (279.B.C ) on the eastern tip of the island of Pharos, continued to function to its full extent until after the Arab conquest on 641 A.D, also after the disappearance of the Magnus Portus by several centuries.
The lighthouse consisted of three floors of approximately 120 high. The first floor was square-shaped, and 60 meters high, containing more than 300 chambers for storage . on the top of the four corners stood bronze statues representing some of the sea gods.
The second floor was an octagon, about 30 meters high. Then the bed was a circle, about 15 meters high, the lantern above which the dome stood a massive statue of 7 meters for the god Poseidon, the greek sea god.
Sostratos, son of dexipjanes from Cnidus island, was the architect who built the Pharos dedicated to the savior god for sailors. As the inscription said, historians said that it omitted intense light whose radiance could be seen at a distance of thirty miles at sea.
In 700 AD, the lantern fell. Historian el Masoud in 944 A.D described the Pharos as he saw it, saying that its height at this time was 230 arms, while it was 400 arms in ancient times.
Another traveler al Baghdadi in 955 AD. Added that the Pharos was exposed to an earthquake that demolished 30 feet from the top, and in 1302 A.D, an earthquake occurred east of the Mediterranean which caused the lighthouse to lose some jetty balconies at the top. In 1477 AD, the Mamluk sultan qaitbay fortified the place as a part of his coastal defenses against any danger, and on the ruins of the lighthouse, he built a tower known as “qaitbay” fort.
Muhamed Ali pasha renewed it after it was destroyed in 1798 when the British bombarded the city.