Ilha Rasa Lighthouse (Portuguese: Farol da Ilha Rasa) is an active lighthouse on the namesake island located 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) from Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Farol da Ilha Rasa

Location	Ilha Rasa
Coordinates	23°03′50″S 43°08′45″W
Tower
Constructed	1829
Foundation	stone base
Construction	stone tower
Height	26 metres (85 ft)[1]
Shape	cylindrical tower with balcony and lantern atop a massive square tower
Markings	white tower with brown trim
Operator	Brazilian Navy
Light
Focal height	101 metres (331 ft)[1]
Lens	meso-radial Fresnel lens
Range	white: 51 nautical miles (94 km; 59 mi) red: 45 nautical miles (83 km; 52 mi)[2]
Characteristic	Al Fl (2) W (1) R 15s.[2]
Brazil no.	BR-2420[1]

History

Before the construction of the lighthouse a fire was lit every night on the summit of Ilha Rasa signalling the entrance to the Port of Rio de Janeiro. João VI decided the construction of the lighthouse on the island and the works began in 1819 employing prisoners as workforce under the supervision of the engineer João de Souza Pacheco Leitão. The tower was completed in 1825, but its inauguration was postponed as the Argentine pirates attacked the ship transporting the optical instruments from France where they were built.

The lighthouse was lit on July 31, 1829; it is a 3-storey square prism stone building surmounted by a cylindrical tower with balcony and lantern. The tower, painted in white with brown trim, is 26 metres (85 ft) high and the walls are 1.3 metres (4.3 ft) thick. The lantern was equipped with first-order rotary catoptrics system and three parabolic reflectors lit by 21 lamps burning rapeseed oil. On December 2, 1883, was inaugurated a new 1st-order Doppler lens, manufactured by Lepaute et Sautter & Lemonnier and installed by engineer Louis Belenot.

The lantern is currently equipped with one of the two mesoradial lenses built in 1909. Since 1951 the lighthouse operate with electric power supplied by diesel engines. The lighthouse emits two white alternate flashes and one red every 15 seconds visible up to 51 nautical miles (94 km; 59 mi) for the white light and 45 nautical miles (83 km; 52 mi) for that red. The lighthouse is managed by the Brazilian Navy and is identified by the country code number BR-2420.[3][4]

See also

List of lighthouses in Brazil

References

External links

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