On 27 September 1847, a Royal Decree approved the General Plan for Maritime Lighting along the coasts and ports of Spain and Adjacent Islands. And so a system of lighthouses and lights along the coasts of the peninsula was born. This enormous project, which lit up the coasts of Spain to assist and guide seafarers, began 168 years ago. In the first fifty years of the Plan, the Valencian coast went from having just 4 beacons and lighthouses to having 23. This is a prime example of Spain’s journey towards modernity in the late 19th century.
The visitor is introduced to various aspects of these antique lighthouses: their beginnings; the construction process and the role of road engineers; the technology used by La Maquinista Valenciana, an innovative 20th century company; the figure and social context of the lighthouse keeper; lighthouses’ cultural and symbolic meaning, their visual and literary image; their relationships with developing ports; and their unique placement, which makes them a landmark in the Valencian coastal scenery.
This exhibition aims to raise awareness, disseminate and highlight this key element of public works in Valencia, with all its historical, symbolic, social, technological, strategic and aesthetic connotations. After all, these lighthouses constitute a cultural legacy that is etched into the historical memory of Valencian society.
Exhibition Information
Dénia
Maritime Station of Dénia
February – April 2015
Curatorship
Inmaculada Aguilar Civera
General Coordination
Rubén Pacheco Díaz
Research
Inmaculada Aguilar Civera
Laura Bolinches Martínez
Manuel Carreres Rodríguez
Susana Climent Viguer
P. Hernández Lamas
Desirée Juliana Colomer
Rubén Pacheco Díaz
M. J. Ramiro Nuño
A. Rubio Gavilán
A. Sarabia Álvarez-Ude
Design
Mary Ortega
Itinerancy
València - History Museum of València (10 March – 3 July 2016)
