The Most Isolated Lighthouse in the World

Precariously perched on a rock pillar in the Westman Islands in Iceland, the Þrídrangaviti lighthouse is arguably the most isolated lighthouse in the world. The structure, sitting some 120ft above the raging North Atlantic sea was built in 1939 (without the use of helicopters), which makes imagining how they ever built this place, even more impossible.


Before the helipad was built, the coast guard had to sail to the cliff and scale it. A witness describes how it was first built 1939:

“The first thing we had to to was create a road up to the cliff. We got together of experienced mountaineers, all from the Westman Islands. Then we brought drills, hammers, chains and clamps to secure the chains. Once they got near the top there was no way to get any grip on the rock so one of them got down on his knees, the second stood on his back, and then the third climbed on top of the other two and was able to reach the nib of the cliff above. I cannot even tell you how I was feeling whilst witnessing this incredibly dangerous procedure.”

 

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