LIGHTHOUSES – COASTAL TREASURES Lighthouses are among the most treasured coastal landmarks. The first historical records of them date back to 400 BC, when they marked the entrance to ports. In the course of time, their function and structure changed. They became a warning signal against shipping hazards. The number of lighthouses is now estimated at more than 18,000. They differ in shape and light characteristic. The light colour, frequency and pattern are specific to a lighthouse. In the old
days, they had to be tended and cared for by a lighthouse keeper, today many of them are automated. Yet, they still make each coast they are located on look picturesque, with a little bit of mystery.
◀ Tokarevsky Lighthouse, Vladivostok, Russia One of the oldest and most recognisable lighthouses in the Far East. It was built on a rocky Tokarevsky Spit, a man-made island 796 meters in length. In 1876, a beacon light started to warn passing ships of shoals and more than thirty years later, a lighthouse was erected there. It is said to be a symbolic place where the Pacific Ocean begins and where the sun rises first on Earth with each new day.
Leander’s Tower, 200 meters from Istanbul, ▶ Turkey One of the smallest and yet most recognisable monuments located in Üsküdar, a district of Istanbul. A legend has it that an emperor’s daughter was kept there, hence the name Maiden’s Tower (Turkish: Kız Kulesi). Its history goes back to 408 BC, when Alcibiades, an Athenian general, had it built on a small islet on the Bosporus. Today, it houses a cafe and a restaurant as well as the Bosporus traffic control station and can be reached by ferry departing, for example, from Ortaköy port.
18 | Summer 2019 | Lifestyle
