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The San Cristóbal Lighthouse ( es, Faro de San Cristóbal) is an active
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 ...
on the Spanish island of
La Gomera in the
Canary islands. The current lighthouse is the second to have been constructed on the rocky headland of Punta de San Cristóbal (Saint Christopher's Point), on the eastern side of the island, overlooking the approaches to
San Sebastián de La Gomera, the main port and capital of La Gomera.
Description
San Cristóbal was commissioned as part of the second maritime lighting plan for the Canaries, and is the oldest and principal lighthouse of La Gomera. Construction of the first lighthouse began in 1900 and it became operational in 1903.
Designed by the engineer by Juan de León y Castillo, it was built in a similar style to other early Canarian lights, consisting of a whitewashed single-storey keeper's house, with dark volcanic rock used for the masonry detailing. The light was shown from a lantern room at the top of a six-metre-high () masonry tower, which was attached to the seaward side of the house, overlooking the
Atlantic Ocean. It remained in service until 1978, when it was replaced by the new modern tower.
The new lighthouse became operational in 1978, and consists of a short, 15-metre cylindrical tower, painted white with a distinctive
daymark of a wide red band. Its design is a smaller version of the one used for the
Fuencaliente Lighthouse
The Fuencaliente Lighthouse is an active lighthouse at the southern end of the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands. The original lighthouse was built in 1903 and while it still exists it was replaced by the current lighthouse in 1985. It is ...
on the nearby island of
La Palma.
The clifftop location of the lighthouse means that it has a focal height of 84 meters above sea level, with a nominal range of 21
nautical miles. The optics consist of a third order
Fresnel lens, which has a
light characteristic of two flashes of white light every ten seconds.
It is registered under the international Admiralty number D2842 and has the
NGA identifier of 113-23812, and is managed by the
Port Authority
In Canada and the United States, a port authority (less commonly a port district) is a governmental or quasi-governmental public authority for a special-purpose district usually formed by a legislative body (or bodies) to operate ports and other t ...
of
Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz (), is a city, the capital of the island of Tenerife, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and capital of the Canary Islands. Santa Cruz has a population of 206,593 (2013) within its admi ...
.
The site of the lighthouse at the end of the Camino del Faro (Calle Carretera al Faro) is open to the public, but the tower and buildings are closed
See also
*
List of lighthouses in Spain
This is a list of lighthouses in Spain.
Lighthouses
By autonomous communities
* List of lighthouses in the Balearic Islands
* List of lighthouses in the Canary Islands
See also
* Lists of lighthouses and lightvessels
* List of tallest l ...
*
List of lighthouses in the Canary Islands
This is a list of lighthouses in the Canary Islands. The Spanish archipelago lies to the west of Africa, in the Atlantic Ocean.
Lighthouses
Map
See also
* List of lighthouses in Spain
* List of lighthouses in the Balearic Islands
...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:San Cristobal
Lighthouses in the Canary Islands
La Gomera
Lighthouses completed in 1903
Lighthouses completed in 1978