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Heptastadion

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The Heptastadion (Greek: Ὲπταστάδιον) was a giant causeway, often referred to as a mole or a dyke built by the people of Alexandria, Egypt in the 3rd century BC during the Ptolemaic period. The Heptastadion was created to link Pharos Island to the mainland coast and given a name based on its length (Heptastadion is Greek for "seven stadia"— hepta meaning seven, and a stadion being a Greek unit of length measuring approximately ). Overall it was more than three-quarters of a mile long.

Key facts

Ancient site.name
Heptastadion
Ancient site.image
Plan of Alexandria c 30 BC Otto Puchstein 1890s EN.svg
Ancient site.caption
Map of ancient Alexandria, with the Heptastadion shown linking Pharos Island to the mainland.
Ancient site.map_type
Egypt
Ancient site.map_caption
Map of Egypt showing the location of the Heptastadion.
Ancient site.altitude_m
0
Ancient site.relief
yes
Ancient site.location
Alexandria
Ancient site.region
Egypt
Ancient site.type
Mole
Ancient site.part_of
Alexandria Port
Ancient site.builder
Ptolemy I
Ancient site.built
c. 300 BC
Ancient site.cultures
Ptolemaic Kingdom
Ancient site.event
Caesar's Civil War
Ancient site.condition
Buried

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Country
Egypt
Located in
Alexandria
Image
Plan of Alexandria c 30 BC Otto Puchstein 1890s EN.svg
Sources (2)

via Wikidata · CC0

~3 min read

Encyclopedic overview

3 sections
Contents
  • History
  • Later periods
  • References

The Heptastadion (Greek: Ὲπταστάδιον) was a giant causeway, often referred to as a mole or a dyke built by the people of Alexandria, Egypt in the 3rd century BC during the Ptolemaic period. The Heptastadion was created to link Pharos Island to the mainland coast and given a name based on its length (Heptastadion is Greek for "seven stadia"— hepta meaning seven, and a stadion being a Greek unit of length measuring approximately ). Overall it was more than three-quarters of a mile long.

==History==

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Heptastadion” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

On the map

2 mapped locations