Lighthouse Description and History

(Text extracted from nomination form submitted by Chilean Navy, Chile, 2025)

Following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492, an important milestone was the discovery of the Strait of Magellan in 1520, and later, Cape Horn in 1616. Since then, these passages became increasingly important as shipping routes between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, mainly for ships coming from Europe, resulting in increased maritime traffic and the foundation of cities on the Pacific coast.

By the mid-nineteenth century, the situation escalated, forcing countries to define responsibilities. The Boundary Treaty between Chile and Argentina (1881) was a significant milestone, delimiting the southern territories of both countries, which were undeveloped and sparsely populated, except for some nomadic tribes. Since that treaty, Chile has taken control of the Strait of Magellan, assuming responsibility for its maintenance and for ensuring the safe passage of vessels. This led to some Chilean ports, such as Valparaiso and Valdivia, becoming compulsory stopovers for rest and basic services for ships coming from Europe.

However, the increasing vessel traffic along the routes connecting the Strait of Magellan to these port cities caused numerous accidents due to the deadly combination of difficult geography and harsh climatic conditions typical of southern Chile.

The evident need for aids to navigation required the planning of an appropriate lighthouse system, a task entrusted from 1892 on to the Scottish engineer George Slight Marshall (1859-1934) of Trinity House, England. At the end of the nineteenth century, he was tasked with designing and implementing a network of lighthouses in the most dangerous navigational areas to reduce the risk of accidents.

One of the first and most important projects was the Evangelistas Lighthouse, inaugurated in 1896 and implemented within the complex coast that make up the Patagonian channels of southern Chile, comprising approximately 43,000 islands.

The Strait of Magellan is a complex sea passage in the extreme south of Chile, between Patagonia, the main island of Tierra del Fuego, and countless islands located to the west, towards the Pacific Ocean. It is the main natural passage between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

The strait is named after the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, who discovered it in 1520 during the Spanish expedition aiming to reach the East Indies and open a trade route, marking the first circumnavigation of the Earth.

On his journey, Magellan gave the name of “Pacific” to the great ocean he encountered while going through calm waters for most of the voyage after crossing the Strait of Magellan and, at his departure, navigating past the islets, which would eventually be called “Evangelistas”, whose lighthouse began illuminating in 1896 this complex entry and exit point connecting two oceans and two continents.

Interestingly, the name “Pacific” was far from reality, as the constant storms and relentless winds prevailing in the area meant that the first exploration and evaluation voyage to the islets in 1892, for the lighthouse construction, lasted 113 days, allowing its builder to remain on site for only 6.5 hours.

This, combined with the technology of the time, is one of the reasons why the construction of the Evangelistas Lighthouse remains unique and impressive. It represents one of the most ambitious maritime engineering undertakings of the nineteenth century, built under particularly adverse climatic conditions, and, after 129 years, is still fully operational and contributing substantially to the safeguarding of human life.

It is difficult to describe the environment of the area surrounding the Evangelistas Lighthouse; however, the words of its builder, Scottish engineer George Slight, upon first sighting the Evangelistas Islets, summarize it perfectly: “I never imagined seeing something so wild and desolate as those emerging dark rocks in the middle of the raging waves. To see these stormy craggy rocks was frightening. With a dim light on the horizon we could see large waves crashing heavily in the western part of the islands, a vision that hardly anyone can imagine”.

 

Reason For Nomination

(Text extracted from nomination form submitted by Chilean Navy, Chile, 2025)

Intrinsic Heritage Interest of the Lighthouse

Historical significance / Historical context

To explain how important the Evangelistas Lighthouse is for the country, we need to know the context of the period beginning in 1810, when Chile became independent, just two centuries ago. This was shortly after the process in which the country left its status as a Captaincy General of the Spanish Empire to establish itself as an independent republic, a process that was not exempt from armed clashes with Spain and brutal civil wars during the initial organization of the country.

The discovery of the Pacific Ocean (1514) led to the desire to connect it with the Atlantic Ocean, which eventually resulted in the discovery of the Strait of Magellan and the dangerous Cape Horn.

Accordingly, with these discoveries and technological progress in navigation, there was an increase in the traffic of ships from Europe to the Pacific and vice versa. This led to the proliferation of ports on the western shore of the American continent, which became compulsory docking points for rest and the provision of basic services for ships coming from Europe. Trade and economic exchange became more dynamic, having a decisive influence on world trade patterns, and boosted the economic and social growth of emerging countries in the region, in addition to being a primary driver of economic expansion in many remote areas worldwide.

