Farol de S. Julião

The fortress near the mouth of the Tagus, built around 1556, took its name from the former São Gião chapel. It underwent two notable surrenders: in 1580 during the Philippine occupation, and again in 1640 in exchange for a reward. It served as a military and political prison until the reign of King Miguel. A 1758 Pombaline charter ordered the construction of the São Julião lighthouse, likely replacing an earlier beacon destroyed in the 1755 earthquake. In 1775, an inefficient Argand‑lamp system with a parabolic reflector was installed. Modernisation between 1848 and 1865 added a 4th‑order Fresnel lens producing a fixed white light powered by wood‑distilled gas. From 1880, illumination came from petroleum‑gas incandescence. A horn signal was added in 1916; the light was extinguished during WWI. In 1933 it adopted a red occulting characteristic and was connected to the public grid. Automated in 1980, it became remotely controlled from the Directorate of Lighthouses.