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Lindesnes Lighthouse
The experience at Lindesnes Lighthouse is always unique. No matter the time of year you visit us—whether it's day or night, stormy or calm—magical and spectacular experiences await. Nature and culture blend in the dramatic Norwegian coastal landscape, with the open sea stretching toward the horizon.
South Cape
The name Lindesnes originates from Old Norse and means "Where the land sinks into the sea." The waters around Norway’s southernmost point are also known as the “Cape of Torment.” Here, where two seas meet, currents and winds reign over life and death.
Follow the Lighthouse Keeper’s Daily Weather Observation
Kystreise.no films the weather.
Lindesnes Lighthouse
Lindesnes Lighthouse is Norway’s oldest lighthouse station and the country’s southernmost cape.
On February 27, 1656, Norway’s first beacon was lit at Lindesnes. It consisted of 30 tallow candles burning at the top of a three-story tower. This was an inefficient solution, and constant complaints from sailors led to the lighthouse being extinguished after only a few months. Lighthouse operations resumed in 1725.
Since the Middle Ages, the sea route between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea countries has been one of the most important trade routes in Northern Europe. Along with Skagen’s Odde at the northern tip of Denmark, Lindesnes was the most significant landmark for navigation into and out of the Skagerrak.
The Cast Iron Tower
The cast iron tower at Lindesnes, at 16.1 meters tall, is not particularly high, but its light can be seen 20 nautical miles (37 km) in clear weather. The lens apparatus is among the largest in existence—a so-called 1st order lens of French manufacture. Under extreme conditions, the sea can break over both the engine house and the tower.
Protected Cultural Heritage
Lindesnes Lighthouse is a protected cultural heritage site. The protection includes all buildings, facilities, and outdoor areas within the grounds. Today, the station appears mostly as it did after modernization in the early 1900s when three resident families lived at the lighthouse.
War Memories
The lighthouse area also contains many traces of German installations from World War II, including building foundations, trenches, cannon placements, and blasted rooms in the rock. Parts of these installations are now open to the public and are used for exhibitions.
The site is always open, and the lighthouse and exhibitions are accessible during the museum’s opening hours.
The exhibitions showcase both the history of Lindesnes Lighthouse and the coastal culture and maritime infrastructure.
Today, the Lindesnes Lighthouse Museum is an attraction visited by more than 100,000 guests from around the world each year.
The visitor center in the Fjellhallen includes exhibitions, a cinema, a museum shop, and a café serving simple, tasty, local, and homemade food.
Welcome to a visit—we recommend planning plenty of time for your trip.
Learn More About the Coast – Kystreise.no
The Coastal Administration Museums
Lindesnes Lighthouse is part of the Coastal Administration’s museum network, Kystverkmusea, along with four other museums:
Nordkappmuseet – Museums of Coastal Culture and Reconstruction,
Museum Nord – The Lofoten Museum,
Sunnmøre Museum – Dalsfjord Lighthouse Museum, and
Jærmuseet – Tungenes Lighthouse.
Read more about Kystverkmusea, "Norway’s Longest Museum."
Source: Visit Lindesnes
Lindesnes Lighthouse