The Europa Point Lighthouse, also referred to as the Trinity Lighthouse at Europa Point and the Victoria Tower or La Farola in Llanito, is a lighthouse at Europa Point, on the southeastern tip of the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula, at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea.
Europa Lighthouse was inaugurated on 1 August 1841 in a brief ceremony witnessed by about 10,000 people. The first upgrade of the lighthouse occurred in 1864, when the single-wick lamp was replaced with a Chance Brothers four-wick burner, with further changes in 1875 and in 1894 when the amount of light emitted was increased. A three incandescent mantle burner was added in 1905. Following further modernisation in the 20th century, the lighthouse was fully automated in 1994 and converted to LED operation in 2016.
Europa Point Lighthouse is operated by Trinity House. The cylindrical tower is painted white, with a wide red horizontal band in the middle. The lighthouse has a height of and is above the high-water mark.
History
Also known as the Trinity Lighthouse at Europa Point and the Victoria Tower, the Europa Point Lighthouse, of classic British design, first underwent construction in 1838. Sir Alexander George Woodford (1782–1870), Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Gibraltar, set the first stone for the lighthouse's foundation on 26 April 1838, with the aid of the Masonic Order of Gibraltar. The inscription read:
A brief ceremony commemorated the event, which was witnessed by about 10,000 people. Construction of the lighthouse was completed in 1841, and was inaugurated according to schedule on 1 August that year. The first lighting of the Europa Point Lighthouse drew an audience of more than 2,000 people.
To navigate the Bay of Gibraltar prior to the opening of the lighthouse sailors were dependent on the light emitted by the Shrine of Our Lady of Europe, Roman Catholic shrine, which was originally a mosque built after the victory of King Ferdinand IV of Spain over the Moors at the 1309 siege. They expressed their gratitude by leaving supplies of oil at the chapel, which also encouraged the continued burning of the lights.
At the time of the opening of the lighthouse in 1841, a fixed light was emitted by an oil lamp with one wick. The intensity of the light was increased by a large (first-order) optic by Cookson & Co., combining a main dioptric fixed lens with upper and lower tiers of catoptric mirrors. On 25 April 1843, lighting was upgraded to improve visibility from Sandy Bay, and in 1854, the lighthouse had a reported visibility of .
Repairs and alterations were made to the lighthouse in 1863-64 by engineer Henry Norris, when the single-wick lamp was replaced with a Chance Brothers four-wick burner, and a new, much-improved optic was provided (a first-order fixed catadioptric, also by Chance Brothers). The improvements included provision of a red arc of light over the hazardous Pearl Rock region: in order to maintain the intensity of the red light out as far as Pearl Rock (which was 6 miles away), 9-foot high vertical reflecting prisms were used to redirect light from the landward side (where it would otherwise be wasted) back through the red sector. An additional upgrade was made in 1875 when the lamp was switched out for a four-wick mineral oil burner.
In 1894, the lighthouse was further altered to increase the amount of light emitted. The four-wick burner was exchanged for a Douglass burner with eight wicks and the lantern was improved; the power of the light was thereby increased to 35,000 candela. The characteristic of the light changed from fixed to occulting. An explosive fog signal was also introduced, with two quick blasts every five minutes. The eight-wick burner was exchanged for a three incandescent mantle burner in 1905. In 1923, the burner was replaced by a Hood petroleum vapour burner with one mantle.