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Submerged monuments, cutting-edge technology, and remnants of one of the most famous constructions of Antiquity return to the center of research in Alexandria, where new analyses help reveal details of a work that marked navigation in the Mediterranean for centuries.
Archaeologists have retrieved from the sea 22 monumental blocks associated with the Lighthouse of Alexandria, in Egypt, during a phase of the international PHAROS project dedicated to the study and digital reconstruction of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
With an estimated weight between 70 and 80 tons, part of the pieces was lifted from the water for analysis, scanning, and inclusion in three-dimensional models that attempt to reconstruct the vanished monumental structure.
In the region of the ancient port of Alexandria, the remnants of the lighthouse remain submerged in the Mediterranean, near the eastern end of the Pharos peninsula, an area directly connected to the ancient maritime entrance of the city.
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According to the Centre d’Études Alexandrines, the archaeological site is located where the Fort of Qaitbay stands today, a point that in Antiquity marked the entrance to the Great Port of Alexandria.
Monumental blocks reveal entrance to the Lighthouse of Alexandria
Among the recovered items are lintels, door jambs, thresholds, large base slabs, and parts of a monument not yet precisely identified: a pylon with an Egyptian-style door, produced in the Hellenistic period.
These fragments, evaluated together by researchers, help to understand how Greek and Egyptian architectural references combined in the construction that symbolized Alexandria for centuries.
Leading the mission is archaeologist and architect Isabelle Hairy, associated with the Centre national de la recherche scientifique, the CNRS, of France, responsible for the scientific supervision of the work.
The initiative also involves the CNRS, its permanent unit in Egypt, the Centre d’Études Alexandrines, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt, and the Dassault Systèmes Foundation.
Digital reconstruction uses technology in submerged ruins
The retrieval of the blocks expands the technical base used to virtually reconstruct the Lighthouse of Alexandria, without reducing the operation to the mere exhibition of ancient pieces retrieved from the Mediterranean.
After the survey, the fragments undergo photogrammetric registration, a technique that transforms images into high-precision digital models and allows for the evaluation of shape, fit, and probable position of each component.
More than 100 blocks had already been digitized underwater over the last decade, according to the Dassault Systèmes Foundation.
With the arrival of the new fragments, volunteer engineers from the institution analyze each element as part of a large archaeological puzzle, testing hypotheses about the construction and collapse of the monument.
Launched in 2023 with support from the Dassault Systèmes Foundation, the PHAROS project gained a new phase in 2025, when the Gedeon Media group began sponsoring an underwater excavation campaign.
The initiative seeks to develop a scientific model of the lighthouse, including both its external architecture and internal organization, by combining material remains and historical documentation.
In this process, ancient sources, images, historical texts, and archaeological records accumulated over decades of research are reviewed by experts before being integrated into the 3D models.
CEAlex reports that the multidisciplinary team brings together historians, archaeologists, architects, and numismatics specialists to confront data, correct interpretations, and refine hypotheses about the monument.
Lighthouse of Alexandria was located on the ancient island of Pharos
Built in the early 3rd century BC, the Lighthouse of Alexandria reached about 100 meters in height, according to the Dassault Systèmes Foundation, and occupied a strategic position on the island of Pharos.
The construction guided vessels approaching a coast considered difficult, while also reinforcing Alexandria’s role as an essential center of Mediterranean trade in antiquity.
The structure endured for more than 1,600 years and ceased to function after 1303, a period during which it suffered damage caused by earthquakes and the gradual reuse of its materials.
Later, in 1477, the Qaitbay Fortress was built on the same site, utilizing part of the space historically associated with the ruins of the ancient lighthouse.
At the bottom of the sea, the archaeological site gathers architectural blocks, statue fragments, and hard stone elements, including granite, quartzite, granodiorite, graywacke, marble, and limestone.
In addition to the monumental pieces, CEAlex records lead, iron, and bronze connectors used in ancient constructions that existed in that port area of Alexandria.
Since 1994, systematic underwater excavations have been conducted by CEAlex at the site, with one or two campaigns per year, depending on weather and sea conditions.
The work began with mapping and inventory of the blocks but gradually incorporated digital surveying and three-dimensional modeling techniques to enhance the archaeological reading of the site.
Research in the Mediterranean Expands Archaeological Map
Since 2012, CEAlex has been developing a photogrammetry digitization program to produce an accurate 3D model of the submerged surface.
On January 1, 2020, this digital model covered about 10,250 square meters, an area equivalent to approximately 65% of the archaeological site mapped in that survey.
On the same date, 3,040 blocks were already registered in the database and 154 digital duplicates of blocks or fragments were available at different stages of completion.
Part of this material has been used in virtual architectural reconstructions, which has increased the ability to test interpretations about the monument without moving all the submerged remains.
The new recovered blocks help to refine especially the understanding of the monumental entrance of the lighthouse, an area considered essential to comprehend the scale and organization of the construction.
By comparing weight, shape, fit, and style of the pieces, researchers can more concretely assess how the main access was designed in Hellenistic Alexandria.
It also becomes clearer, from this data cross-referencing, how different architectural traditions interacted in a city marked by the coexistence of Greek and Egyptian references.
Although it advances with digital resources, virtual reconstruction does not replace direct archaeological research in the Mediterranean nor does it eliminate the need for new underwater campaigns.
It functions as a tool for study, preservation, and scientific mediation, allowing specialists to test hypotheses and the public to visualize a vanished structure as a building, but preserved in ruins, documents, and virtual models.
