Daugavgrīva Lighthouse

Daugavgrīva Lighthouse (Latvian: Daugavgrīvas bāka) is a lighthouse located in Daugavgrīva on the Bay of Riga on the Latvian coast of the Baltic Sea. The lighthouse was built in 1956, located next to Daugava River. Due to the change in the river's course, several lighthouses have been built, destroyed, and rebuilt again over the course of history.[2]

Daugavgrīva Lighthouse
Daugavgrīvas bāka
Latvia
LocationDaugavgrīva
Latvia
Coordinates57°03′34.6″N 24°01′17.4″E
Year first constructed1721 (first)
1819 (second)
1863 (third)
1921 (fourth)
Year first lit1957 (current)
Constructionconcrete tower
Tower shapecylindrical tower with balcony and lantern
Markings / patternwhite with black horizontal bands, red roof lantern
Tower height115 feet (35 m)
Focal height121 feet (37 m)
Range18 nautical miles (33 km; 21 mi)
CharacteristicFl W 2.5s.
Admiralty numberC3526
NGA number12272
ARLHS numberLAT-004
Latvia numberUZ-075[1]

History

The first lighthouse was constructed by Swedes at the turn of the 18th century, right where the present-day mouth of the Daugava River is flowing, into the Baltic Sea. Back then it was a stone layer with a signal fire on the top of the lighthouse. The next lighthouse was a wooden tower on a masonry foundation,[3] which was demolished during the Crimean War in 1854, and instead, cannons were put on the masonry foundation for firing at ships of the British Royal Navy. Then, a fundamental cast-iron lighthouse was constructed in 1863. It stood until World War I, when the lighthouse was blown up by Russian military troops, who retreated to the east from Riga.[4] The successor to the lighthouse was built in 1921 out of reinforced concrete, during Latvia’s period of independence in the Interwar Period. When the German infantry retreated westward towards the end of the Second World War.[5] After World War II a temporary 20-metre lighthouse as built out of a wooden structure, but the lighthouse was devastated after a powerful storm. The current lighthouse was built between 1956 and 1957; with the first light glare shone on February 2, 1957. Currently the lighthouse is open for the public, with the top viewing gallery being accessed by one hundred and fifty spiral steps.[6]

See also

References
  1. Lighthouses Directory
  2. "Official Tourist Agency". Latvia. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  3. "Lighthouses Of Latvia". UNC. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  4. "The Great Retreat". Marxists. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  5. "World War II German Summer Retreat". Britannica. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  6. "Daugavgriva Lighthouse". Bakas. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
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