Lighthouse of Ponta do Albernaz

Lighthouse of Ponta do Albernaz
	The main lightouse and lighthouse keeper block on the edge of the cliff
Location	Flores, Portugal
Coordinates	39°31′12.60″N31°14′12.91″W / 39.5201667°N 31.2369194°W Coordinates: 39°31′12.60″N31°14′12.91″W / 39.5201667°N 31.2369194°W
Tower
Constructed	1902
Construction	stone
Heritage	heritage without legal protection
Light
Lens	third order Fresnel lens
Characteristic	Fl W 5s

Last updated February 07, 2022

The Ponta do Albernaz Lighthouse (Portuguese : Farol da Ponta do Albernaz) is a beacon/lighthouse located along the cliffs of Ponta do Albernaz in the northern parish of Ponta Delgada on the island of Flores, in the Archipelago of the Azores, Portugal.^[1]^[2]^[3]

History

It was erected in the northwest tip of the island, over a clifftop that allowed visibility to northern traffic around the island's waters.

Initially projected under the 1883 Plano Geral de Alumiamento e Balizagem (Illumination and Buoyage General Plan) for the settlement of Ponta Delgada, its construction was pre-empted by the 1902 commission, which intended to develop a new lighthouse based on modern technologies at the time.^[4] The plan called for the construction of a fourth-order lighthouse, and was projected by the commission for the area of Ponta do Albarnaz, 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) away from the settlement, in an elevated position along the western coast that allowed visibility in Corvo and the entire northwest coast of Flores (the promontory of Ponta do Albernaz).^[4]

This was a polemic decision, as indicated from the commission's minutes, wherein the body decided firmly:

"It was of great importance to the Commission that the illumination of that group (the islands of Flores and Corvo) that a study was made, with the most blatant attention and debated, the group of advantages that could accrue to navigation, by installing on the same Ponta do Albernaz a hyper-radiant appliance."

The 1902 commission in charge of adapting the general plan to the new realities, proposed the installation of a first-order light, with an equidistant beacon providing rotation at 5 second intervals.^[4]

A friendly contract was signed with property-owner João Lourenço in 1922, and the 5,525 square kilometres (2,133 sq mi) pastureland was expropriated (at the cost of $3.500 reis), for the construction of the lighthouse.^[4] It was a real feat of construction, since there was no access by road to the parish of Ponta Delgada, and much less to the tip of Albernaz.

The lighthouse was equipped with a third-order dioptoric beacon with a 500 millimetres (20 in) focal length, moved by clockwork turntable, serving a 28 miles (45 km) range.^[4] The lighthouse became operational on 28 January 1925, utilizing a lamp powered by diesel generator, which was later converted to incandescent light in 1938, allowing the beacon extend its range to 35 miles (56 km).^[4]

In 1938, a plane crashed in the vicinity of the lighthouse.

The site was electrified in 1956, using generating cells, and a new 3000 Watt/110 Volt lamp was installed.^[4] But, it was only in another four years before the site became linked to the telephone network.^[4] In the following decades new improvements were installed at the site, including the expansion of the lighthouse and in the upgrade of the beacon with a 1000 W, 120 Volt lamp (in 1983).^[4] In 1968, the parish priest (João de Jesus Lourenço) acquired 100 square metres (120 sq yd) for 1000$00 escudos, with the intent of expanding the number of lighthouse-keepers.^[4] in the 1980s, the lamp was replaced with metallic 1000 Watt/120 Volt halogen lamp.^[4]

Yet, by 2005, it was the unique lighthouse in the country not linked to the national electrical network.^[4]

Related Research Articles

Vila do Corvo is the smallest municipality in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores, constituting the island of Corvo in its entirety. With a population of 430 in 2011, it is the least populated of the Portuguese municipalities, and the only Portuguese municipality, by law, without a civil parish. Its area is 17.11 square kilometres (6.61 sq mi).

Santa Cruz das Flores is a municipality situated in the north half of the island of Flores, in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. Situated in the sparsely populated Western Group, the population in 2011 was 2,289 inhabitants in an area that covers approximately 70.91 square kilometres (27.38 sq mi), bordering the southern municipality of Lajes das Flores.

Ponta Delgada is a rural civil parish in the Azorean municipality of Santa Cruz das Flores, on the Portuguese island of Flores. The population in 2011 was 359, in an area of 17.65 km². It is situated along the northern coast from the regional capital. It is the third oldest religious parish on the island of Flores, only preceded by the communities of Lajes and Santa Cruz das Flores.

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References

Notes

↑ "Maritime Safety Information", NGA List of Lights, Springfield, Virginia: U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), 2011, retrieved 18 July 2011
↑ "Identification Codes", ARLHS World List of Lights (WLOL), Merchantville, New Jersey: Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society/The Weidner Publishing Group., 2003, retrieved 18 July 2011
↑ "Notice to Mariners", Admiralty List of Lights (ALL), Tauton, Sommerset, England: United Kingdom Hydrohraphic Office, 2011, retrieved 18 July 2011
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Costa, Patricia (2002), SIPA (ed.), Farol do Albarnaz (IPA.00012776/PT072006030004) (in Portuguese), Lisbon, Portugal: SIPA – Sistema de Informação para o Património Arquitectónico, archived from the original on 1 October 2015, retrieved 8 October 2015

Sources

"Farol do Albarnaz", Revista da Armada (in Portuguese), Marinha Portuguesa, September–October 2005, retrieved 27 November 2009
Lista de Faróis (Açores), ANC - Associação Nacional de Cruzeiros, 2 October 1997, retrieved 8 December 2013
Furtado, Eduardo Carvalho Vieira (2005), Guardiães do Mar dos Açores: uma viagem pelas ilhas do Atlântico (in Portuguese), p. 298, ISBN 972-9060-47-9
Aguilar, J. Teixeira de; Nascimento, José Carlos (1998), Onde a Terra Acaba, História dos Faróis Portugueses (in Portuguese), Lisbon, Portugal

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[NGA-1] "Maritime Safety Information", NGA List of Lights, Springfield, Virginia: U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), 2011, retrieved 18 July 2011

[ARLHS-2] "Identification Codes", ARLHS World List of Lights (WLOL), Merchantville, New Jersey: Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society/The Weidner Publishing Group., 2003, retrieved 18 July 2011

[Admiralty-3] "Notice to Mariners", Admiralty List of Lights (ALL), Tauton, Sommerset, England: United Kingdom Hydrohraphic Office, 2011, retrieved 18 July 2011

[SIPA-4] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Costa, Patricia (2002), SIPA (ed.), Farol do Albarnaz (IPA.00012776/PT072006030004) (in Portuguese), Lisbon, Portugal: SIPA – Sistema de Informação para o Património Arquitectónico, archived from the original on 1 October 2015, retrieved 8 October 2015

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