Capo Mele Lighthouse ( it, Faro di Capo Mele) is an active lighthouse in northwestern
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
. It is located on
Capo Mele
Andora ( lij, Andeua), or Marina di Andora, is a town on the Italian Riviera in the region of Liguria, included in the province of Savona.
Geography and climate
Andora is situated in the western part of the Italian Riviera between Capo Mele in ...
, on the border of the comunes of
Andora (to the west) and
Laigueglia
Laigueglia (; lij, L'Aigheuja, ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Savona, in Liguria (northern Italy in 1812), nearby the Capo Mele Lighthouse.
International relations
Twin towns – Sister cities
Laigueglia is twinned with:
* Höh ...
(to the northeast) in the
Province of Savona
The province of Savona ( it, provincia di Savona; Ligurian: ''provinsa de Sann-a'') is a province in the Liguria region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Savona, which has a population of 61,219 inhabitants. The province has a total population ...
in
Liguria
Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...
.
History
The lighthouse was constructed by the Civil Engineers and completed in 1856. Its architecture was not changed from the original for almost half a century, and was repainted from yellow to red. A petroleum lamp was installed in 1909, later with
acetylene
Acetylene ( systematic name: ethyne) is the chemical compound with the formula and structure . It is a hydrocarbon and the simplest alkyne. This colorless gas is widely used as a fuel and a chemical building block. It is unstable in its pur ...
until 1936. Like many other lighthouses in Italy, this lighthouse was severely damaged during World War II, and the extensive damage was repaired between 1947 and 1948. In 1949 it was electrified.
Description
The lighthouse is a circular 25 metres high masonry tower and the
diameter
In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest chord of the circle. Both definitions are also valid fo ...
of the lantern is 3.82 metres. It is reached by a staircase of 74 steps. Adjacent to the tower is a three-story brick building.
The lighthouse is still manned
and is managed by the Command Area Lighthouses Navy based in
La Spezia
La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy.
La Spezia is the second largest ci ...
(which incidentally takes care of all the lighthouses in the Tyrrhenian). The
Marina Militare
"Fatherland and Honour"
, patron =
, colors =
, colors_label =
, march = ( is the return of soldiers to their barrack, or sailors to their ship after a ...
is responsible for managing all the lights on an approximate 8000 kilometers of Italian coastline since 1910, using both military and civilian technicians.
See also
*
List of lighthouses in Italy
The following is a list of active lighthouses in Italy, sorted by region.
Abruzzo
This is a list of lighthouses in Abruzzo.
Apulia
This is a list of lighthouses in Apulia.
Calabria
This is a list of lighthouses in Calabria.
Campania
T ...
References
*
External links
Servizio Fari Marina Militare
Lighthouses in Italy
Buildings and structures in the Province of Savona
Lighthouses completed in 1856
1856 establishments in Italy
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