Farol do Outão

A light is believed to have existed at Outão as early as the 17th century, originally a beacon fire used to guide ships entering Setúbal. The first lighthouse structure on the Arrábida mountain dates from 1775 and was later modernised in 1857 with a Fresnel lens, the second installed in Portugal. In 1863 the lighthouse was moved to the Outão fort, at the entrance to the port. In 1917 a new lantern and a fixed 4th‑order optical apparatus were installed, using a petroleum lamp. The lighthouse was extinguished during World War I and electrified in 1954, changing from fixed white to red occulting. It became unstaffed in 1982 when the Sado signalling system passed to the Tejo Lighthouse Directorate, though two keepers briefly returned in the 1990s before being reduced to one in 2003. The lighthouse was automated in 1984 and its electrical system upgraded.