Five Intriguing World Lighthouses

 PD Photo

This beacon is located in a really pretty setting, and keepers loved being stationed there, too.

First lit in 1913, the Castle Point Lighthouse sits on a rocky cliff shining its beacon 22 miles out over the southwestern Pacific.  It's the only lighthouse in New Zealand built from sheets of steel.

Fully automated since 1988, it was one of the last manned lighthouses built in the country, and still has its original 2nd order Fresnel lens.

Something interesting about this lighthouse was that lighthouse keepers here were not isolated as they were elsewhere. They shopped at nearby Castle Point Township, and even sent their children to school there.  This may be how this lighthouse got its nickname of 'Holiday Lighthouse" - because being a keeper there was almost like being on holiday.

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Built in 1864, by Sultan Mohammed III, this Moroccan lighthouse guards the southeastern entry into the Straights of Gibraltar, and officially marks the line between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

In 1865, U.S. President Andrew Johnson signed the Spartel Lighthouse Treaty, which guaranteed the neutrality of the lighthouse.  The U.S. and nine European signatories assumed responsibility for the upkeep of the property.  This was the first international convention ever signed by the United States of America, and it stayed in force until 1957, when responsibility for the lighthouse was returned to the Sultan of Morocco.

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Though no longer operational, the lighthouse in the harbor of Chania, Crete, is nonetheless a stunning sight.  

The original stone structure was by the Venitians sometime around 1570, and enhanced and remodled by Egyptian occupiers in the early 1800's.

It has recently been restored.  Hopefully, it will be around for another 400 plus years for all of us to enjoy.  It certainly creates a striking picture in the harbor, and I would hate to think it might not be there forever!

CC Photo by Markus Bernet

Talk about history!  This "New" Lindau Lighthouse,  on  Lake Constance in southern Germany, was built in 1853-56 to replace the (still functioning!) one that had been built in 1230. 

The new Lindau light was lit at first by an oil fire.  Over the years, kerosene and gas were used, until electricity came to the light in 1936.  Today, the light is automated, and its beacon is actually triggered by radio signals from approaching ships.  My goodness, what technology hath wrought!  Along with hundreds of others, this lighthouse no longer requires a keeper to continue functioning.  But, it's still needed.  And still beautiful.

Do you see the clock built in to the tower?  That's not a common lighthouse feature, now is it?

It's easy to see why this light tower, the only one in Bavaria, is one of Germany's most photographed.

Photo by Dennis Jarvis, CC

Here's one from the 'new' world.  

Sitting at the boundary between the Gulf of Main and the Bay of Fundy is Nova Scotia's Brier Island Lighthouse.

There have been three towers on the site.  The first two, built in 1818 and 1832, were wooden.  The current concrete tower was built in 1944 when then second wooden one was destroyed by fire.

There have been 57 ship wrecks just off Brier island, so the lighthouse is essential to the area, which is often under dense fog, making the job it has an important one for sure.