Standing Tall, Keeping Watch

[Rodafina]

Spoiler

The Tourlitis Lighthouse looks like it’s straight out of Harry Potter. It sits atop a narrow stone spire poking out of the Aegean Sea off the Greek island of Andros. Originally built in 1897, the lighthouse was destroyed in World War II and rebuilt on the rock in the early 1990s. The stone spire was shaped by thousands of years of erosion, making it the optimal pedestal for a lighthouse (both functionally and aesthetically). Adding to its fantasy-like appearance, a carved stone staircase winds up the rock to the structure itself. After its reconstruction, Tourlitis became Greece’s first automated lighthouse, operating without an on-site keeper.

 

[Rodafina]

Spoiler

Sitting atop a rocky volcanic crag in the Tyrrhenian Sea is the Strombolicchio Lighthouse. Built in 1905, the remote lighthouse sits atop the exposed chimney of a former volcano, an island unto itself. A part of the famed Aeolian islands, which the Greeks believed were the home to the god of the winds. Visitors can hike up to lighthouse itself, but be warned the trip is somewhat perilous.

 

[Rodafina]

Spoiler

Maiden’s Tower, Turkey​

Also commonly referred to as Leander’s Tower, Maiden’s Tower is located on a small islet at the southern entrance to the Bosphorus Strait. Steeped in an invigorating history, Maiden’s Tower first opened in 1110, when it was used primarily as a watchtower. For a time, a defense wall linked the tower to the Asiatic shore, the remnants of which can be viewed underwater still today. It wasn’t until the tower was destroyed by an earthquake in 1509 and then later burned in 1721 that it began being used as a lighthouse. Since then, it has also functioned as a quarantine station, appeared in a James Bond movie, and now acts as a popular tourist attraction. Several small boats leave Istanbul for the tower daily. Once there, visitors can enjoy a drink or a snack in the tower’s cafe and restaurant before ascending to its cupola summit.

 

[Human Avatar]

View attachment 109512

Spoiler

The Tourlitis Lighthouse looks like it’s straight out of Harry Potter. It sits atop a narrow stone spire poking out of the Aegean Sea off the Greek island of Andros. Originally built in 1897, the lighthouse was destroyed in World War II and rebuilt on the rock in the early 1990s. The stone spire was shaped by thousands of years of erosion, making it the optimal pedestal for a lighthouse (both functionally and aesthetically). Adding to its fantasy-like appearance, a carved stone staircase winds up the rock to the structure itself. After its reconstruction, Tourlitis became Greece’s first automated lighthouse, operating without an on-site keeper.

Wow!

 

[Angular Chap]

This is the nearest lighthouse to where I live, or at least the most interesting one. Isle of May lighthouse.

Also, a sketch of the original lighthouse, back when it was coal-fired. The first permanently manned lighthouse in Scotland, it took 3 lighthouse keepers to keep it running.

 

[Nervous Rex]

I've always thought that the idea of "leading lights" is genius. If there's just one safe way to approach a shore (with rocks or other obstacles on either side), there will be a lighthouse and then a leading light, so that the two lights are at different heights and different locations. When the lights are lined up from the ship's point of view, the ship is on the safe course to shore.

When looking up these pictures, I found this website: Leading lights - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia, which says:

Some major rivers, such as the Elbe River in Germany, have a series of leading lines. When it is necessary to make a turn, the navigator lines up the next pair of leading lights. This provides guidance from Hamburg to the sea, using successive pairs of leading lights.

 

[Rodafina]

Ladies of the Light

https://whyy.org/articles/mind-the-...red-through-historical-records-public-memory/

 

[Rodafina]

Keepers

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[WhitewaterWoman]

I’ve yearned to be a lighthouse keeper…or…a fire tower watcher.

But I’ve always been attached to other people in some manner.

 

[Angular Chap]

A few more of my local lighthouses, situated on the islands in the Forth estuary, north of Edinburgh:

Bass Rock (which I used to call "Tracy Island" when I was a kid, after Thunderbirds!)

The lighthouse up close

Inchkeith Island, with surviving WW2 fortifications.

The lighthouse up close

And finally, Fidra

The lighthouse

 

[Forest Cat]

Cats are excellent lighthouse keepers.

 

[Rodafina]

Cats are excellent lighthouse keepers.

Yes! Life in a lighthouse with a cat would be wonderful. A dog may not do so well there, but a cat would be the perfect companion.

This lighthouse keeper business is starting to look better and better every day. If I disappear someday and no one can find me, look toward the light and I will be in the tall tower with my cat.

 

[Angular Chap]

Cats are excellent lighthouse keepers.

Thanks, you just reminded me of a classic childhood series.

They stop seagulls from stealing your lunch!

Ahh, The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch. Anyone else remember this from their childhood? I don't know if the series made it outside the UK. The authors still write the books. The last one, The Lighthouse Keeper's Mystery was published in 2020.

 

[Forest Cat]

Cats seem to be drawn to lighthouses. And people write books about the cats and their lighthouses.

 

[Forest Cat]

A local firetower.

 

[Rodafina]

This thread seems like a good home for this video.

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[Luca]

This extremely creepy (but cool) haunted lighthouse is basically down the street from me.

Its light flashes in a distinct "1-4-3" pattern, which is the number of letters in "I love you," hence my 1-4-3 tattoo.

Won't say the name of the lighthouse as I don't want to give away my location, but it can be found pretty easily anyway, even if you're not a detective lol (just don't post the name or location of it on here if you do find it, please.)

 

[RESleight]

 

[Jumpinbare]

Look out place...

 

[RESleight]