Dili Harbor Lighthouse
lighthouse in East Timor
The Dili Harbor Lighthouse (Portuguese: Farol do Porto de Díli, Tetun: Farol Portu Díli)) is a lighthouse on the shore of the Bay of Dili next to the beach on the west side of Dili, capital city of Timor-Leste. It assists with navigation into and out of the Port of Dili.
History
The lighthouse was erected to replace an earlier structure, which was only 7 m (23 ft) high, emitted a light that was blending with other lights of the city, and was already in danger of falling into ruin.
The date of construction of the earlier lighthouse is not known. However, there is evidence of studies during the tenure of José Manuel Pereira de Almeida as Governor of Portuguese Timor (1863–1864) for the construction of a lighthouse 3.75 m (12.3 ft) high. The studies depict a structure with a stone base, quadrangular mechanism, and an upper terrace with a cylindrical structure supporting the lamp.
Construction of the present lighthouse began in 1889, during the governorship of Rafael Jácome Lopes de Andrade (1888–1890). In that year, the masonry base was completed. Maps published in 1892 and 1893 document both lighthouses simultaneously.
The present lighthouse was completed in 1896, and has twice been reconstructed and improved: in 1932, and between 1948 and 1949 after the Japanese occupation of Portuguese Timor.
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This entry incorporates text from “Dili Harbor Lighthouse” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.