The Ponta da Piedade Lighthouse ( pt, Farol da Ponta da Piedade) is located at Ponta da Piedade in
Lagos
Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...
, in the
Algarve
The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese).
The region has it ...
region of
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
. It started operations in mid-1913.
History
The lighthouse is a stone tower of masonry, 51 metres above sea level, with an attached keeper's house. It has a red flashlight. Despite plans having been made as early as 1883, it was not erected until 1912–13, on the site of the ruins of the "Nossa Senhora da Piedade" hermitage and a farmhouse that was bought from the owners. The delay was in part due to the opposition of the local parish council to the construction as it involved the destruction of the remains of the hermitage.
Ponta da Piedade is now a well-known tourist location because of its rock formations, which can be visited by boats on hire close to the lighthouse.
Initially the lighthouse had a fourth-order
Fresnel lens
A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens developed by the French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788–1827) for use in lighthouses. It has been called "the invention that saved a million ships."
The design allows the c ...
that emitted five flashes, grouped every ten seconds. The light source was an oil lamp and the range was 18 nautical miles. The 4th order lens was temporarily replaced during 1923 by a 6th order with a fixed white light. In 1952, the lighthouse was electrified with power from the public grid, and the oil lamp was replaced with an electric lamp, with an initial range of 15 nautical miles, subsequently increased to 18 nautical miles. Four years later, a new electric filament was mounted. It was automated in 1983, using a system supplied by the Gisman company, with one white light flash every seven seconds.
See also
* List of lighthouses in Portugal
This is an alphabetical list of lighthouses in Portugal and its autonomous regions.
Norte
* Casa do Facho em Fão (Esposende, Apúlia e Fão)
* Farol de Azurara (Vila do Conde, Azurara)
* Farol de Esposende (Esposende, Esposende, Marinhas ...
References
External links
*
*
{{Lighthouses in Europe
Lighthouses in Portugal
Lighthouses completed in 1913
1913 establishments in Portugal
Buildings and structures in Lagoa, Algarve