| Portugal has a distinguished maritime history: Portuguese sailors launched and led the European age of discovery, and Portuguese ships have been finding their way home from the far corners of the globe for about 600 years. It's not surprising that lighthouses have played an important role in Portuguese culture, and that they are treasured national monuments today. This page has information on the lighthouses of the southern part of the Portuguese mainland, from the Lisbon area southward. Lighthouses north of the Lisbon area are on the Northern Portugal page. Lighthouses of the Azores and Madeira (islands discovered and settled by the early Portuguese explorers) are also on separate pages. The Portuguese word for a lighthouse is farol, plural faróis. Lighthouses in Portugal are owned by the navy (Marinha de Portugal) and operated by the navy's lighthouse directorate (Direcção de Faróis). Generally this has meant that lighthouses were closed to the public, but in November 2011 it was announced that the six historic lighthouses of the Algarve would be open every Wednesday afternoon year round. In 2013, the Navy extended the Wednesday open-house program nationwide. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. PT numbers are from the Portuguese Navy list, as recorded by the Portuguese Wikipedia. Admiralty numbers are from volume D of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 113.
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Faro District (Algarve) Lighthouses
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Beja District Lighthouses
Setúbal District Lighthouses
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Lisbon Area (Lisboa District) Lighthouses
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Northern Portugal | East: Western Andalusia
Return to the Lighthouse Directory index | Ratings key
Posted December 17, 2005. Checked and revised January 23, 2019. Lighthouses: 48. Site copyright 2019 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.