Punta Delgada or Alegranza Lighthouse () is an active 19th century

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 ...

on the Spanish island of

Alegranza Alegranza () is an uninhabited island in the Atlantic Ocean, located off the coast of Africa and is in the province of Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, Spain. It is the northernmost point in the Canary Islands, and part of the Chinijo Archipe ...

in the

Canary island The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the continent being 100 kilometres (62 mi ...

s. Alegranza lies to the north of the larger island of

Lanzarote Lanzarote (, , ) is a Spanish island, the easternmost of the Canary Islands, off the north coast of Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering , Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the islands in the archipelago. With 163,230 inhabi ...

, it is part of the

Chinijo Archipelago The Chinijo Archipelago () is a small archipelago located in the northeastern part of the Canary Islands, north of the island of Lanzarote. The archipelago includes the islets of Montaña Clara, Alegranza, Graciosa, Canary Islands, La Graciosa, R ...

within the Teguise municipality.

History

Punta Delgada was one of the first lighthouses to be completed as part of the original maritime lighting plan for the Canaries. Designed by the engineer Juan de León y Castillo, building began in 1861 and it became operational in 1865. Built in a neo-classical style similar to other Canarian 19th century lighthouses, it consists of a whitewashed single storey building with dark volcanic rock used for the masonry detailing, located on a headland at the eastern end of Alegranza The light is displayed from a lantern room at the top of a masonry tower, attached to the seaward side of the main building. The lighthouse was designed to accommodate the two keepers and their families and has a central courtyard or patio. In the centre of the courtyard is a cistern that collects the rainfall from the roof of the buildings. This was insufficient to cater to the two families due to the low frequency of rainfall on the island, so a well was also built 20 meters from the lighthouse to collect and store water from the mountain. Both the keeper's house and the tower are part of the architectural heritage of the Canary Islands and were declared a monument of cultural interest

Bien de Interés Cultural (, , , ) is a category of the heritage register in Spain. The term is also used in Colombia and other Spanish-speaking countries. The term literally means a "good of cultural interest" ("goods" in the economic sense). It includes not only mater ...

in 2002 and included in the listing for Las Palmas. The lighthouse is maintained by the

Port authority 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 transportation infrastructure. ...

of the

Province of Las Palmas The Province of Las Palmas (, ; ) is a province (Spain), province of Spain, consisting of the eastern part of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Canary Islands. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, capital city of this p ...

. It is registered under the international Admiralty number D2772 and has the NGA identifier of 113-24076.

References

{{Authority control Lighthouses in the Canary Islands Lighthouses completed in 1865 Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in the Province of Las Palmas Buildings and structures in Lanzarote

History

See also

References