Cape Engaño Lighthouse, also known as Faro de Cabo Engaño (), is a historic

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

located at Cape Engaño on

Palaui Island The Palaui Island Protected Landscape and Seascape is an island that is a protected area and national park in the municipality of Santa Ana, Cagayan, Santa Ana in Cagayan, Philippines. It is located off the northeastern extremity of Luzon Island. ...

in the town of Santa Ana, the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Cagayan Cagayan ( ), officially the Province of Cagayan (; ; ; isnag language, Isnag: ''Provinsia nga Cagayan''; ivatan language, Ivatan: ''Provinsiya nu Cagayan''; ; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Cag ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. Located at the northernmost part of

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

Island and situated atop the summit of a hill, 92 meters above sea level, the lighthouse provides a 360-degree view of

Babuyan Island Babuyan Island (sometimes called Babuyan Claro or ''Curuga Mabuyan'', the clear-sighted) is the highest and northernmost island in the Babuyan Islands in Luzon Strait north of Luzon Island in the Philippines and also directly south of Taiwan via ...

and the Dos Hermanas Island (Two Sisters) on the North,

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

on the West and Engaño cove on the East. Cape Engaño Lighthouse is now under the supervision of the

Department of Transportation and Communications The Department of Transportation (DOTr; ) is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for the maintenance and expansion of viable, efficient, and dependable transportation systems as effective instruments for national re ...

through the Philippine Coast Guard's lighthouse division.

History

Faro de Cabo Engaño is one of the four lighthouses built during the Spanish colonial period, which served as gateway lighthouse for incoming ships. The construction started on 21 September 1888 and finished on 31 December 1892, wherein most of the labourers are Filipinos.

The Jamorabon family

The Cape Engaño Lighthouse was for generations the home of the Jamorabons. They also worked as lighthouse keepers, notably Gregorio Jamorabon, the longest-servicing keeper. The complex used to shelter seven crew members tasked to maintain the lighthouse. At that time, according to Teresa Jamorabon, late wife of Gregorio Jamorabon, the lighthouse was the only place where residents enjoyed electricity. Teresa Jamorabon described how well the government took care of the lighthouse keepers and the station. Their rations of rice, beans, noodles, cooking oil and kerosene arrived every month and were shared equally among the workers, regardless of rank. According to the Jamorabons, the name of the lighthouse was given by Spaniard seafarers when they first set foot on the cape and were so stunned by its natural beauty that they named it "Engaño".

Structure

The structure was initially designed by Engineer Magin Pers y Pers, who also designed the lighthouses on

Cape Bojeador Cape Bojeador () is the northwestern tip of the island of Luzon in the Philippines. It is a headland on the South China Sea coast of the municipality of Burgos, Ilocos Norte, Burgos, Ilocos Norte, some north of Laoag. The cape is best known for ...

and Capones Island; further design work was provided by Guillermo Brockman. The lighthouse complex is composed of the housing pavilion that served as an office and workers quarter, the service buildings that served as kitchen and storage, and the 11-meter octagonal tower that houses the crown and the copper lantern (but was now a solar-based lighting mechanism) that is visible in all angles of the lighthouse. This was all built using local materials, masonry and hardwood. Faro de Cabo Engaño Lighthouse.jpg, The lighthouse in 2011 Cape Engano Lighthouse Historical Marker (cropped).jpg, The NHCP historical marker at the base of the lighthouse

References

External links

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Maritime Safety Services Command

Light Stations of Northern Luzon
at the Philippine Coast Guard Website. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cape Engano Lighthouse Lighthouses completed in 1892 Lighthouses in the Philippines Buildings and structures in Cagayan Spanish colonial infrastructure in the Philippines Marked Historical Structures of the Philippines Tourist attractions in Cagayan

History

The Jamorabon family

Structure

See also

References

Further reading

External links