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Lighthouse of Cabo de Palos

Cartagena, Campo de Cartagena, Murcia

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Spain › Region of Murcia › Campo de Cartagena › Cartagena › Lighthouse of Cabo de Palos

Lighthouse of Cabo de Palos

Monument · Cartagena, Campo de Cartagena, Murcia

The lighthouse of Cabo de Palos stands in Cartagena (Región de Murcia), on a rocky promontory crowning the last spur of Cartagena's coastal sierra, which sinks into the sea and reappears at the Hormigas islands. In 1554 Charles I ordered the tower of San Antonio to be raised here to watch for Barbary pirate attacks, replaced in 1862 by the present lighthouse, which entered service on 31 January 1865, the same day as the one at Portmán. The building, of square plan and 20 metres to a side, is topped by a tower 12.50 metres high crowned by a cornice on sixteen corbels. In 2025 it was declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection). Around it spreads the former fishing village, today known for its cuisine.

Photo: Diego Delso (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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