This page covers lighthouses of the many Greek islands of the central and eastern Aegean Sea. These islands fall into three broad groups. First, the Cyclades include a large number of smaller islands north of Crete and southeast of Athens. Second, there are the larger islands lying off the Turkish coast in the northeastern Aegean, including Lesbos, Chios, and Samos. Finally, the Dodecanese Islands include the large island of Rhodes and many smaller islands of the southeastern Aegean. The Cyclades and Dodecanese were formerly prefectures within the region of the South Aegean; Lemnos, Lesbos, Chios, Samos, and Ikaria are regional units (counties) within the region of the North Aegean. Crete has a separate page. The Sporades, islands located in the northwestern corner of the Aegean, are included on the Northern Greece page. Kithera and Antikithera, located at the southwestern entrance to the Aegean, are included on the Southern Greece page. The modern Greek nation is a relatively recent creation. After several centuries of rule by the Ottoman Turks, southern Greece won its independence in a bitter struggle during the 1820s. The new Greek nation controlled the Cyclades, but none of the other islands of the Aegean. They were added at various times, as indicated in the notes below for the different island groups. The Greek word for a lighthouse, pháros or fáros (φάρος), is the root for the words for lighthouse in many Western European languages. In Greek, nisis is an island, akra is a cape or headland, kolpós is a bay or gulf, and limáni is a harbor. Lighthouses in Greece are maintained by the Hellenic Navy Hydrographic Service. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume N of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 113.
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Lighthouses of the Dodecanese Islands
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Lighthouses of the North Aegean Region
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![]() Ágios Georgíos Light, Psara, June 2012 Panoramio photo copyright Manolis Roxanas; used by permission |
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![]() Megalonísi Light, Sígri, August 2008 Panoramio photo copyright Stratos Loukos; used by permission |
Lighthouses of the Northern Cyclades
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![]() Ágios Nikólaos Light, Kéa, May 2006 Flickr Creative Commons photo by Dimitris Tsapelas (no longer online) |
Lighthouses of the Southern Cyclades
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![]() Íos Light, Íos, May 2014 Panoramio Creative Commons photo by apodrasi |
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Northern Greece | East: Southern Turkey | South: Crete | West: Southern Greece
Return to the Lighthouse Directory index | Ratings key
Posted December 31, 2006. Checked and revised August 28, 2018. Lighthouses: 42. Site copyright 2018 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.