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. Portugal is divided for statistical purposes into 18 districts. This page has information on the lighthouses of the southern part of the Portuguese mainland in the Faro and Beja districts. There are also pages for Central Portugal and Northern Portugal. Lighthouses of the Azores and Madeira, islands discovered and settled by the early Portuguese explorers, are also on separate pages. 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 in 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 Portuguese light list, as recorded by the Portuguese Wikipedia. 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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Faro District (Algarve) Lighthouses
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![]() Quarteira West Mole Light, Vilamoura, January 2023 Google Maps photo by José Ricardo Fernandes |
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![]() Ponta do Altar Light, Portimão, March 2016 Wikimedia Creative Commons photo by muffinn |
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![]() Ponta de Sagres Light, Sagres, April 2015 Wikimedia Creative Commons photo by Rodw |
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Beja District Lighthouses
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![]() Cabo Sardão Light, Beja District, September 2016 Wikimedia Creative Commons photo by Aleksandr Zykov |
Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Central Portugal | East: Western Andalusia
Return to the Lighthouse Directory index | Ratings key
Posted December 17, 2005. Checked and revised June 18, 2023. Lighthouses: 30. Site copyright 2023 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.