The last decades of the nineteenth century were a golden age for shipping to and from Europe, through the Strait of Magellan. In 1867, regular service between Liverpool and Valparaíso was established, with a port call at Punta Arenas, offered by the shipping company “Pacific Steam Navigation Company” (PSNC). The ships of the German steamship company “Kosmos” and other renowned companies also navigated the waters of the Strait. However, the dark bends and waters of the Strait of Magellan were not always safe, to such an extent that between 1869 and 1894 there were more than 30 large-scale disasters resulting in tragic losses of life and property.

By the end of the nineteenth century, shipping traffic in the Strait of Magellan was already very intense because, along with Cape Horn, it formed the passage needed to connect different seas, prior to the construction of the Panama Canal (1914). This passage served both international shipping and domestic vessels connecting the city of Punta Arenas with the country’s main ports and the eastern Pacific region. Increased traffic, severe weather, and the darkness of the Strait made this passage a dangerous route, endangering human lives and valuable cargo on a daily basis.

Decision to build a lighthouse

After signing the boundary treaty with Argentina in 1881, Chile confirmed its control and sovereignty over the Strait of Magellan, assuming the responsibility for its maintenance and for ensuring the safe passage of ships.

The choice of a suitable professional to carry out the great task of illuminating the Magellanic and southern coasts of Chile, was made by the Chilean ambassador in London, Agustín Ross. The person chosen was George Henry Slight Marshall, a Scottish engineer from the UK’s Trinity House, descended from a family involved in lighthouse construction. In 1892, Slight was commissioned to plan and implement an appropriate system of aids to navigation in the most dangerous areas of the Strait of Magellan and southern Chile. The plan was called the “Illumination of the Strait”.

The work done by Engineer Slight was so important that his aids to navigation plan is considered a turning point in the history and sovereignty of the country, regarding the way in which Chile has understood and governed its southern territory. This plan was framed in the classical vision of territorial dominance carried over from the colonial period, which defined the Strait of Magellan as the Finis Terrae of the time.

During and after the construction of the lighthouse on the Evangelistas Islets, Slight systematically navigated both the Strait of Magellan and the western channels. These exploratory voyages allowed the engineer to survey, study, and record the coastal areas and navigable passages. The progression of these explorations resulted in knowledge of previously uncharted areas and the formulation of a precise and complex strategy for illuminating the seas of the southernmost part of America, whose first major work was precisely the construction of the Evangelistas Lighthouse.

Importance of navigation / Geographical importance

The extreme south of Chile offers special, complex, and extreme climatic characteristics due to the following:

• It is located in the vicinity of the polar front, a strip that surrounds the Earth and where the migratory meteorological depressions originate.
• It is located at a latitude considered subantarctic.
• It is influenced by the cold Humboldt Current, which contributes to maintaining the climatic uniformity of the frozen areas of the globe.

In this context, by the end of the nineteenth century, steamship navigation was routine on ships traveling from Europe to the east coast of the Americas. Many ships preferred to venture around Cape Horn rather than cross the Strait of Magellan, since there were no references or markers for the hazardous narrow passages.

Similarly, during navigation, coastal observation and access to the Strait of Magellan from the Pacific were difficult to determine. It was so important and necessary to have a lighthouse in that location that, within a few months of its operation, there was a significant increase in crossings of the Strait of Magellan by ships that have previously gone through Cape Horn.

Structural development / Difficulty of construction

Engineer Slight’s plan was to create a network of lighthouses in the Strait of Magellan, most of which still exist today, and some even have the status of official national monuments.

The first major work of Engineer Slight was the implementation of a lighthouse at the western entrance of the Strait of Magellan, particularly on the Evangelistas Islets. On 30 April 1895, Slight and his team of 18 men, including supervisors, seamen, and workers, began this difficult and dangerous undertaking.

Once there, Slight realized that the task was almost impossible to accomplish due to an incredible setting of rugged geography, where rocky promontories were battered by enormous waves that can still be seen today, which are over 20 meters high and powerful enough to reach the lighthouse’s base, 60 meters above sea level. Winds can reach 150 knots, annual rainfall range between 2,000 and 3,000 millimeters, and temperatures border -15° Celsius, making it a harrowing scene difficult to describe and forget.

