Great Lighthouse (Civ6)

Great Lighthouse
World wonder of the Classical Era
Introduced in Civilization VI
Unlocked by	Celestial Navigation
Production cost	290
Removed if game started after	Renaissance Era
Effects
+1 Movement for all naval units. +3 Gold +1 Great Admiral point per turn

Back to the list of wonders

 "This Lighthouse was the cynosure of all eyes."
– Henry David Thoreau

The Great Lighthouse is a Classical Era Wonder in Civilization VI. It must be built on Coast adjacent to land and a Harbor with a Lighthouse.

• Effects:
  • +1 Movement for all naval units (also for embarked units, although the description does not say so)
  • +3 Gold
  • +1 Great Admiral point per turn

Strategy

Weak and forgettable, the Great Lighthouse in Civilization VI can never match the prowess it used to have in Civilization V, despite having almost identical bonuses. It provides some minor economic benefits and an extra Great Admiral point, but the Movement bonus for naval units is its biggest selling point. However, naval warfare in Civilization VI is not as important as it used to be. Furthermore, naval units are inherently faster than land units, movement on water is not hindered by terrain features, an extra Movement most of the time will help close the gap between two points when marching your units, other than actually have any major military ramifications. The one civilization that can truly benefit from this Wonder, surprisingly, is the Ottomans, since their unique unit, the Barbary Corsair, is one rare naval unit that benefits from an extra Movement, as it uses Movement to pillage multiple tiles per turn, and not exactly in a true military fashion. Harald Hardrada's Viking Longship is also good at pillaging, but this unit requires 3 Movements per pillaging, an extra Movement does not allow it to pillage multiple tiles per turn so the Great Lighthouse is not that useful.

Civilopedia entry

The Great Lighthouse of Alexandria (one of the seventeen cities the egotistical young general named after himself), known to the ancients as the Pharos, was reputed to stand between 393 and 450 feet high – making it one of the tallest structures in civilization for many centuries. Begun in 280 BC by Ptolemy Sotor, one of Alexander’s Macedonian generals and successors, on a small island to help guide trade ships into the harbor of the thriving city, the Lighthouse was not completed until 247 at the phenomenal cost of 800 talents. Its light at the top of the massive tower was produced by a furnace reputedly made of solid blocks of limestone, and was visible for one hundred miles. Although badly damaged by three earthquakes between 956 and 1323 AD, it did not topple over – making it the third-longest surviving of the ancient wonders. Finally, the sultan of Egypt quarried the remaining stone (some had fallen into the harbor) to build the Citadel of Qaitbay in 1480 to protect Alexandria against the Ottoman Turks (didn’t work).

Gallery

Great Lighthouse completed

Great Lighthouse in-game

Related achievements

Greatest Is As Greatest Does Playing as Macedon, conquer a city containing both the Great Library and Great Lighthouse wonders. A play on the phrase 'Stupid is as stupid does' from Forrest Gump, and a reference to both wonders having the epithet 'Great' and being built in a city that Alexander founded (Alexandria in Egypt).