Farol de Esposende

Between 1866 and 1925, Esposende operated a small lenticular beacon mounted on an iron stand inside the fort at the entrance to the bar. In 1881, the Lighthouse Commission noted that this beacon had been installed out of immediate necessity and was meant to align with a light that was never built. It was also one of the first petroleum‑fuelled lights in Portugal, replacing olive oil. The current lighthouse began operating on 10 April 1925, built as a 15‑metre iron tower with an experimental fog signal added the same year. Its original 30 cm catadioptric lens was replaced in 1926 by a 5th‑order lens, lit by a two‑wick petroleum lamp. The lighthouse was electrified in 1938, and new support buildings were added in 1943. In 1980, a PRB‑46 rotating sealed‑optic system was installed, followed by an automatic fog detector in 1996. In 1999, the lighting system was upgraded to the TRB‑400 Max Lumina. Since 2003, the lighthouse has been unmanned and overseen by the Montedor Lighthouse.