Historical data indicate that an exploration vessel had to wait forty days in a bay near the islets before resuming navigation. The place received the name, which remains in official publications to this day, of “Forty Days’ Bay”.

In the construction logbook of Engineer Slight (now part of a lighthouse museum), it can be seen that at the start of the work, the support vessel had to wait 53 days in the aforementioned bay before reaching the islets and disembarking the first group of six men and materials.

The works took two years and involved the collaboration of 18 national and foreign men. The construction of the lighthouse was a colossal task, due to the technology used and the fact that “out of every three days, only one allowed for work,” according to Slight’s meticulous notebook.

An entry in the logbook, dated 23 October 1896, notes that, among other things, the prevailing bad weather greatly hampered the work, the transportation of materials, the reception of supplies for a proper diet, and even caused the loss of some of the lighthouse equipment. Also, there were difficulties with workers, whether due to illness, serious lack of discipline, or simply an inability to adapt to the place and pace of work. This same report mentions ten workers who were dismissed for insubordination and who could not be promptly removed from the islet, creating periods of a very hostile environment.

At midnight, on 18 September 1896, the Evangelistas Lighthouse illuminated for the first time the immensity of the south, in celebration of a new anniversary of Chile’s national independence and in tribute to the President of the Republic, Jorge Montt Álvarez, who ended his presidential term that day. Since that day, the lighthouse’s light has never stopped shining, and its staff continues to assist seafarers, just as they have done since the very first day.

Over the years, and to this day, the Evangelistas Lighthouse has consistently been considered the most solitary, isolated, and complex station to maintain and supply. Due to the difficulty of accessing it, the extreme weather conditions, its ruggedness, its desolation, and almost nonexistent vegetation, the various groups of lighthouse keepers have, since its construction, colloquially referred to it as “The Rock,” a name intended to highlight the sacrifice, selflessness, and courage of the staff involved in its construction and those who have kept its light alive for 129 years.

It is important to note that at that time, facing complex geographic and climatic conditions without consolidated geographic knowledge and with precarious technology was a determining factor in the design and construction of these buildings. The purpose of this network of lighthouses was to ensure the safe interoceanic passage through the Strait of Magellan, a major geopolitical concern in the late nineteenth century, and it was an important step in consolidating territorial knowledge of the southern maritime zone of the American continent.

Architectural Development

The decision to build a lighthouse of great importance in this inhospitable location meant that the structure had to withstand severe weather. Therefore, choosing the design for the tower and the attached house was not an easy task: it had to combine majesty with mechanical resistance.

Its solid final construction of 258.4 m2 has architectural features that make it a very unique construction worthy of being considered a monument lighthouse. Efforts have been made to ensure that, despite modernization, the tower and the house maintain their original features in the old style.

The structure of the lighthouse is located on the highest part of the islet, 60 meters above sea level. The tower consists of a cylinder 3 meters in diameter and 14 meters high. The lantern is made of steel and equipped with curved glass that allows the beam of light to extend towards the horizon. Inside, it features a spiral staircase made of cast iron and concrete.

The house, as can be seen in the elevation drawing, consists of a 10-meter square, used as the staff quarters, and a 15-meter diameter circle, containing rooms such as the kitchen, dining halls, radio room, and storerooms. From the center of the circle, a spiral staircase leads to the interior of the lighthouse tower.

National monument declaration

On 1 June 2009, the National Monuments Council of the Republic of Chile declared the Evangelistas Lighthouse a “National Monument” in the category of “Historical Monument”, as part of the “Heritage Enhancement” program.

The decision took into consideration the architectural features and the climatic difficulties of the area, seeking to represent an important international symbol of nineteenth-century maritime activity.

Aids to navigation station

Over time, the important geographical location of the lighthouse has allowed it to become part of a radio telephone linking network for maritime services and emergencies.

In addition, the lighthouse provides, among others, the following services:

• Radio assistance to mariners.
• Permanent listening watch on HF and VHF distress channels.
• Radio medical communication.
• Weather observation and forecasting.
• Maritime traffic control station.
• Fixed Alert Center in case of any marine accident in the area.
• It is part of the network of SAR stations, according to the national maritime search and rescue plan, which is the fourth largest area in the world.

