Evangelistas Lighthouse

Last updated
Evangelistas Lighthouse
Faro evangelistas s.XX.jpeg
Evangelistas Lighthouse at the beginning of the 20th century
Evangelistas Lighthouse
LocationEvangelistas Islets, Pacific entrance to Strait of Magellan, Chile
Coordinates 52°23′10″S75°05′45″W / 52.38611°S 75.09583°W / -52.38611; -75.09583 Coordinates: 52°23′10″S75°05′45″W / 52.38611°S 75.09583°W / -52.38611; -75.09583
Tower
Constructed1896  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Constructionsteel tower
Height13 metres (43 ft)
Shapecylindrical tower with lantern and gallery on a single-storey concrete and stone keeper's quarters [1]
Markingswhite lower tower with red horuzontal band, white lantern and balcony with red trim [1]
HeritageHistorical Monument of Chile  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Racon N  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Light
First lit18 September 1896
Focal height58 metres (190 ft)
Lens500 mm
Range56 kilometres (35 mi)
Characteristic flashing: period 10s, flash 0.3s, eclipse 9.7s, 194-250 white, 250-260 no light, 260-312.5 white, 312.5-318 no light, 318-186 white, 186-194 no light [2]

The Evangelistas Lighthouse (Spanish : Faro Evangelistas) is one of the most exposed, isolated and least accessible in the world. Sited on the Evangelistas Islets on Chile's continental shelf in the south-eastern Pacific Ocean, it is the landfall light for ships crossing the Pacific eastwards to traverse the Strait of Magellan. [1] A notable engineering accomplishment of its time, it was built by Scottish engineer George Henry Slight who had been recruited by Chilean President Jorge Montt, through the Chilean ambassador in London Agustin Ross, in order to establish a lighthouse service in Chile. Work on the lighthouse commenced on 30 April 1895. Slight's diary records his impressions of the Evangelistas on his arrival there:

I never imagined seeing something so wild and desolate as those emerging dark rocks in the middle of the raging waves. To see these stormy craggy rocks was frightening. With a dim light on the horizon we could see large waves crashing heavily in the western part of the islands: a vision that hardly anyone can imagine... [3]

Slight had problems with bad weather, the supply of materials and equipment, unrest and lack of discipline among his workers, disease and living conditions. Most of the 80 workers were Croats and Chilotes, ten of whom were dismissed for insubordination. By 18 September 1896 the lighthouse had been sufficiently completed for Jorge Montt to visit for a ceremonial turning-on of the light. [2] [3]

The lighthouse complex includes a weather station and a telecommunications station. It was restored in 1995–96 with the fiberglass lantern then in use replaced with a replica of the original lantern. The site and tower are not open to the public. [1]

The importance of the lighthouse at the beginning of the 20th century was remarked upon by the United States Hydrographic Office:

When approaching Magellan Strait it is of the utmost importance that Los Evangelistas be sighted. These islands are a good landfall both by day and by night, as they are 170 feet high, and the light is visible 20 miles.

[4]

See also

Related Research Articles

Isla de los Estados Argentine island near Tierra del Fuego

Isla de los Estados is an Argentine island that lies 29 kilometres (18 mi) off the eastern extremity of Tierra del Fuego, from which it is separated by the Le Maire Strait. It was named after the Netherlands States-General.

Strait of Magellan Strait in southern Chile joining the Atlantic and Pacific oceans

The Strait of Magellan, also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and Tierra del Fuego to the south. The strait is considered the most important natural passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It was discovered and first traversed by Europeans by the Spanish expedition of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1520, after whom it is named. Prior to this, the strait had been navigated by canoe-faring indigenous peoples including the Kawésqar.

Chilean Navy Branch of the Chilean Armed Forces

The Chilean Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the Chilean Armed Forces. It is under the Ministry of National Defense. Its headquarters are at Edificio Armada de Chile, Valparaiso.

Skerryvore is a remote island that lies off the west coast of Scotland, 12 miles south-west of the island of Tiree. Skerryvore Lighthouse is located on these rocks, built with some difficulty between 1838 and 1844 by Alan Stevenson.

Cape Horn Headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago located in Chile

Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America, Cape Horn marks the northern boundary of the Drake Passage and marks where the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans meet.

