In 1829 the lamp of the first small lighthouse in the
newly-founded Greek state was lit in the harbour of the
provisional capital, Aegina. This was followed in 1831 by
lighthouses on Spetses and Kea. State responsiblity for the
timely lighting of the beacons in the country's harbours,
both at night and in bad weather, was confirmed by Royal
Decree in 1834. Local port authorities were encharged with
this task.
From 1834 onwards permanent installations for lighting
Greek harbours were erected. Important lighthouses were
planned and built on Syros, Psyttaleia, Cape Phassa (Andros)
and elsewhere. These were gradually equipped with lighting
mechanisms and manned. Over they years the numbers increased:
1897, there were 97 lighthouses and beacons in Greece
1912, the number reached 149
1915, an independent Directorate of Lighthouses was created
1929, the network included 299 lighthouses, 97 of them
automatic and 202 with paraffin lamps.
The operating personnel comprised 273 lighthouse-keepers and
240 supervisors.

The Directorate of Lighthouses was manned by 25 officers and
non-commissioned officers, 9 of whom were engineers.
- The refuelling, inspection, repair and installation of
mechanisms was carried out by special ships, the ¬Pleias¬, the
¬Peneios¬, the ¬Kissa¬ and the sailing ship ¬Aghios Loukas¬.
1940, when Greece entered the Second World War the lighthouse
network encompassed 388 beacons, 132 of them automatic and
206 superintended.
When the war ended the network was in ruins and only 9
automatic and 19 superintended lighthouses were functional.
Today the network has 790 lighthouses and 93 beacon-buoys, of
which only 53 are manually operated.

Lighthouses Archives: Indicative content of the page as a short text in english.