The lighthouse also has a frequency-agile RACON, which broadcasts in the X-S bands, and the implementation of an AIS AtoN device is planned.

Light signal

The Evangelistas Lighthouse is listed as one of the first-order and most important aids to navigation in Chile’s network. The lighthouse tower is equipped with two modern, long-range lanterns, one main and one secondary, where past and present converge in a backup system.

Main Lantern:

• Rotating device designed to achieve a range close to 30 NM.
• English-made Stone Chance lantern.
• Uses a high-intensity (240,000 lm), 2,500 W metal halide HMI electric arc lamp.
• The equipment was acquired in 1972, operated for years at another station, and was reinstalled at the Evangelistas Lighthouse in 2001 (53 years of operation).
• The device is powered by internal combustion electric generators.

Secondary lantern: Used as a backup, it is a powerful modern 350 mm LED technology device, with an approximate luminous range of 15 NM.

Weather Station

Due to its geographical location and isolation, far from populated centers, it has been an important national weather station.

Its walls are hit by southwesterly winds of up to 150 knots and an average annual rainfall of around 3,000 mm.

Currently, the Evangelistas Lighthouse belongs to the World Meteorological Organization’s network of synoptic stations, and its location allows it to provide data for a large, unpopulated area, that is nonetheless an obligatory passage for significant vessel traffic transiting from one continent to another.

Its meteorological data, recorded every three hours by the staff, serve both to complete the regional synoptic analysis and to feed global forecasting models, while also contributing to local climate knowledge over long historical series.

In addition, they support local radio broadcasting on HF and VHF frequencies of marine weather forecasts, storm warnings for the ocean area, and current weather reporting requirements for access to the Strait of Magellan, while retransmitting data from other nearby stations.

Centennial Weather Station

In May 2023, the Evangelistas Lighthouse station was recognized as a “Centennial Weather Station” by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). “This international recognition is given to weather stations that have maintained continuous high-quality records for at least one hundred years as part of the preservation of scientific and climate memory”.

Conservation

Next to the tower, the lighthouse has a house occupied by four or five Chilean Navy specialists. They spend extended periods in isolation, up to eight months, and are responsible for the operation and safeguarding of the station, as well as the structural maintenance of the house and tower, technical equipment, power sources, and access to the lighthouse. This situation has remained unchanged throughout the station’s 129 years of continuous operation.

Exterior: The lighthouse tower and house are the same constructions originally built in 1896, with some minor alterations.

The lighthouse’s construction was complex, and its maintenance and operation are not simple tasks either. It is currently maintained at a high standard of conservation due to the care provided by the lighthouse specialists who inhabit and operate the station, in addition to the periodic maintenance scheduled annually by the Chilean Navy’s National Lighthouse Authority for the aids to navigation equipment, machinery, and building facilities.

Interior: The lighthouse maintains the same room layout, focused on the functionality and well-being of the staff, and the proper operation of the station.

Public Access and Education

Public Outreach

Due to the often severe weather conditions, its geographical location, and difficult access, the station only maintains a staff of four or five lighthouse specialists, in extreme isolation, for periods of at least four months. In this context, in-person visits for the general public are not possible, however, the lighthouse is publicized and brought closer to the public through other means.

The history of the Evangelistas Lighthouse, its importance to the country, its extreme isolation, severe weather conditions, and the sacrifice, training, and strength of its operating personnel deeply attract the national public, and Chilean television channels and social media continually promote the lighthouse.

Another very important way of disseminating information about the lighthouse is through the Ministry of Education of the Government of Chile, which highlights the importance of the Evangelistas Lighthouse and the Strait of Magellan in official national education documents for children in primary education, called Educational Resources and Curricular Documents, which in their official curricula propose, within the didactic organization of the school year, achieving the Learning Objectives by reading and familiarizing students with a wide repertoire of literature to increase their knowledge of the world, develop their imagination, and recognize its social and cultural value.

The Evangelistas Lighthouse is also promoted through the reading of a short story from the novel Cabo de Hornos (Cape Horn), called La gallina de los huevos de luz (The hen with the eggs of light). The novel recounts the violent dispute among the crew of the Evangelistas Lighthouse who, due to severe storms could not be relieved or resupplied with food, and the only supplies left were a live hen and some grain to feed it. However, besieged by hunger, some asked to kill the hen and eat it along with the grain, while others argued that it was better to feed the hen with the grain and sustain themselves with the eggs laid.

