Alfanzina lighthouse, Algarve, Portugal

© Andreas Kunz/Getty Image

Light the way. International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend

The lighthouse featured in today's image stands in Carvoeiro in the Algarve on the southern coast of Portugal. Built in 1919, the Alfanzina lighthouse shines out over the ocean to help ships navigate the dangerous waters that surround the area. A popular tourist destination, the lighthouse also has become a symbol of the region's deep links to the sea.

This weekend, as International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend dawns, honour these sentinels by exploring the lighthouse closest to you, here in Canada. The event is all about celebrating this vital maritime infrastructure. Lighthouses have been keeping sailors safe almost as long as humans have been sailing the seas. Originally, lighthouses were powered by fires and oil lamps, requiring lighthouse keepers to maintain them. These days, however, most lighthouses have been automated and installed with electric light sources. In waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable to build a lighthouse, lightships have often been used.