It was built in 1326 and rebuilt in 1543. The oldest Italian lighthouse is the so called Lanterna (lantern) in Genoa. In the following century, the French engineer Augustin-Jean Fresnel was the first to construct a special type of lens - now called a Fresnel lens - as a substitute for mirrors in lighthouses. The current connotation of today’s lighthouses - including the Statue of Liberty in New York – was first developed in the 18th century. Around 300 BC the Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse of Alexandria were among the wonders of the world.
Originally, instead of lighthouses, there were simple bonfires, which slowly evolved into towers. Indeed, by night, the Italian coast looks like a Christmas tree enlightened with thousands of bright spots to show the safest routes for the sailors. There are also 668 navigation lights and 1,370 light that keep watch from the Italian coast. Of these, only 62 have an actual human keeper. Truth is, though, that within 10 or 15 years this profession will be extinct.Īlong the 8,000-kilometer Italian coastline, there are just 161 lighthouses in the strict sense of the word, meaning facilities that emit a ray of light visible for at least 15,000 nautical miles. For some, this is a dream job with the benefits of freedom, life far from the daily routine and a chance to live surrounded by the ebbs and flows of the natural world. There is never a shortage of people writing to the Italian Defense Ministry applying for a position as a lighthouse keeper.
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