The novel not only recounts the inner turmoil of the men in need of food, which incidentally details a complex moral plot, but also masterfully and thoroughly describes the stormy surroundings of the Evangelistas Lighthouse and the Strait of Magellan.

Francisco Coloane, a prominent and renowned Chilean writer who received the National Prize for Literature in 1964, wrote the novel in 1941.

This reading is officially included, for classroom use, in the Language and Communication area of the curricula of the Chilean Ministry of Education. The education authority requires that, along with the reading of La gallina de los huevos de luz, images of the Strait of Magellan and the Evangelistas Lighthouse be shown, and that their importance be explained to students, in addition to a description of the lighthouse, its location, and the characteristics of the surrounding area.

Book: Lighthouses of the Strait of Magellan. A historical and architectural heritage

On the occasion of the celebrations of the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the Strait of Magellan, and sponsored by the Municipality of the city of Punta Arenas (located on the Strait), the fifth edition of the book Faros del Estrecho de Magallanes. Un patrimonio histórico y arquitectónico (Lighthouses of the Strait of Magellan. A Historical and Architectural Heritage) was launched in 2019.

The book was written more than two decades ago by the Chilean historian of Croatian descent, Mateo Martinić Beros, who received the National History Award in 2000.

He also received the Bicentennial Award (2006), a national recognition given in Chile to individuals whose work and social contribution have been important to the nation’s literary development. He has also received honorary doctorates from several universities in Chile and Croatia.

His work as a historian encompasses numerous publications that address one of the least developed areas of Chilean historiography, particularly in southern Chile, with special emphasis on human settlement in the regions of Magallanes and Aysén.

The text Lighthouses of the Strait of Magellan describes the great work carried out by national authorities at the end of the nineteenth century regarding the construction of the important lighthouses of the time, and it includes their geopolitical context and implications, their architectural development, and an overview of the technological progress that began in the late nineteenth century to support navigation in the Strait of Magellan.

Of course, the first to be described is the Evangelistas Lighthouse, as it constitutes the starting point for the great work of the Scottish engineer George Slight.

Other Reasons Why the Nominated Lighthouse Would Promote World Lighthouse Heritage

Historical Context of Chile

The Evangelistas Lighthouse symbolizes the work that began a difficult period of taking possession, by the nascent Republic of Chile, of large and unexplored expanses of territory in the south of the American continent.

Modern aids to navigation station

Highly trained personnel, capable of enduring long periods of extreme isolation, are employed to carry out the radio station’s operational processes and structural maintenance of the lighthouse.

Today, the lighthouse maintains its majestic appearance and original construction and provides, among other services, radio assistance to mariners, permanent listening watch on HF and VHF distress channels, radio medical communication, weather observation and forecasting, maritime traffic control station, and a Fixed Alert Center in case of any maritime disaster in the area.

World historical context

The historical importance of the transit of ships through the famous Strait of Magellan is undeniable. Since its discovery in 1520, a tireless flow of ships began, connecting Europe with the New World and exchanging not only goods but also culture and customs.

Safety of navigation

The lighthouse provided a solution to the safety of navigation at a time when sail and steam navigation were the routine means of intercontinental transportation. Since then, it has allowed for improved safety in transit through the Strait of Magellan, a situation that has undoubtedly saved many lives by providing navigators with an important alternative route to the dangerous crossing of Cape Horn.

This also helped to boost commercial exchange, decisively influencing world trade patterns and driving the proliferation of new ports and the economic and social growth of the emerging countries of the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Geographic and climatological context

The implementation of a network of lighthouses in unexplored locations in southern Chile in those years, starting with the Evangelistas Lighthouse, provided safety for interoceanic passage through the Strait of Magellan, a major geopolitical concern at the end of the nineteenth century.

However, this also led to significant progress in consolidating Chile’s sovereignty and territorial knowledge of the southern maritime zone of the American continent.

The lighthouse was built in a complex maritime passage located in the extreme south of Chile, specifically at the western entrance to the Strait of Magellan, within the rugged coastline that makes up the Patagonian Channels of southern Chile, comprised of approximately 43,000 islands. However, the geographical complexity is compounded by the extreme climatic conditions prevailing year-round, which combine to create an extremely dangerous scenario.

