As part of the Navy Day 2018 celebrations, between May 12th and 20th, many of Portugal’s lighthouses will be open to the public.On the mainland, between 2:00 p.m. and 5 p.m., the following lighthouses will be open: Montemor, Leça, Cabo Mondego, Penedo da Saudade, Berlenga, Cabo da Roca, Cabo Espichel, Cabo Sardão, Cabo de São Vicente - Sagres, Alfanzina, Santa Maria - Faro and Vila Real de Santo António.
According to the National Maritime Authority, "the lighthouses will open their doors, free of charge, so that all visitors will have the opportunity to enjoy the experience and understand the role of lighthouses in safeguarding shipping."
History:
The earliest references to the use of bonfires in conspicuous spots or in towers, date back to the early sixteenth century.
The first structure classified as a lighthouse, was erected in 1528 at the mouth of the Douro River by Bishop D. Miguel da Silva, in S. Miguel o Anjo, near the place where, until 2008, the Cantareira lighthouse was in operation.
There are references to a lighthouse erected by the Bishop of the Algarve, D. Fernando Coutinho, in the convent of S. Vicente, between 1515 and 1520, and that in 1537 the friars of the Brotherhood of Our Lady of the Guide of Cascais built a tower to serve as a beacon.
However, only on February 1, 1758, by a permit from the Marquis of Pombal, the lighthouse service became an official organisation and the first was commissioned under the new structure - Our Lady of Light, in 1761.
Responsibility for the operation and maintenance of Portuguese lighthouses finally was handed over to the Ministry of the Navy in 1892.
The Lighthouse Service initially came under the 3rd Section of the 6th Division of the Admiralty Council, which was responsible for the "service of illumination and related material, and for brands, beacons and sound signals on the coast of the continent and adjacent islands."
In 1907, the Lighthouse Service began to form a separate division, under the Directorate-General of the Navy.
With the significant increase in the number of lamps and signalling devices used, a lighthouse division was created by a decree dated May 23, 1924, with the aim of concentrating, in a single entity, the responsibility for all Navigation Aids in Portugal and her Islands, as well as the management of the lighthouse staff.
In 1926 a workshop was set up in Caxias in a warehouse and a building to house the management but it was only twenty years later, on July 8, 1946, that the headquarters was transferred to the defunct Submarine Coastal Defence Group in Paço de Arcos, where it remains until today.
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