Facing the Atlantic Ocean at the southwestern corner of Europe, Portugal (officially the Portuguese Republic, República Portuguesa) has a very distinguished maritime history. Portuguese sailors launched and led the European age of discovery and Portuguese ships have been returning home from the far corners of the globe for about 600 years. It's not surprising that lighthouses have played an important role in Portuguese culture and that they are treasured national monuments today. Madeira is a group of islands located in the eastern Atlantic Ocean about 870 km (540 mi) southwest of Lisbon and about 580 km (360 mi) west of the coast of Morocco. The group includes one large island, the Ilha de Madeira, and a number of smaller islands. The islands were visited by Roman sailors and perhaps by the Phoeniceans, but there was no regular contact with Europe until Madeira was rediscovered and named by Portuguese navigators in 1418. The islands have been Portuguese ever since. In 1974 they became an autonomous region of Portugal. With a population of about 250,000 the islands are a very popular year-round resort, especially for Europeans, as well as a popular stop for cruise ships. The Portuguese word for a lighthouse is farol, plural faróis; a small lightbeacon is often called a farolim. In Portuguese ilha is an island, ilhéu is an islet, cabo is a cape, ponta is a promontory or point of land, rocha is a rock, recife is a reef, baía is a bay, estreito is a strait, rio is a river, and porto is a port or harbor. Formerly owned by the Navy, the lighthouses of Portugal are now operated by the Lighthouse Directorate (Direção de Faróis), an agency of the National Maritime Authority (Autoridade Marítima Nacional). ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. PT numbers are from the Lista de Faróis published by the Portuguese lighthouse directorate, as reported by Portuguese Wikipedia articles. Admiralty numbers are from volume D of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 113.
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![]() Ilhéu do Chão Light, Ilhas Desertas photo copyright C. Voigt and S. Leitner; used by permission |
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Azores | Northeast: Southern Portugal | East: Southwestern Morocco
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Posted January 4, 2006. Checked and revised June 5, 2023. Lighthouses: 15. Site copyright 2023 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.