The Ponta das Contendas Lighthouse ( pt, Farol da Ponta das Contendas) is

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 mar ...

located along the promontory of Contendas, in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

of São Sebastião, municipality of

Angra do Heroísmo Angra do Heroísmo (), or simply Angra, is a city and municipality on Terceira Island, Portugal, and one of the three capital cities of the Azores. Founded in 1478, Angra was historically the most important city in the Azores, as seat of the Roma ...

on the island of Terceira, in the Portuguese archipelago of the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

History

On 2 March 1882, the ''Comissão dos Faróis e Balizas'' (''Commission on Lighthouses and Beacons'') released the first plans for the installation of a lighthouse in Ponta das Contendas, equipped with a second-order lantern, that would illuminate a 240° focal range with 4 clarions (three white and one red). A year later, there was a determination that Ponta de São Jorge would be a better candidate. By 1902 the lighthouse had not yet been built. A new commission judged that Ponta de São Jorge was too obscure, and judged that a more convenient site would be Ponta das Contendas. The revised project substituted the second-order lantern for a fifth-order light, with six clarions. A parcel of land owned by Manuel Ferreira Lourença was purchased in 1926 for 1200$00

réis The first official currency of Brazil was the real (pronounced ; pl. ''réis''), with the symbol Rs$. As the currency of the Portuguese empire, it was in use in Brazil from the earliest days of the colonial period, and remained in use until 1942 ...

(equivalent to 6 euros). Finally, in 1930, the construction of the lighthouse began, under the direction of António Tomaz. On 1 February 1934, the completed lighthouse was inaugurated, with the installed third-order lamp (with a 500-millimetre focal distance). At the inauguration:

After all the preparations and at the arrival of the hour, the lighthouse chief lit and put into function the optics, His Excellency the Captain of the Port gave a speech to the people.

The mechanism allowed for a fifteen-second beacon interval, using an incandescent bulb powered by petroleum gas, resulting in a visible range of . On 1 June 1958, the beacon was electrified. The new electric bulb increased the light's visible range to . In 1964, a paved road to the lighthouse and connections to the public water system were finally completed. The lighthouse began to operate with a 1,000-watt/120-volt lamp in 1983, reducing its range to , or 23 nautical miles. This was followed in 1985 by the introduction of a two-sector red lamp, with the objective of assisting navigation in the most dangerous sectors, including those near the islets of Fradinhos. In 1998, the connection to the public electrical network was completed. On 1 February 2009, the lighthouse celebrated 75 years of operation on the Contendas Point. Presiding over the ceremony were representatives of the Portuguese and Azorean governments, the Maritime Department, and the Captain of the Port Authority of

. Invited guests included the president of the local government, the Commandant of the Command Zone of the Azores, commander of the Air Base No. 4, U.S. Forces Commander, the President of the

Historical Institute of Terceira The Historical Institute of Terceira, or literally the ''Historical Institute of the Island of Terceira'' ( pt, Instituto Histórico da Ilha Terceira), or IHIT, is a private association and cultural institute, dedicated to the investigation and stud ...

, and other representatives of local authorities. Public activities which accompanied the speeches included the unveiling of an

azulejo ''Azulejo'' (, ; from the Arabic ''al- zillīj'', ) is a form of Spanish and Portuguese painted tin-glazed ceramic tilework. ''Azulejos'' are found on the interior and exterior of churches, palaces, ordinary houses, schools, and nowadays, resta ...

to mark the anniversary, the activation of a private radio transmitter, visits by 500 children from 14 schools in Angra do Heroísmo, Porto Judeu, São Sebastião, Praia da Vitória, Areeiro-Fontinhas, Vila Nova, Agualva, Outeiro, and general guided tours with a film "''Faróis de Portugal, cinco séculos de história''".

Architecture

Located along the maritime coast, in the south-east corner of the island of Terceira, called Ponta das Contendas, it is situated in an elevated zone, resulting in a focal point that is 54 metres above sea level. Although protected by a wall, the lighthouse (ARLHS AZO-007; PT-745; Admiralty D2664; NGA 23532) is on the edge of a high cliff, and accessible only from the ''Estrada 509'', alongside several agricultural fields. Its plan is composed of four inter-connected rectangular rooms connected by a central body (taking the form of a "H"), on which the main 13-metre-high prismatic white tower is surmounted by a red

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...

. The lighthouse building complex consists of three spaces for lighthouse-keepers, two

cistern A cistern (Middle English ', from Latin ', from ', "box", from Greek ', "basket") is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by t ...

s, an office and inspection room. The first floor

terrace Terrace may refer to: Landforms and construction * Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river * Terrace, a street suffix * Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk a ...

gives access to the tower, through two narrow openings, to the terrace, and from there to the dome structure, which is manufactured steel topped by a weather-vane. The building, which is circled by a

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

and terrace, is painted white. The light terrace and the lamp housing atop the building are painted red. The structure is interspersed with square

sash windows A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double glazing) of glass. History T ...

and sills. It is illuminated by crystal optic, with a third-order Fresnel rotation beacon, with a 500-millimetre focal length. The

light characteristic A light characteristic is all of the properties that make a particular navigational light identifiable. Graphical and textual descriptions of navigational light sequences and colours are displayed on nautical charts and in Light Lists with the cha ...

is four flashes every fifteen seconds (Gp Fl.(4)W.R. 15s), white on 220°–020° and 044°–072° and red otherwise. It is visible for .

References

;Notes ;Sources * * * {{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1934 Ponta Contendas Buildings and structures in Angra do Heroísmo 1934 establishments in Portugal

History

Architecture

See also

References