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Thridrangaviti Lighthouse

Coordinates: 63°29′20″N 20°30′47″W / 63.48883°N 20.51317°W / 63.48883; -20.51317
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Thridrangar Lighthouse, Southern Iceland, sits atop the tallest of three sea stacks.

Þrídrangaviti Lighthouse (transliterated as Thridrangaviti) is a lighthouse 7.2 kilometres (4.5 miles) off the southwest coast of Iceland, in the archipelago of Vestmannaeyjar, often described as the most isolated lighthouse in the world.[1][2] Þrídrangar means "three rock pillars", referring to the three named sea stacks at that location: Stóridrangur (on which the lighthouse stands), Þúfudrangur, and Klofadrangur.[3] It was constructed in 1938 and 1939, with the lighthouse commissioned in 1942.[1] It was originally constructed by hand without machinery, and accessible only by scaling the tallest of the three rocky stacks, whose top is 36.576 metres (120 ft) above the sea.[1] It is now accessible by helicopter helipad.

Technical characteristics:

  • The lighthouse building is about 30 metres (98 ft) from the sea [1]
  • The building is a concrete single room hut, with a roof that resembles a battlement on the top of a medieval castle tower, including embrasure-like openings. The lamp sits on the roof and is 4 metres (13 ft) high[1]
  • The light is 34 metres (112 ft) above the sea, which determines its "height of sight",[4] which is first visible from 16.7 kilometres (9.0 nautical miles; 10.4 miles)[1][dubious – discuss]

The lighthouse was built under the direction of Árni G. Þórarinsson, who recruited experienced mountaineers to scale the sea stack. Their climbing tools did not allow them to bite into the rock near the top, and there were no handholds, so they made a 3-person human stack - one man on his knees, a second atop him, and a third one climbing on the second one - for the final pitch.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Þrídrangaviti lighthouse". TheWanders.eu. November 29, 2020.
  2. ^ "Iceland's Loneliest Lighthouse". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
  3. ^ "Incredible location for a lighthouse perched on a rock in Iceland's wild surf". Iceland Monitor. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
  4. ^ In the context of lighthouses, "height of sight" refers to the elevation at which a lighthouse's light can first be seen from sea level.
  5. ^ Chen, Justine (2020-02-26). "Thridrangaviti Lighthouse: The Perfect Place To Survive Any Pandemic". Elite Readers. Retrieved 2022-08-08.

63°29′20″N 20°30′47″W / 63.48883°N 20.51317°W / 63.48883; -20.51317

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