EXCLUSIVE: Tourlitis Lighthouse in Andros, only rock-built Lighthouse in Europe

The Tourlitis Lighthouse in Andros, located at the entrance of the port of Chora opposite the Venetian Castle, constructed in 1887, is the only Lighthouse in Europe, rock-built in the sea. The Toulitis Lighthouse has an aura that evokes another world and time.

The Tourlitis is still credited today for advancing maritime navigation for Greece’s port city of Andros. The Lighthouse was constructed in 1887 and operated for the first time on January 1, 1897. The Lighthouse was destroyed in World War II, only to be rebuilt and reintroduced as the country’s first automated Lighthouse.

The Lighthouse conjures a sense of wonder and magic or perhaps even the work of a cunning sea architect, swimming proudly around the twisted stone column that serves as the Lighthouse’s base, featuring a naturally carved appearance due to thousands of years of erosion.

Situated 200 meters out to sea, the Lighthouse is the only structure in Europe to be built on such a rock formation. Its construction required ten years of work, completed by an able, seemingly amphibious team of Greek builders, who managed to create a carved stone staircase in the middle of the ocean. On New Year’s Day in 1897, it was ready for operation and began illuminating the Mediterranean’s seas.

The Tourlitis Lighthouse successfully lit the way for ships travelling for nearly fifty years before it met an untimely fate. Neither an unwieldy sorcerer nor a hot-tempered sea dragon destroyed the castle. Instead, it was German bombs which left nothing behind other than ruins and a scaffold tower in its wake.

A half-century later, Greek oil tycoon Alexandros Goulandris decided to wield some magic of his own. Seeking to celebrate the memory of his deceased daughter Violanda, Goulandris funded the rebuilding of the Lighthouse and dedicated it in her name. Opened in 1994, the present Tourlitis Lighthouse is a replica of the original, serving as an enchanting beacon to behold and an everlasting token of a father’s love.