Quick Links
They serve as beacons and guides to help maritime pilots navigate the sea or inland waterways. Emitting light using a system of lamps and lenses does this. We call these structures lighthouses, and they can be in the form of a tower or building.
Lighthouses are used to mark hazardous reefs and shoals and dangerous coastlines. Boats use them as a guide for safe passage to harbors. It can also be used for aerial navigation. However, the advent of modern and electronic navigational systems means that lighthouses are slowly becoming dispensable.
Still, lighthouses have been with us since ancient times, the most famous of which was the Lighthouse of Alexandria on Pharos Island in Egypt. Which of them stand tallest? Here are the 10 highest lighthouses in the world.
10. Storozhenskiy Light, Lake Ladoga, Russia – 71 meters
Storozhenskiy Light is also known as Storozhno Light. This is an active lighthouse located along Lake Ladoga in Leningrad Oblast in Russia. The lighthouse is made of stone and stands headland on the eastern side of the lake where the Svirsky lip of the lake is separated from the Volkhov Bay. It was built in 1911.
9. Baishamen Lighthouse, Hainan, China – 72 meters
Baishamen Lighthouse is a concrete lighthouse located on Haidian Island in Hainan province in China. It has a hexagonal base that is three stories high. The focal plane is 78 meters and emits a white flash every six seconds. The lighthouse itself has a cylindrical and triangular shape with a base made completely of white concrete. Located on the east side of Haikou Bay, it serves as a landfall light for the city. It was built in the early part of the last decade.
8. Mulantou Lighthouse, Hainan, China – 72 meters
Mulantou Lighthouse is also known as the Hainan Head Light. It is located in Hainan province in China and is considered as the tallest lighthouse in China. Located on the southern side of the province, it marks the south side of the entrance to Qiongzhou Strait. It was built in 1995 and is made of concrete with a round cylindrical shape rising from a circular base that is two stories high. Red trim adorns this white lighthouse and a circular observation room is available at the top.
7. Lesnoy Mole Rear Range Light, St. Petersburg, Russia – 73 meters
The Lesnoy Mole Rear Range Light is an active lighthouse located in St. Petersburg in Russia. Located in a dockyard area on the commercial harbor waterfront of the city, the lighthouse guides ships entering and exiting the port. The lighthouse is made of metal and is considered as the tallest lighthouse in Russia. It is also the tallest range light in the world.
6. Phare de Gatteville, Gatteville le Phare, France – 75 meters
The Phare de Gatteville is an active lighthouse at the tip of Barfleur in the lower Normandy region of France. Also called the Pointe de Barfleur Light, the lighthouse has been around since 1835. As early as 1734 however, a cylindrical granite lighthouse that stood at 25 meters already existed to guide ships amidst the strong currents in the area. It has a range of 54 kilometers and emits two white flashes every 10 seconds. Additionally, a horn is sounded off every minute.
5. Lighthouse of Genoa, Genoa, Italy – 77 meters
The Lighthouse of Genoa is the main lighthouse of the Italian city of Genoa. It is also called Faro di Genova or Lanterna. It was built in 1543 and is considered as one of the oldest standing structures of its kind in the world. It is made of stone and has two square portions capped with a terrace and capped by a lantern where the light is emitted. It has a range of 46 kilometers and emits two white flashes separated by five seconds every 20 seconds. The lantern is painted with a distinctive red and white checkerboard pattern.
4. Ile Vierge Lighthouse, Finistere, France – 82.5 meters
The Ile Vierge Lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse made of stone in Europe. It was built in 1902 and is also the tallest traditional lighthouse in the world. Located in the northwest coast of Brittany, it marks the southwestern limit of the English Channel. It has a truncated cone and cylindrical interior face that is lined with 12,500 opaline glass tiles. The lamp has four lenses with a focal length of half a kilometer. It emits a white flash every five seconds and can be seen for 50 kilometers. The lighthouse is fully automated though there is always a personnel on hand.
3. Yokohama Marine Tower, Yokohama, Japan – 101 meters
The Yokohama Marine Tower is a steel skeletal lighthouse located in Yokohama in Japan. It was built in 1961 and is considered as the tallest lighthouse in the country. Its location deck is located at a height of 100 meters. The lighthouse has 10 sides and is shaped like a cone. It has a range of 46 kilometers. It emits a flash of red and green light every 20 seconds.
2. Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial, Put in Bay, Ohio, United States – 107 meters
The Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial is a granite lighthouse in Put in Bay, Ohio in the United States. It was built in 1915 and is considered as the tallest lighthouse in the country. It commemorates the victory of Commodore Oliver Perry in a naval battle in the War of 1812 and celebrates the lasting peace among the U.S., Canada and Britain after the war. It has the most massive Doric column in the world. The site became a national monument in 1936.
1. Jeddah Light, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – 133 meters
Jeddah Light is a concrete and steel lighthouse built in 1990. It is located in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and marks the end of the outer pier on the north side of the entrance to the city’s seaport. It has a range of 46 kilometers and emits three white flashes every 20 seconds.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEq6CcoJWowW%2BvzqZmnrCgmru0tdWeZKWhlprAtcXLnmatoJVifnF5x6KeoZ2jqXqttcahq6GnpaiytHnIp2StoJVixLC%2By51m