Cape Santiago Lighthouse(三貂角燈塔)

Our last stop for the day was to be a famous lighthouse at a place which got its name from the Portuguese when they first came here in 1626 and built a small fortification: Cape Santiago, translated into the local dialect as  "三貂角"

According to internet sources, this lighthouse was built by the Japanese governor shortly after two Japanese ships sank off its coast, one after another, the first in 1929 and the other in 1931. It was commissioned in 1935. The tower is some 16.5 metres high but its lights project up to more than a hundred metres from the ground up. It flashes out both white and red lights. The white light has a range of some 24.5 nautical miles whilst the red some 20. The lights make one complete turn every 28 seconds. The white light streams out continuously but the red flashes only intermttently.

 

It's now become a favourite tourist and marriage photo hot spot  because of its beautiful surroundings and a chapel-like storeroom, which used to house petroleum for the generation of electric power but since the electric grid has now been extended to the lighthouse, it's now fitted with tinted glass to make it look like a church for wedding photos. .

 

A view of the lighthouse from further downhill, with clouds hovering ominously above.

Its slopes are heavy with vegetation

 

It was a sunny day. White clouds hug the horizon.

The  light house and the observatory a little distance away.

 

The place is one of the basepoints marking territorial marine boundary of the Taiwanese government.

 

 A view of the western side of the lighthouse. Some rain clouds are threatening to blow over.

The clouds are getting thicker and thicker

But it was all clear on the other side 

From the observation deck, a little distance lower down from the lighthouse, one gets a good idea of the overall layout of the Magang village below 

 

The sky was blue. So was the sea

  

This is where I took the picture of the abalone beds at the village blow

 This is the path we took.

Looking back up from where we came, we saw the road by which our car arrived

 

In the distance, a huge cloud was forming

 

 

threatening to break up in two different directions 

The sheet of clouds at our side was really huge.

It's far more pleasant to cast our gaze towards the horizon

 The clouds are changing shape all the time

A good viewing spot?

 

The converted storehouse 

The path down the observation deck

 

The geometric decorative feature in the shape of two fishes moving towards each other  

 

The famous converted petrol storehouse on the left, the radar station in the centre and the observatory to the right 

The Indian style pavilion to one side of the garden 

 

decorative sheep 

 

The lighthouse from another angle 

Another view of the converted storehouse.

 

A model of the lighthouse and the the ancillary buildings on the ground floor of the famous lighthouse, the only operational lighthouse in the whole of Taiwan which is open to the public.   

On the ground floor wall of the lighthouse are hung pictures of the stamps of various denomination issued by the Taiwan postal authorities over the years using the lighthouses as its theme. This $9 stamp features the "Cape Goose's Comb" (Eluanbi) Lighthouse" (鵝鑾鼻燈塔), the only armed lighthouse in the world, built in 1881 at 屏東, the southernmost part of Taiwan.

This is a $16.50 stamp, featuring the "Cimei or 7 Pretty Islets Lighthouse" (七美嶼燈塔) in澎湖, built in 1939年

 

This $15 stamp features the "Eastern Luck Island Lighthouse"(東吉嶼燈塔) in 澎湖縣望安鄉東吉嶼 built in 1911
   

A $6 stamp featuring the "Cape Strange Weed Lighthouse" (奇萊鼻燈塔) in 花蓮縣花蓮港奇萊鼻, built in 1931.

 

$3 stamp featuring "Cape Nosetip  Lighthouse" (鼻頭角燈塔)  at  新北市瑞芳區鼻頭角目斗嶼燈塔 in 1896

 

This $2 stamp features the "Green Island Lighthouse" (綠島燈塔) built in 1939 on an island of the same name close to 台東

This $ 0.75 stamp features "The Eye-shaped Ladle Island Lighthouse" (目斗嶼燈塔 )  built  澎湖目白沙鄉目斗嶼 in 1899年

This $2.25 stamp features the "Excellent Pang Island Lighthouse" (彭佳嶼燈塔) built in 1906 off Keelung Harbour 基隆港

 

This $12 stamp features The Eastern Taro Island Lighthouse (東莒島燈塔 ) built in 1872 at  連江縣東莒島東椗島燈塔

This $4.50 stamp features the "Eastern Lead Island Lighthouse" ( 東引島燈塔 ) built in 1902 at 連江縣東引島東涌

This $13 stamp features the "Yaliou Lighthouse."( 野柳燈杆) built in 1967 at 新北市萬里區野柳

This $7 stamps features the Cape Wealthy Lighthouse (富貴角燈塔) , built in 1896 at 新北市石門區富貴角and is the northernmost tip of Taiwan.

This $10 stamp features The Aquatic Farm Group Lighthouse( 塭港堆燈塔 )  built in 1914 at 雲林縣口湖鄉外海外傘頂洲

   

This $7.50 stamp features the Flower Island Lighthouse (花嶼燈塔) built in 1939年  at  澎湖縣望安鄉花嶼. 

 This $10.50 stamp features The Fisherman Island Lighthouse(漁翁島燈塔)   built in 1778 on

        澎湖縣西嶼鄉漁翁島 and is the oldest surviving lighthouse in Taiwan.

 

An sample of the electric light bulb being used at the lighthouse now.

A single aperture flashing light

A pressure releasing device

A Joint Notice by the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Finance in 1947 warning the military against interference of the operations of the lighthouses in Taiwan.

The clouds have risen much higher when we were about to leave the place

The rain clouds have drifted much closer

Everything seems dominated by it

But in the distance, the sky was still clear

A final look at the place

It seems that the designer of the garden has chosen" love" as its principal theme

 

A man carrying a small dolphin on his bent back

A toilet we passed nearby on our way back to Taipei

We went up and took a look on the terrace there and this is what we found: another view on the outskirts of  Ma Jang village. The natural rock terrace was so huge.

It seems that the cloud overhead has now turned into a kind of cotton quilt

I was amazed at the size of this huge "blanket" of nature.

 

Compared to that, how puny human creations look!.

But it was obvious that the rain would come pouring down any minute now. Time to return. We hurried back into the car. More than enough for one day!