Our Vieste guides

Vieste
lighthouse

Facing the old town, on a little island of rock, a pale tower has watched over the Adriatic for more than a century and a half. We'll tell you about its light, its secret cave and the legends it keeps.

A guide by the Villa Ulimare family

Enlarge:
Up close
Enlarge:
The islet
Enlarge:
From offshore
Enlarge:
Vieste blue
Enlarge:
From the old town

Vieste's old town and the lighthouse on the sea, at sunset — Greetings from Vieste

Don't miss

Three flashes every 15 seconds
The light at night
How to recognise it in the dark: count the flashes.
Go The light at night
Four spots on the coast
Where to watch it
From Marina Piccola to the Ripa quarter, the finest views.
Go Where to watch it

The islet

A light facing the town

The lighthouse stands on Sant'Eufemia islet, a stone's throw from Marina Piccola. The tower of pale stone rises above the old keeper's house, empty today: since the light became automatic, nobody lives on the islet any more.

Up at the top a first-order Fresnel lens gathers the light and casts it towards the horizon, turning without rest. Since 1997 the lighthouse has run on its own, looked after by the Italian Navy.

A legend tells that Noah, after the Flood, stopped on this coast with his wife Vesta. When she died, he buried her right here on the rock, and in her honour named the town Vesta: in time, Vieste.

A warm hug from Vieste,
the Villa Ulimare family

Vieste lighthouse on its islet, under a clear blue sky

The lighthouse's ID card

Built: In 1867, designed by Francesco Saverio Gatta
Height: The tower is 27 metres tall, the light stands 40 metres above the sea
The light: Three white flashes every 15 seconds, visible up to about 46 km
The lens: A first-order Fresnel lens
Today: Automated since 1997, looked after by the Italian Navy

The light

Three flashes every 15 seconds

Every lighthouse has its own signature of light. Vieste's is three white flashes, then darkness, every fifteen seconds. That is how sailors recognise it from the sea, up to 25 nautical miles away: for them, it means home.

This evening, from Marina Piccola, count along with the children: one, two, three… and wait for the next round.

The cave

Venus Sosandra and the sailors

Deep inside the islet lies a cave that, more than two thousand years ago, was a sanctuary of Venus Sosandra, “she who saves”. Sailors landed here before facing the open sea and carved a prayer or a thank-you into the rock, in Greek and in Latin.

Later the cave became a church, and for centuries sailors, priests and lighthouse keepers went on writing on the stone. Sometimes the new names wiped out the oldest ones: today the universities of Bari and Foggia count about 250 inscriptions and marks.

Excavations have also uncovered cisterns for water: the islet was a precious stopover, where ships took on fresh water.

Written in the rock

The Doge and his hundred ships

The Doge of Venice, Pietro II Orseolo, sailed into the harbour with a hundred ships, bound for Bari, which was besieged by the Saracens, and had the news of his visit carved here. The stone says 1003: in the calendar of the time, the new year began on 1 September.

The text on the stone, in Latin

IN NOMINE DOMINI DEI ET SALVATORIS NOSTRI IHESU
CHRISTI ANNO AB INCARNACIONIS EIUS
MILLESIMO III MENSE SEPTEMBRI DIE III INDICTIONE I IN
TROIVIT IN ISTO PORTO DOMINUS PETRO
DUX VENETIQUORUM ET DALMATIANO
RUM CUM NAVES CENTUM PREPARATUS AD BEL
LUM CONTRA SARRACENOS QUI SE
DEBANT SUPRA VARES ET PU
GNAVIT CUM IIS ALII OCCIDERAT ALII IN FU
GAM MISERAT

Translated

“In the name of the Lord God and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, in the year 1003 from His incarnation, on 3 September, in the first indiction, the lord Pietro, Doge of the Venetians and the Dalmatians, entered this harbour with a hundred ships, ready for war against the Saracens who were besieging Bari. He fought them: some he killed, the others he put to flight.”

The cave through time

2nd-1st c. BCThe first dedications to Venus
5th-6th c.The cave becomes a church
1002The Doge passes with his fleet
1867The lighthouse is lit
Until 1926The lighthouse keepers sign

Watch the excavations (opens in a new tab)

The islet is not open to the public: admire it from the shore or from the sea.

Where to watch

The best spots

You can see the lighthouse from all over the old town. These are the places where we like to stop, on foot from the centre.

On foot, from the old town,

At sunset, when the lantern comes on.

Enlarge:
Punta Santa Croce
Cristoforo Colombo seafront
The closest spot: from the harbour seafront, the islet is just a stone's throw away.
Enlarge:
Marina Piccola
Below the old town
The seaside walk facing the lighthouse: at sunset the light turns it pink.
Enlarge:
An alley in the old town
Just before the Cathedral
At the bottom of the slope, between the houses of the old town, the sea and the lighthouse appear.
Enlarge:
U spacc d Rusnell
Rosinella's cleft, on the rocks
From the low rocks at sunset, the lighthouse is mirrored in the water in front of you.
Enlarge:
Punta San Francesco
The tip of the old town
From the point, with the trabucco beside you, the lighthouse is right in front of you.
Enlarge: By boat
From the sea, by boat
Behind the islet
By boat you sail round the islet and see the lighthouse from behind too, above the rocks.