Experienced fisherman have always known that the State of Maranhão’s coast is very dangerous, and its depth is very irregular, varying from 3 to 30 metres. Discovering the secrets of the tides, they crossed the bar during high tide, letting their boats run aground in the sand, performed their tasks, and returned only when the tide began to rise again.
Because of this, there was a great need for a lighthouse. So the Preguiças [Sloth] lighthouse was built in the village of Mandacaru (MA), located 24 miles (one nautical mile = 1852 metres) north of the port of Tutóia, in a place where the reef extended to up to three miles from the coast.
In this region, Buriti palm oil and fishing provide most of the income for the people’s survival. This lighthouse signalled the Preguiças River bar, whose regional vessel traffic, from São Luís to Tutóia, was very heavy.
The first tower of the Preguiças Lighthouse was 28 metres in height and had a 3rd order lenticular device containing an acetylene gas lantern, made by the Canadian company Wilson. This represented a novelty for the time, with the lighthouse being one of the first in the country to receive such quality equipment.
Over time, however, its structure became extremely eroded, with a high risk of collapse. A new concrete tower was then built with a similar architectural design to that of Mostardas Lighthouse in Rio Grande do Sul, reaching a height of 35m – seven metres more than the previous tower.
During construction, the transportation of materials was so difficult that the presence of the lighthouse ship Vital de Oliveira was necessary to bring all the wood, gravel, tools and cement that would be used on the project. When construction was completed, it received the lenticular device from the old lighthouse, as well as a manual lift with the capacity to carry up to two people to the top.
The Preguiças Lighthouse has a heavy lens whose diameter is 1.15 metres. Starting the system relies on the help of a lever.
Today, the light source is on the list of two hundred existing lighthouses in the country, with a range exceeding 10 nautical miles.
Recife, 7 April 2004.
(Updated on 25 March 2008).
Translated by Peter Leamy, November 2016.
sources consulted
SIQUEIRA, Ricardo. Luzes do novo mundo; história dos faróis brasileiros. Rio de Janeiro: O Autor, 2002.
how to quote this text
Source: VAINSENCHER, Semira Adler. Farol Preguiças, MA. Pesquisa Escolar Online, Fundação Joaquim Nabuco, Recife. Disponível em: <http://basilio.fundaj.gov.br/pesquisaescolar/>. Acesso em: dia mês ano. Ex: 6 ago. 2009.