Since ancient times, beacons have been a symbol of good luck and divine guidance worldwide for sailors on long voyages. Although now lighthouses are hardly used, they still continue to be stunning architectural wonders.
Here's a list of the most persistent marine guards, each of which has for many years led people through storms and the darkness.
The harbour breakwater with lighthouse and lampposts is covered with heavy ice in the central Adriatic Croatian port of Senj, some 200 kilometres from Zagreb, as the sun sets on February 8, 2012. Europeans across the continent have been battling more than a week of extreme weather with more than 100 villages still trapped by snow in remote, mountain parts in Croatia and several dead by freezing as temperatures hit more than 20 Celsius below zero. The new deaths put the toll for the Balkans up to 23 from which three of them in Croatia.
Aerial picture taken June 6, 2007, of the Bull Rock lighthouse, southwest off Ireland.
Iraqi officials and policemen inspect the ruins of Mujada or al-Mawqada lighthouse in al-Jazira area in the western desert of the shrine city of Karbala, central Iraq, on February 9, 2008. The cylindrical-shaped lighthouse is situated in the desert, 40 kilometers away from the centre of Karbala. Al-Mawqada, meaning fireplace, was built in the ninth century to guide caravans and people lost in the desert to the nearby al-Ukhaidar fortress and the citadel of al-Aatshan. The lighthouse was recently vandalised according to security sources.
A youngster (R) stands in front of a huge wave breaking in Havana's seafront on August 31, 2008, after the passage of Hurricane Gustav. There were reports of dozens of injuries but no immediate reports of deaths from the storm. Western Cuba woke up Sunday to a scene of massive devastation after deadly Hurricane Gustav blasted through with winds gusting up to 340 kilometers (210 miles) per hour, wrecking vulnerable coastal towns and knocking out communications and power. Cuba had evacuated hundreds of thousands of people in the path of the hurricane's approach after it left at least 81 dead in Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
The IJmuiden lighthouse is pictured as waves crash against it on November 21, 2008, in IJmuiden, Netherlands, during a storm.
The sun shines on a yellow lighthouse outside Reykjavik harbour, Iceland, early in the morning on April 23, 2009.
A lighthouse sends out its rays on February 29, 2012, on Germany's North Sea archipelago Heligoland (German: Helgoland). The small island, which was given back to Germany by Britain 60 years ago, has a changeful history and was used as a bombing range by the British Royal Navy after World War II. Heligoland was restored to German authorities in 1952.
View of the Costa Concordia taken on January 14, 2012, after the cruise ship ran aground and keeled over off the Isola del Giglio, last night. Three people died and about 70 were missing after an Italian cruise ship with more than 4,000 people on board ran aground and keeled over, sparking scenes of panic. The Costa Concordia was on a trip around the Mediterranean when it apparently hit a reef near the island of Giglio on Friday, only a few hours into its voyage, as passengers were sitting down for dinner.
Tourists enjoy the beach near the lighthouse of Jose Ignacio, next to Punta del Este, one of the most exclusive seaside resorts of Latin America, 140 kilometers east from Montevideo, on January 13, 2012.
Bean Rock Lighthouse in Auckland Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand is seen in this photograph taken on October 20, 2011. Built in 1871 and restored in 1985 it is located on Te Toka a Kapetawa (the Rock of Kapetawa) and is accessible only by boat.
A lighthouse is pictured at the natural reserve of the Lavezzi islands, off the city of Bonifacio, in the southern French Corsican island, on August 25, 2011. French authorities announced the same day a bylaw to protect marine mammals from human activities, either touristic, scientific or commercial.
In this photo taken on March 28, 2012, "Moorine Marauder" a life-sized fibre glass cow, welcomes visitors to the grounds surrounding the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse (R) in the south-west region of Western Australia. The cow now in residence at the lighthouse, was one of 85 cows which were positioned across the Margaret River region in WA's south-west as part of the public art event "Cow Parade" which was held from March to June 2010. Cape Leeuwin lighthouse, the tallest on the Australian mainland and still operational, is situated on the most extreme south west tip of Australia and stands at the point where the Indian and Southern Oceans meet.
The 36 meters high lighthouse of Valassaaret island, built in 1885, designed by Henry Lepaute who worked for Gustave Eiffel's engineering bureau, and built by the same company in France that manufactured the components for the Eiffel Tower, is seen on July 17, 2012 in Valassaaret, in Kvarken Archipelago between Finland and Sweden. this lighthouse (175 steps inside), still in activity, has been automated in 1963 and then electrfied in 1980.
A wave breaks against a pier in front of a lighthouse in Boulogne-sur-Mer, on March 28, 2016. Tens of thousands of homes were without power in northwestern France early Monday after the region was pounded overnight by winds gusting to hurricane force that also triggered flight cancellations and outages in southern England.
A general view of a light house at Santiaochiao in New Taipei City as typhoon Soulik approaches northern Taiwan on July 11, 2013. Taiwan evacuated more than 2,000 tourists as the island braced for super-typhoon Soulik while Japan's Okinawa warned residents giant waves of up to 12 meters (40 feet) could hit the archipelago.
Aerial view of the lighthouse in the Miraflores neighborhood in Lima, on December 4, 2014, where the UN COP20 and CMP10 (20th session of the Conference of the Parties and the 10th session of the Conference of the Parties, serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol) were held.
The California lighthouse in Oranjestad, Aruba on August 27, 2013. The stone lighthouse was designed by a French architect in 1910 and built between 1914 and 1916. It is named after the S.S. California, a sailing ship that sank near the shore.
The Cabo da Roca Lighthouse is located in Portugal's Cabo da Roca, a tourist attraction and limit of continental Europe.
The Holyhead Breakwater Lighthouse stands on the Holyhead sea wall, Wales. The Holyhead Breakwater is the Victorian structure, which is 2.7 kilometers (1.7 miles) long - the longest breakwater in the United Kingdom.
Photo taken on August 18, 2014 shows the lighthouse near the walled city of Saint-Malo, Brittany, western France.
Waves break against a pier and a lighthouse in Les Sables-d'Olonne, western France, on February 9, 2016. High winds buffeted northwestern Europe on February 8, leaving one woman in France in a coma after she was hit by an advertising hoarding. Electricity was cut to 5,000 homes in northern France.
A falling star crosses the night sky behind the lighthouse in Pilsum, northwestern Germany, during the peak in activity of the annual Perseids meteor shower on August 13, 2015. The Perseids meteor shower occurs every year when the Earth passes through the cloud of debris left by Comet Swift-Tuttle.
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© AP Photo / John L. Russell
A couple walks on the North Manistee Lighthouse pier in Manistee on April 27, 2006, watching the sun set over Lake Michigan.
Picture taken on April 20, 2008, shows the lighthouse known as "phare des moutons" on the Glenan islands, off Brittany, western France. Built in 1879, the lighthouse is 18 meters high.
Waves crash over Newhaven Lighthouse on the south coast of England on February 8, 2016, as the latest storm hits the country. Heavy winds buffeted Europe's northwestern flank on Monday, forcing road closures and disrupting rail and ferry services in southern England and prompting high wave alerts in France's Brittany region. Gales and heavy rain with wind speeds of nearly 155 kilometers (100 miles) per hour battered southern England and Wales, with flood warnings issued in more than 50 areas.
