Handle of the Roca Lighthouse is the quintessential landmark of Portugal’s Seacoast and a distinctive popular tourist attraction.  The Lighthouse is closed to the public yet, the grounds are open providing scenic vistas of the cliff Lighthouse.

A stone monument nearby the Lighthouse marks the Westernmost point in Europe with the engraving:

“Aqui... onde a terra acaba e o mar comeca... (Camões) Ponto Mais Ocidental Do Continente Europeu”

Here... where the land ends and the sea starts... (Camões, Portuguese Poet) the most Occidental (Western) Point of the European continent.

Cabo da Roca (Cape Roca), the Promontory of Portugal located 9-miles west of Sintra and 25 miles northwest of Lisbon, is the westernmost point of continental Europe.  The granite cliff was named Promontorium Magnum by the Romans.  For many years prior to the Lighthouse, the English called the Cape of the Rock the Black Coast.  The Portuguese call the rocky coast without beaches the Handle of the Roca, “the promontory (handle formed for raised rocks) of the moon.”

The Lighthouse, authorized per the decree of February 1, 1758, was built on the 466-feet high cliff of Cabo da Roca (Handle of the Roca) as the first seacoast sentinel to protect navigation entering the Port of Lisbon and was First Lit in 1772.

From 1843 to 1846, the Lighthouse was rebuilt and 16 “oil lamps of Argand” with parabolic reflectors was installed exhibiting a rotating white light with a luminous reach of 2 miles.

In 1897, the Lighthouse was refitted with a Fourth-order dióptric - catadióptric optic device (Fresnel Lens) illuminated by incandescent oil vapor and exhibiting a revolving white light with a luminous reach of 10 miles.  The first sonorous signal (fog bell) was also installed.

In 1932, the Fog bell was replaced by an air compressed Fog horn.  In 1937, A radio beacon was installed transmitting a “RC” signal at 308-kHz to a range of 100 miles, to guide shipping around the hazardous coastal cliff during poor visibility.

In 1947, the Lighthouse was refitted with a Third-order Fresnel Lens (500mm focal distance) illuminated by a 3000W incandescent lamp and exhibiting two white flashes every 3 seconds with a luminous reach of 26 nautical miles.

On October 15, 1981, Cabo da Roca became a Protected Landscape followed by the creation of Sintra Cascais Natural Park in 1994 to safeguard the historical architecture, landscape, and wildlife of the region.

Note: In Portuguese, Cabo da Roca translates as the Cape of the rock yet, the Portuguese localization for Farol do Cabo da Roca means the Lighthouse of the Handle of the Roca.  Some Links may use the French name, Phare de Cabo Da Roca (Headlight of Cabo Da Roca).