CAGLIARI - They have always guided sailors and seduce with their powerful and mysterious beauty;
they dominate cliffs overlooking the sea, ports or sandy coasts and welcome a few lucky visitors, who brave the height or the blowing of the wind.
Some of the lighthouses of our coasts have been transformed into charming hotels, museums or meeting places;
here are 10 of the most fascinating, all to be discovered.
Capo Spartivento.
It is the oldest lighthouse in Sardinia, a dream place built in 1856 overlooking the sea to the south of the island, where the scrub smells of myrtle and juniper.
After decades of neglect it has become a refined hotel, a luxury resort that has kept the vaulted ceilings of the old crimson red structure, has seen the 700 square meters of panoramic terraces renovated with breathtaking views of the Malfatano and Capo Teulada bays and restored. the local granite stone fence.
Those who do not sleep at the lighthouse can visit it from Cala Cipolla and Su Giudeu, in Chia, about 50 kilometers from Cagliari, along a path that climbs to the top of the granite promontory.
Boat eaters.
It bears the disturbing name of the cliff it has been watching since 1935, but it is among the most spectacular lighthouses in Sardinia, on the island of Sant'Antioco, in the territory of Calasetta.
In the summer the sea is crystal clear, but in the winter the raging waves shake it and make it even more fascinating.
The lonely lighthouse, in front of Punta Mangiabarche and with Carloforte behind, must prevent the boats from getting stuck in the outcropping rocks of the Sulcis coast.
Near the beach, a car park, a bar, a restaurant and a hotel welcome visitors who venture into this bay for a dream bath in summer.
Punta Carena.
It is located in Capri, about 3 kilometers southwest of Anacapri, and since 1867 it has dominated the Limmo peninsula;
it is among the most important lighthouses in the Tyrrhenian Sea and the second in Italy for size and light range after that of Genoa.
The light of the lighthouse, in fact, can already be seen from 25 nautical miles, a valid help for those who sail and a pleasant visit for those who walk on the promontory.
Behind the lighthouse, painted in white and red, rises the Migliera cliff, crossed by the defense walls built by the English at the beginning of the nineteenth century to protect the island of Campania.
Capo Miseno.
Its white lighthouse stands out on the bay between the Gulf of Pozzuoli and the Procida canal, north of Naples.
Built in the early nineteenth century on an ancient watchtower, it was destroyed by bombs in World War II and rebuilt in 1948. The structure can be reached on foot via two scenic paths or a gallery that ends on a terrace in front of the lighthouse.
Punta Palascia.
It is the lighthouse overlooking the sea of Capo d'Otranto, the easternmost point of Italy, in Salento, and stands at the point where the waters of the Ionian and the Adriatic meet.
Built in 1867 and renovated several times, it is now a place full of charm, transformed into an ecological museum and a place of culture with artistic workshops, temporary exhibitions and literary meetings but also as a meeting place for nature walks.
Visits must be booked by writing to museoecologia.palascia@unisalento.it Vieste.
The lighthouse of the famous Apulian locality is automated, therefore uninhabited: it stands on the islet of Santa Eufemia, in front of the city, and since 1867 it has indicated the route to the ships that pass between the middle and lower Adriatic, between Punta Santa Croce and Punta Saint Francis.
It can be admired from all over the city, which is illuminated every day by the beams of light from the spectacular brass lantern located on the lighthouse tower.
On the islet there is also a cave, where 200 votive inscriptions in Greek and Latin were found left by the sailors passing through the island, some in honor of Venus Sosandra, goddess of the sea and savior of men;
the writings are dated from the third century BC to the Middle Ages.
San Vito lo Capo.
Its lighthouse, in the Trapani area, has been active since 1859 and signals to navigators the shoal north of the bay.
Symbol of the seaside town of north-western Sicily, it dominates the sea from its 40 meters high with a visible light up to 20 nautical miles and has also become a tourist attraction for those who venture to the extreme tip of the seaside resort between the rocky beach, crystal clear sea and a breathtaking view of the sheltered bay dominated from above by Mount Monaco.
Strombolicchio.
Its lighthouse rises from a solidified lava tower on the islet in front of Stromboli, which is further south.
It does not have an important history but its position, clinging to the volcanic rock, makes it suggestive and original;
a long iron staircase leaning against the rock allows you to reach the structure active since 1938 and nicknamed "the lighthouse of the Mediterranean", off the northern coast of Sicily.
Ancona.
From the top of the lighthouse one overlooks the gulf of the Marche capital that embraces the Adriatic;
the nineteenth-century structure, a cylindrical tower in bricks, offers a breathtaking view from the top of the Guasco hill.
We are inside the Cardeto park which extends for 35 hectares on the Capuccini hill and which also houses a Roman amphitheater next to the old and imposing lighthouse, 20 meters high.
Capel Rosso. It is the lighthouse of Giglio and rises among the Mediterranean scrub of the southern part of the Tuscan island. A paved path and steps carved into the rock lead to the rectangular structure with red and white stripes, from which a lantern stands 90 meters high and whose light can be seen up to 23 nautical miles since 1883. Today the lighthouse, still active. , lends itself to events, meetings and events on the panoramic terrace and for its poignant beauty is used as a film location; the last time it was immortalized in the film by Paolo Sorrentino "The great beauty".