A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
Lighthouses mark dangerous coastlines, hazardous shoals, reefs, safe entries to harbors, and can also assist in aerial navigation. Once widely used, the number of operational lighthouses has declined due to the expense of maintenance and replacement by modern electronic navigational systems.
Read more about Lighthouse: Lighthouse Technology, Maintenance, Preservation, Popular Culture and Symbolism
Famous quotes containing the word lighthouse:
“It is the cry of a thousand sentinels, the echo from a thousand labyrinths; it is the lighthouse which cannot be hidden.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)
“This lighthouse was the cynosure of all eyes.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)