Chyclopes with the eye of light: the sentinels of the sea are lanterns that illuminate the night of sailors. Stone against open sea, engineering laid on the storm, the lighthouses are acrobatic works, constructions born against all odds between water and rock.
Let’s take it‘Eddystone, off Plymouth. Knocked down twice by the force of the storm, the third resists thanks to the intuition of the engineer John Smeaton: fitting the granite blocks together like vertebrae. It was 1759. Almost a century later in the North Sea, off Arbroath, Scotland, Bell Rock was built under extreme conditionsso much so that it is considered one of the seven wonders of the industrial world. 35 meters high, the lighthouse is among the oldest surviving.
Then there is theEnfer de la Bretagnebuilt in one of the most dangerous points of the Atlantic. It took fifteen years to complete: The sailor builders lowered themselves by a rope from the ship onto a tiny reef off the coast of the island of Sein. «Hard times, for true heroes» said Yves Peland, a Breton lighthouse keeper who began his profession right there, in Armen. «At times we were certain that the tower might give way: the sea seemed determined to break through everything and we remained isolated for days. Every morning, on the island of Sein, they ran to see if he was still standing.”
The Faro de Cudillero, in Asturias, northern Spain.
Holiday in the lighthouses, luxury of minimalism
For centuries these towers in the sea have spoken the language of resistance. Born to save lives, they end up guarding others: guardians, artists, restless spirits. Virginia Woolf made it the center of one of the most intimate novels of the twentieth century, Trip to the lighthouse; for the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow the light was a “pillar of fire in the night”, a promise of salvation. For those who travel today, it is a reminder. In recent years, lighthouse tourism has grown by 40 percent in Europe: many have been converted into residences, small hotels, seaside refuges. They are booked in summer, but it is winter that shows their authenticity: short days, grazing light. Places where absence becomes a luxury: a choice against the grain. From Tuscany to Lofoten, from Cornwall to Ischia, the route follows the same rhythm.
Giglio lighthouse, a rock ridge
Capel Rosso lighthouse on Giglio Island, Tuscany.
On Giglio Island, the road that leads to the Capel Rosso lighthouse (farocapelrosso.it) it crosses granite hills and dark scrub, with the sea appearing and disappearing between the curves. The air is clean, the wind comes unhindered from the Tyrrhenian Sea, summer traffic is a memory. You proceed on foot along a path of just under a kilometre. You walk in silence, as if the island had reduced the volume. The red and white tower built by the Navy in 1883 is a signature residence. «Winter reveals the essential» says Viola Mura, who led the recovery with her sisters. «There’s nothing distracting. The light is lower, the sea changes every hour, guests adapt to the rhythm of nature. We live with what is there: the sky, the wind, the table set for a few, the lantern that rotates slowly in the evening.”
Inside, four rooms and shared spaces that maintain the original imprint of the lighthouse: thick walls, high windows, elegantly recovered furnishings. Out of season the island has a more readable dimension, free paths, empty beaches where you can walk or stay with a book in hand. Streets and squares belong to those who live there, time changes pace. During the day you walk, you enter a cellar for a glass of Ansonica and in the evening the lantern rotates marking the passage from one day to the next. The Capel Rosso lighthouse opens from March 20th; before, by reservation.
A room in the Capel Rosso lighthouse, on the island of Giglio. military building converted into a hotel.
Lighthouse of Ischia, the voice of the storm
Even in Ischia the cold seasons have their charm, dry and often windy. The island works at a reduced pace: nets pulled to the ground, vineyards at rest, internal roads that are free again. The promontory of Punta Imperatore is its westernmost point, a volcanic rock cliff overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea. The lighthouse, 164 meters above the sea, has been active since 1884. You reach it along via Costa, then climbing 155 steps dug into the tuff between myrtle and prickly pear bushes. Four rooms, each with the name of a wind, natural colors, elegance.
On the ground floor the Lucì restaurant, a tribute to Lucia Capuano who was the first guardian of Italy. In the kitchen, Ischia chef Antonio Monti works in balance between island tradition and vegetal research, fish of the day from the boats of Forio, herbs from the lighthouse garden. With the fireplace lit and the sea in the foreground, in winter you dine inside. The Punta Imperatore project is part of a European network of lighthouses recovered by the Floatel group (floatel.de), who has been working for years on a specific idea: transforming exposed and difficult places into contemporary refuges. «The intimacy of lighthouses fascinates me: once lighthouse keepers’ houses guard their history» says Tim Wittenbecher, one of the founders.
The Punta Imperatore lighthouse, transformed into a resort on the island of Ischia.
Adventures, from lighthouse to lighthouse
It belongs to the project Punta Cumplida, in La Palma, a round tower in volcanic stone with a few suites overlooking the Atlantic and a rock-level swimming pool where, on clear days, dolphins and whales can be spotted. Then Cudillero, in Asturiasa lighthouse suspended between woods and cliffs, with an equipped kitchen that invites you to stay inside when the wind picks up. In each there is a small library dedicated to lighthouses in literature and cinema. «In winter, sleeping inside a lighthouse during a storm is a once in a lifetime experience» adds Tim Wittenbecher.
To the North, where the light changes
The lighthouse on Litløya, a small island in Norway, an isolated refuge that offers overnight accommodation.
Norway, with its coastline of over 100 thousand kilometres, has more than 200 lighthouses, around sixty open to the public. In many it is possible to sleep, even in winter, as at the Marsteinen Lighthouse (Steinsland, marsteinlighthouse.com). On an islet at the entrance to Korsfjorden, you need favorable weather to dock. Automated in 1987, it is operated by William Bernardsen. Few rooms, essential interiors, the dimension of slow time is the experience. Several studies have shown how days spent in coastal areas, without light and noise pollution, can significantly reduce stress levels.
It also happens to Litløya (littleislandlighthouse.com), small island in Norwegian. It can be reached after a short crossing (organised by the lighthouse managers) and 300 steps. The lighthouse, built in 1912, is today a charming B&B: the only house on the island. Elena Hansteensen lives in it and looks after it. In recent months it has been closed for maintenance: it will reopen at the end of June, with the same slow pace that characterizes it. You can come for a visit, for a night, or stay longer, working smartly with the ocean around. Climbing on the rocks where puffins nest, you can go kayaking, trekking, or simply stand still and contemplate the landscape. Around the table, together with the other guests, you eat fresh fish from the Vesterålen islands.
