In case you didn't know, the "heel" of the boot shape of Italy is a region known as Apulia, or Puglia (I prefer Puglia). It's where about 40% of Italy's olive oil is produced (as I hope the olive oil tree disease doesn't affect that too much). I suspected that the southern end of Puglia would have a lighthouse on it.
I was right. (That wasn't a difficult prediction to be correct on.)
The lighthouse at the southern tip of Puglia is Santa Maria di Leuca. It's obviously not the southernmost lighthouse, because the foot and toe of the boot extend further south. Here's a locator map. The easternmost lighthouse is just up the coast, perhaps we'll look at that next week, and then move to another country.
Here are some specifications, excerpted from the Lighthouse Directory.
"1866. Active; focal plane 102 m (335 ft); three white flashes every 15 s; also a red light, occulting once every 4 s, is shown over shoals to the east. 48 m (158 ft) octagonal brick tower with lantern and gallery, rising from a 2-story keeper's house. ... The original first order lantern was replaced in 1954. Capo Santa Maria di Leuca is the tip of the Salento peninsula, so this historic lighthouse marks the western entrance to the Strait of Otranto and the Adriatic Sea."Four pictures are below. There are many pictures of it from the sea, but I couldn't find one that wasn't a stock photo.
The last one is available here, if you want to hang it on your wall.
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| Let's swim to the lighthouse! |
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