Lindesnes Lighthouse

A light was first shown at Lindesnes on 27 February 1656, thirty tallow candles behind leaded windows in a wooden tower, which makes it the oldest lighthouse site in Norway; the present cast-iron tower dates from 1915 and stands on the headland at 57 degrees 58 minutes north, the southernmost point of the Norwegian mainland, 2,518 kilometres from the North Cape. The station is now a museum with the tower open to climb, exhibitions in the keepers' buildings and a hall blasted into the rock beneath. The point is fully exposed to the Skagerrak, and the weather is the attraction as much as the light: winter storms drive spray over the headland, and the site markets its bad weather days deliberately. In the village of Spangereid in the same municipality, the restaurant Under has its dining room 5.5 metres below sea level.

History

The station was first built in 1656 to mark the entrance to the Skagerrak; in 1822 it was refitted with a coal lamp, in 1854 a new lamp was installed with the present lens, and the cast-iron tower of 1915 was fitted with the old Fresnel lens. The first fog signal, a siren, came in 1920, and the station was electrified in the 1950s (Wikipedia, Lindesnes Lighthouse).

Highlights

• The 1915 cast-iron tower - the current lighthouse, open to climb.
• The southernmost point - the mainland's southern tip on the headland.
• The rock-cut exhibition hall - museum space blasted into the headland.
• The storm exposure - waves and spray over the point in bad weather.

When to go

May to September for full opening and comfortable visits; autumn and winter for storms, which the site actively promotes and which some find the better experience. The tower closes in high wind.

What to expect

The headland is fully exposed and often cold and wet even in summer. The tower climb is narrow and steep. The site is a museum with an entry charge, not an open viewpoint, and it is a long drive from anywhere.

Nearby

Mandal and its Sjosanden beach lie east; Flekkefjord and the Magma Geopark are west.

Key facts