The inauguration of the first lighthouse, which was built at the mouth of the Pará River, was in March 1852. It was a cement tower, covered with glazed white brick and measured 12.5 metres in height. According to the documentation of the time, the luminous range of its dioptric device was 17 nautical miles.
Thirteen years later, however, sea erosion destroyed the lighthouse. Due to the lack of technical personnel, it was only in 1916 that the city of Salinópolis would receive a new construction. The lighthouse, built 80 metres from the previous one, had a 50-metre high tower with a Mitchell system, and had a central caisson and side struts.
But the sea’s advance did not take long to destroy the new construction. The next lighthouse tower, however, was located in Apeú. To dismantle it in its original location and mount it in Salinópolis took four trips by sea of 15 days each for the 140 tons of material to be transported. Responsible for the whole operation was the French engineer Désiré Potárt.
The Salinópolis Lighthouse is prominent in the urban area of the municipality. It is 39 metres high and is the last Mitchell-system tower assembled in Brazil.
Recife, August 30, 2004.
(Text updated on March 25, 2008).
Translated by Peter Leamy, October 2016.
sources consulted
SIQUEIRA, Ricardo. Luzes do novo mundo; história dos faróis brasileiros. Fotos Ricardo Siqueira; texto Ney Dantas. Rio de Janeiro: O Autor, 2002.
how to quote this text
Source: VAINSENCHER, Semira Adler. Farol Salinópolis, PA. Pesquisa Escolar Online, Fundação Joaquim Nabuco, Recife. Disponível em: <http://basilio.fundaj.gov.br/pesquisaescolar/>. Acesso em: dia mês ano. Ex: 6 ago. 2009.