São Jorge Lighthouse

With a height of 14 metres, the São Jorge Lighthouse is an important landmark in the scenery that can be observed from Ponta de São Jorge, municipality of Santana. Surrounded by a stunning ocean landscape, this large infrastructure already has several decades of history.

Even though it only came into operation in April 1959, this lighthouse was designed as early as 1948. Built at an altitude of 271 metres, its structure is made up of a ribbed cylindrical tower and an adjacent building.

In an initial phase, it was equipped with a 3rd order, large model (focal length equal to 500 mm) drum dioptric lens. There, the light source was a gas filament lamp. However, in 1962, the São Jorge Lighthouse was then connected to the public electricity distribution network and started using a combination of gas and electricity equipment.

Later, after some remodelling, the Ponta de São Jorge Lighthouse finally received 12V/100 W halogen lamps in 1995, which give it a 15 miles light range. It should be noted that this infrastructure controls, from a distance, the São Lourenço Lighthouse, situated on the easternmost peninsula of the island of Madeira.