4. yokohama marine tower, japan

at a height of 348ft, the yokohama marine tower was, prior to its ‘temporary closure’, the tallest lighthouse in the world and could be seen by ships 20 miles away. built in 1958 as part of the 100th anniversary commemoration of the opening of the port of yokohama, the lighthouse immediately became a landmark, many people not realising it was actually a lighthouse due to it’s unconventional lattice tower design.

pigeon point lighthouse is perched on the edge of a cliff in california and at 115ft is one of the tallest in the united states. each november the picturesque lighthouse is visited by photographers eager to capture the annual lighting of the lens, seen in the photo above, a spectacle which shows off an extremely powerful lens composed of 1008 hand-polished lenses and prisms which help in providing 500,000 candlepower illumination.

at only 9 metres tall, the stunning ‘low lighthouse’ in burnham-on-sea is one of the smallest you’ll find. it was built in 1832 and is still used as a navigation tool, providing a white flash every 7.5 seconds from the window at the front in addition to a red, white or blue light, the colour differing depending on which direction it’s viewed from.

7. kiz kulezi, turkey

the 2500 year old kiz kulesi (maiden’s tower) is one of the most beautiful lighthouses in the world and sits on a tiny islet off the coast of istanbul. over the years the small piece of land on which it sits has been used as a burial chamber, customs area, quarantine area and more – these days the lighthouse is a hugely popular tourist destination with the body of the tower now housing a cafe.

around 1.25 million bricks were used to build the tallest lighthouse in america, a huge structure which lights up every 7 seconds to assist ships through the ‘graveyard of the atlantic’, the diamond shoals. on clear days it has been visible from 50 miles and just before the millenium was moved, in one piece, 2870ft inland to escape the eroding shore. photos of the mammoth operation can be seen here.