A lighthouse is a tower-shaped building that emits light. According to the size, location and characteristics of lighthouses, there are different divisions, and they can also be divided into manned and unattended lighthouses.
Lighthouses are mainly distributed on the coast, important waterways, and important islands. The lighthouse emits parallel beams, and its biggest role is to guide ships to navigate, indicate safe channels and directions, and identify dangerous areas, dangerous coasts, reefs and other dangerous areas. It is like the guardian of the sea, which has always provided guarantee for the safe navigation of ships.
Before electricity existed, the ancient lighthouses used kerosene lamps as the light source, and the head of the lighthouse manually operated the clockwork to turn the lens system that concentrated the light. Modern lighthouses are powered by lights and clockwork from outside, and are operated by diesel-driven generators, and provide electricity for the life of the person in charge of the lighthouse.
In the old days, the land route relied on horses and the water route relied on boats. When the people of the ocean go home, even in the dark, they will not lose their way home, all of which depend on the lighthouse-a symbol of safe guidance.
American writer Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once praised the eternity of the lighthouse in a poem: firm, peaceful, immobile and unchanging, year after year, long night without a word, a flame that never goes out, shining forever Immortal light.
A lighthouse is not just a building that glows and illuminates the distance, it is also a symbol of heroes - loneliness, freedom, and independence from the world. It protects life, guides direction, and gives hope.
Lighthouses were once an indispensable and practical part of the global maritime navigation system, and were once an important witness of human marine civilization. When lonely lighthouses look out to the sea from afar, they have surpassed themselves and become landmarks.
Unfortunately, history tells us that nothing is "fixed and unchanged", and nothing is "forever". With the rapid development of science and technology and the wide application of marine navigation systems, the number of human-operated lighthouses has been greatly reduced, and there are only 1,500 lighthouses in use in the world. Even though the navigational role of many lighthouses is weakened, they have potential historical and cultural value, and have become famous human geographic coordinates in various countries, and the historical significance they contain can still be enjoyed as relics.