THE GERM OF VILÁN LIGHTHOUSE

You are at the Cape Vilán's old lighthouse (1854).
Following two fatal wrecks at Boi Point, one of them the Serpent's (1890), international governments pressured Spain for better coastal security. In 1893, a Lighthouse Commission determined that this "Old lighthouse", with a fixed light, was of 4th order. It worked with kerosene and had a reach of less than 10 miles. Both the Finisterre and the Sisargas (1853) lighthouses, the Costa da Morte's first ones, were already classified as 1st order (40 miles, 65 km).
Despite these improvements, the light bounced on the seastacks and there was a blind spot. The order was to raise the tower by 3 m and to blow up the rocks. Still, it did not work, so the next step was to build the octagonal tower you have in front of you, which is the oldest electric lighthouse in Spain. It was lit for the first time on January 15, 1896.
This was and still is a landmark lighthouse. At one point, four lighthouse keepers and their families were living here, plus the apprentice. It was a school for lighthouse keepers.
Look! See the ria location beacons in the punta da Barca (Muxía), in Lago beach and the Soberano Castle? And the chapel of the Virxe do Monte?
Thousands of ships pass every day through this sea route. In the past there have been hundreds of shipwrecks, many of them documented on the rutadelosnaufragios.com website.
VIDEO: Vilán lighthouse "Light of the sea"

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