LH0002

Did You Know?

Cape St. Blaize Lighthouse, located in Mossel Bay, Western Cape, was completed in 1864 and is one of the oldest lighthouses on the South African coast. It was designed by British engineer Alexander Gordon and built using local stone, standing 20.5 meters high on a cliff overlooking the Indian Ocean. The lighthouse was named after the nearby Cape St. Blaize, which itself was named by Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias in 1488 after Saint Blaise. The light was originally powered by oil lamps and later converted to electricity; it remains an active navigational aid, emitting a white flash every 10 seconds with a range of 22 nautical miles. The site is also part of the Cape St. Blaize Cave, a significant archaeological site with evidence of Middle Stone Age human occupation.

AI-assisted · may contain inaccuracies