Kvitsøy Lighthouse ( no, Kvitsøy fyr) is a

coastal lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mark ...

and heritage building in the municipality of

Kvitsøy Kvitsøy is an island municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. At only , it is the smallest municipality in Norway by area and one of the smallest by population. Kvitsøy is located in the traditional district of Ryfylke. The administrative cen ...

Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 47 ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. It is located on the west side of the village of

Ydstebøhamn Ydstebøhamn or Ystabøhamn is the administrative centre of Kvitsøy municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located on the southern shore of the island of Kvitsøy. The village has a ferry quay which receives regular ferries fr ...

on the island of

. The lighthouse marks the entrance to the huge

Boknafjorden Boknafjord or Boknafjorden ( en, Bokna Fjord) is a fjord located in Rogaland county, Norway. The huge fjord lies between the cities of Stavanger and Haugesund and dominates the central part of the county. The main part of the fjord is shared bet ...

, the main shipping route to the city of

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

, and inland Rogaland county. The first lighthouse at the site was established in 1700, and the present lighthouse was built in 1829. The lighthouse was automated in 1969, and has been a protected historic building since 1998.

The 1829 tower

The 1829 lighthouse was in height. The tower was extended by in 1859 and it gained another in height when a first order lens was installed in 1910. The present tall lighthouse is an

octagon In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, whi ...

al stone tower. There is a 2nd order Fresnel lens at the top of the tower. The building is painted white, with the lantern on the top painted red. Today, the light sits at an elevation of above sea level. The light emits four white flashes every 40 seconds. The lighthouse was automated and depopulated in 1969, and has been preserved as a protected historic building. Kvitsøy Lighthouse is the oldest stone tower lighthouse still in operation in Norway.

The 1700 light

The first construction from 1700 was a pivotal "bucket light" fuelled by coal, which could be lifted about six metres above the ground. The lamp was lit from 20 August to 20 March during the night. The bucket contained of coal, and the annual consumption was about . The operation of the light was funded by a toll system for ships passing Kvitsøy. A replica model of the bucket light from 1700 was installed in 2005 near the current lighthouse.

References

External links

Norsk Fyrhistorisk Forening
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kvitsoy Lighthouse Lighthouses completed in 1700 Towers completed in 1700 Lighthouses in Rogaland Kvitsøy Listed lighthouses in Norway 1700 establishments in Norway

The 1829 tower

The 1700 light

See also

References

External links