Booby Island (Queensland)

Booby Island is located 45 km (28 mi) northwest of Muttee Heads at the tip of Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia. This island is in the Torres Strait, 32 km (20 mi) west of Thursday Island and 23 km (14 mi) west of Prince of Wales Island. Booby Island is also known as Ngiangu by the Kuarareg people of the western Torres Strait, its traditional owners, named for the giant Ngiangu who was forced from a neighbouring island It has been called Booby Island by a number of European explorers, including Captain Cook, for the presence of the booby birds.

Cape Decision Light Lighthouse

Cape Decision is a lighthouse located on Kuiu Island adjacent to Sumner Strait in Southeast Alaska.

Lighthouses in Chile

Chile has a large and intricate coastline of 4000 km with myriads of islands, islets, straits, bays, and fjords.

Punta Arenas Place in Magallanes y Antártica Chilena, Chile

Punta Arenas is the capital city of Chile's southernmost region, Magallanes and Antartica Chilena. The city was officially renamed as Magallanes in 1927, but in 1938 it was changed back to "Punta Arenas". It is the largest city south of the 46th parallel south, and at the same time the most populous southernmost city in Chile and in the Americas, and due to its location, the coldest coastal city with more than 100,000 inhabitants in Latin America. It is one of the most southerly ports in the world, serving as an Antarctic gateway city.

Desolación Island is an island at the western end of the Strait of Magellan in the Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region, Chile.

Boundary Treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina 1881 territorial settlement establishing the Argentina-Chile Border

The Boundary Treaty of 1881 between Argentina and Chile was signed on 23 July 1881 in Buenos Aires by Bernardo de Irigoyen, on the part of Argentina, and Francisco de Borja Echeverría, on the part of Chile, with the aim of establishing a precise and exact border between the two countries based on the uti possidetis juris principle. Despite dividing largely unexplored lands, the treaty laid the groundwork for nearly all of Chile's and Argentina's 5600 km current border.

The history of lighthouses in Canada dates back to 1734.

The southern coast of Chile presents a large number of fjords and fjord-like channels from the latitudes of Cape Horn to Reloncaví Estuary. Some fjords and channels are important navigable channels providing access to ports like Punta Arenas, Puerto Chacabuco and Puerto Natales.

Cockburn Channel

The Cockburn Channel is a channel that separates the Brecknock Peninsula, which is the westernmost projection of the Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, from Clarence Island, Capitán Aracena Island and other minor islands in Chile. It is located at 54°20′S71°30′W and extends 40 miles (64 km) east from the open Pacific Ocean to Magdalena Channel. The channel is part of a major waterway connecting the Strait of Magellan to the Beagle Channel: Magdalena Channel, Cockburn Channel, Brednock Pass, Ballenero Channel, Beagle Channel.

Evangelistas Islets Four small islands off the coast of southern Chile

The Evangelistas Islets comprise a group of four small, rocky islands lying on the Chilean continental shelf, some 30 km north-west of the western entrance to the Strait of Magellan, in the south-eastern Pacific Ocean, facing the full force of the "Furious Fifties". They come under the jurisdiction of the Chilean Navy which operates the Chilean Maritime Signalling Service and has maintained a presence there since the establishment of the Evangelistas Lighthouse in 1896 by Scottish engineer George Henry Slight.

George Henry Slight was a Scottish engineer who established the Chilean lighthouse service.

Bárbara Channel Channel connecting the Magellan Strait to the Pacific Ocean

Barbara Channel ) is one of the three channels which connects Magellan Strait with the Pacific Ocean. It is located between the Santa Inés Island and the Clarence Island and ends at the Otway Bay, having the same entrance into the Pacific as Cockburn Channel, runs in a north direction along the west side of Clarence Island.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Rowlett, Russ (2012-09-20). "Lighthouses of Southern Chile". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . Retrieved 2013-01-06.
  2. 1 2 "Magellan Strait: Islotes Evangelistas Lighthouse". World of Lighthouses. Facebook. 2012. Retrieved 2013-01-03.
  3. 1 2 "The Chilean Connection". Bell Rock Lighthouse Bicentennial: Biographies. David Taylor. 2010. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
  4. ↑ South America Pilot (1916)
The lighthouse in 1896 Faro evangelistas 1896.jpeg
The lighthouse in 1896


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.