Characterisation of historical lighthouses as industrial heritage elements: Application to the lighthouse of the Island of Santa Clara, Spain

Abstract

Lighthouses are a symbiosis of architecture and technology, combining a tower, an adjacent building with living quarters and stores, and technology that produces signals for sailors. They must be permanently in operation and they must be unmistakably distinguished from other nearby lighthouses. They are extremely versatile elements that satisfy several functions in addition to the light signals. The authors consider that traditional lighthouses, commissioned in the mid-19th century, are genuine signalling factories, and that they must be studied as such, based on the concepts defined by the UNESCO documents, among others, for industrial heritage. Recently, the Institute of Cultural Heritage of Spain (IPCE), dependent upon the Government of Spain, has considered lighthouses with a historical value as industrial heritage elements. The authors accept this consideration and as such, in 2017, the drafting of the Catalogue of Lighthouses with heritage value in Spain was commissioned by the IPCE. A large number of projects are being activated today to include tourist uses in the lighthouses. However, it has been detected that these projects eliminate tangible and intangible materials that irreversibly distort the lighthouse as an example of our industrial heritage. The paper aims to detect the characteristics that must be assessed to establish the heritage value of historical lighthouses and propose a procedure for their evaluation. By way of an example, the value of the lighthouse of the Island of Santa Clara in Donostia-San Sebastian (Spain) is analysed from the viewpoint of its pertinence to the industrial heritage. To characterise a lighthouse, its architecture, location, the technology implemented in the lamp that tops the tower, and its spatial distribution must be analysed.