Architectural and monumental development

The lighthouse structure has European-style architectural features influenced by engineer George Slight (1859-1934), making it a very unique building worthy of a monumental lighthouse. Despite its modernity, efforts have been made to ensure that the tower and house retain their original features, and keep the tower’s earlier style. In 2009, the lighthouse was declared a “National Monument” in the category of “Historic Monument”, as part of the national “Heritage Enhancement” program.

Conservation

Today, the tower and the house are the same as those inaugurated in 1896. While it has modern equipment to interact with seafarers and its furnishings must be replaced periodically due to natural wear and tear, an effort has been made to maintain the original enveloping structure.

Location

The lighthouse is located at coordinates 52° 23’ 10” S and 75° 05’ 45” W, in one of the most difficult locations for ship traffic. Its cruel reputation precedes it and symbolizes a relentless pursuit of man to bend nature. However, the lighthouse stands as a symbol reminding us that man is far from winning this battle.

Its walls are battered by southwesterly winds of up to 150 knots, an annual average rainfall of around 3,000 mm, and temperatures as low as -15°C.

The declaration of the lighthouse as an IALA Heritage Lighthouse of the Year would be an important symbol of the respect that seafarers have always had when passing through the area, a posthumous recognition of the hundreds of lives that succumbed in the surrounding waters and, above all, of support for the maritime authorities and entities whose objective is to raise community awareness of lighthouse and maritime heritage in general, and to promote the concept of safety of life at sea, for which lighthouse personnel sacrifice themselves.

Centennial Weather Station

The Evangelistas Lighthouse is an important national weather station belonging to the World Meteorological Organization’s synoptic station network, and its location allows it to provide data for a large unpopulated area.

Its meteorological data serve both to complete regional synoptic analysis and to feed global forecasting models, and contribute to local climate knowledge over long historical series.

In 2023, the Evangelistas Lighthouse station was recognized as a “Centennial Weather Station” by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Public outreach

Due to the generally severe weather conditions, geographical location, and difficult access, in-person visits for the general public are not possible.

However, the lighthouse is publicized and known through other media outlets, such as Chilean television channels, social networks, and platforms that promote not only the Evangelistas Lighthouse, but also other extreme lighthouses in Chile.

Furthermore, the Chilean Ministry of Education, through its Educational Resources, proposes, to achieve the Learning Objectives, reading and familiarizing with a wide range of literature that increases knowledge of the world, develops imagination, and recognizes its social and cultural value.

Through these curricula, the Ministry of Education conveys the importance of the Evangelistas Lighthouse and the Strait of Magellan.

Period of operation

The light at the Evangelistas Lighthouse was first lit on 18 December 1896. Since then, a specialized operator has been continuously in charge 24 hours a day, not only of the signal and the structure, but also of supporting the ships that require the various services offered by the station as technological evolution has made it possible.

After 129 years of that epic accomplishment, the story continues and reminds us of the incessant and silent work carried out by members of the Chilean Navy in the most isolated places of our national territory.

The construction of the Evangelistas Lighthouse is a faithful reflection of the triumph of the will and audacity of men who, overcoming inhospitable conditions, have written a history that spans three centuries, and which continues to illuminate seafarers and protect those who navigate the complex ocean waters of the southern latitudes.

If this lighthouse receives the IALA Heritage Lighthouse of the Year accolade, it would be a great recognition of its builder, the Scottish engineer George Slight, of the dedicated workers who endured the severe weather conditions and geography for years, and particularly of all the Chilean specialists who, with responsibility and sacrifice, have kept the lighthouse’s light alive, contributing to increasing the safety of human life at sea, to the action of the Chilean state, and to national and global maritime development.

Operational history of the Evangelistas Lighthouse

Since its construction, the Evangelistas Lighthouse has been an effective aid to navigation that combines a centuries-old structure with modern technology

Its light has undoubtedly prevented many shipwrecks and the resulting loss of life and property.

The man behind the light

For centuries, the lighthouses of the Strait of Magellan have represented the unique relationship between man and the sea, and are a permanent source of literary and artistic inspiration. However, few realize the complexity of the role of lighthouse specialists who, with a blend of courage, knowledge, temperance, a spirit of sovereignty, and the fulfillment of duty, are capable of keeping alive the reassuring light that every seafarer hopes to see in times of uncertainty.

Photos and Diagrams