The Sines Lighthouse (''Farol de Sines'') is located at Cabo de Sines, in

Sines Sines () is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The municipality, divided into two parishes, has around 14,214 inhabitants (2021) in an area of . Sines holds an important oil refinery and several petrochemical industries. It is also a popular ...

, in the

Setúbal District The District of Setúbal ( pt, Distrito de Setúbal ) is a district located in the south-west of Portugal. It is named for its capital, the city of Setúbal. Geography It is delimited by Lisbon District and Santarém District on the north, Év ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. It is a 22-metre high white cylindrical tower with a red beacon. A detailed plan for additional lighthouses along the Portuguese coast was first developed in 1866 by Francisco Maria Pereira da Silva, Inspector General of Lighthouses and a lighthouse at Sines featured in this plan. The plan was approved in 1870 but construction of the Sines lighthouse was not finally completed until April 1880. The lighthouse consisted of two adjoining buildings and a cylindrical tower; 22 metres high. It was initially equipped with a second-order optical device, with lighting fuelled by oil vapour. In 1915 this was replaced by a rotating third-order Fresnel device with a 500mm focal length, which increased the range to 30 nautical miles and enabled the fixed light to be replaced by a flashing one. In the same year a new lighthouse, also one of those identified by Pereira da Silva, was constructed at Cabo Sardão, about 45 kilometers to the south. In 1948 an accompanying annex building was constructed to facilitate installation of a radio beacon. In the same year a generator was installed, and the light source was changed to electric lamps. Two years later, the lighthouse was connected to the public network. At this time, with the installation of aeromaritime panels, it also became an

aerial lighthouse An airway beacon (US) or aerial lighthouse (UK and Europe) was a rotating light assembly mounted atop a tower. These were once used extensively in the United States for visual navigation by airplane pilots along a specified airway corridor. ...

, for navigation by planes. A radio beacon was installed in 1953 but deactivated in the 1990s. In 1992 work started to increase the height of the tower and a temporary light was installed on scaffolding. The lantern, optical device and other items were removed and are now in the

Santa Marta Lighthouse The Santa Marta Lighthouse is situated to the south of the centre of Cascais, Lisbon District, Portugal, on the estuary of the River Tagus, providing a light for the Cascais Bay and for the town's new marina. It is a quadrangular masonry tower cov ...

Museum in Cascais. The lighthouse recommenced operations in 1995, using a fourth-order Fresnel device and a 1000-Watt lamp, which guarantees a range of 26 nautical miles, together with a rotating engine. The cylindrical tower at Sines is now constructed in two parts, with different diameters. There is an iron balcony at the top, which surrounds the light, which is now 28 metres high, with an altitude of 56 metres.

Visits

The lighthouse can be visited on Wednesdays between 14.00 and 17.00.

References

* {{Authority control Lighthouses in Portugal Lighthouses completed in 1880 Buildings and structures in Setúbal District Buildings and structures in Sines

Visits

See also

References