Enable Javascript to continue
State ArchivesState Archives: Short description-summary of the content of the page in english. State Archives: Indicative content of the page as a short text in english. Section Contents Merchants Seamen’s Fund Archives Merchants Seamen’s Fund Archives: Short description-summary of the content of the page in english. Ports Archives Ports Archives: Short description-summary of the content of the page in english. Health Centers Registries Health Centers Registries: Short description-summary of the content of the page in english. Books of registry Books of registry: Short description-summary of the content of the page in english. Navy Archives Navy Archives: Short description-summary of the content of the page in english. Lighthouses Archives 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. Navy Hydrographic Service Archives Navy Hydrographic Service Archives: Short description-summary of the content of the page in english. |