Porto Santo lighthouse
Original title: Farol do Porto Santo
The lighthouse on the Ilhéu de Cima off Porto Santo, which began operating in 1901, forty years after the São Lourenço light, after coastal shipwrecks had shown the need for it.
After the São Lourenço lighthouse (Farol de São Lourenço), the building of a lighthouse on the island of Porto Santo (‘holy harbour’) was always recognised as the first and most urgent need. The lack of lighting on those coasts caused several disasters, with loss of lives and vessels, which are recorded in the Annals of that island. Some studies were carried out and projects and estimates drawn up, but it was only forty years after the São Lourenço lighthouse began operating that the lighthouse on the neighbouring island of Porto Santo began to light those waters, over a radius of eleven miles. The site chosen was a small islet known as Ilhéu de Cima (‘upper islet’), separated from the island of Porto Santo by a narrow and short channel. The lantern stands 118 metres above sea level. It was a fixed white light, visible at a distance of 11 miles. It began operating in 1901. It has rendered valuable service to shipping, and especially to vessels making for the port of Funchal.
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Porto Santo
Lighthouse on the Ilhéu de Cima off Porto Santo. It began operating in 1901, forty years after the São Lourenço light, after coastal shipwrecks had shown the need for it.
- Funchal
Port for which ships benefited from the light.
The capital of the archipelago and seat of the principal captaincy, where settlement began; it was made a vila c.1451–52. Its bay, the widest in the archipelago, lies between Ponta do Garajau and Ponta da Cruz and offers sheltered anchorage, though its harbour had never been studied oceanographically. The Elucidário discusses it as a health resort with climate data and records the January 1906 disturbances, the Danish prince's visit in May 1846 and recent volcanic cones in the area.
- Ilhéu de Cima
Porto Santo. Small islet chosen as the site of the lighthouse, 118 m above sea level.
The Ilhéu de Cima, also called Ilhéu dos Dragoeiros or do Farol, is an islet east-south-east of Porto Santo marking the eastern extreme of the archipelago and the eastern limit of Porto Santo bay. A lighthouse was installed there in 1900 at 118 m above sea level, with a quay for its staff. A living Helix Lowei was found there, deep-water shells occur nearby, and it was recommended in 1903 for tuna traps.
- Porto Santo
Island whose unlit coasts caused shipwrecks and where the lighthouse was built.
An island of the archipelago, settled alongside Madeira and forming one of the three captaincies. It has always constituted a single parish, dedicated to Nossa Senhora da Piedade, whose church was repeatedly sacked. The Elucidário records the Moorish pirate raid of 1617, its own Misericórdia and a rainwater channel built on this drought-prone island.
- São Lourenço lighthouse
Machico. Earlier lighthouse, operating some forty years before this one.
The Farol de São Lourenço is a lighthouse on the islet off Ponta de São Lourenço, Madeira's eastern tip. It was built in 1868–70 and first lit on 30 September 1870, some forty years after the Porto Santo light. It is the eastern counterpart to the Ponta do Pargo lighthouse.