The Fort Qaitbey has the most visible location in Alexandria, located at the spot of the legendary lighthouse of Pharos. The fort oversees the entrance to the Eastern Harbour, and has nothing but sea in front of it. It can be quite a dramatic place when winter winds throw large waves on to the city! The fort is best seen from a distance, closer up it has taken too much of 19th century taste to appear as impressive and military as a fort should. Muhammad Ali modernized what was then a 350 year old fort, built around 1480. The site was as mentioned the place where the famous lighthouse of Pharos once stood. It was counted as one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. Its dimensions are clad in legends, but it may have been a tremendous 150 metres high. It is said that its square base contained a staggering 300 rooms. It was built in the second half of the 3rd century BCE, and destroued in an earthquake in 1303. It is assumed that some of the stones of the fort are from the lighthouse, especially some huge red-granite pillars in the northwest section.
