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The Portuguese planted giant navigational beacons ("padrões") on the coasts where no previous navigators had been. Each beacon corresponded to a precise latitude so ship pilots could check their coordinates at sea. Like present navigational beacons or Differential Global Positioning Satelite beacons the padroes are fixed at an exact location, allowing pilots to verify their exact latitude. Unlike eighteenth- and nineteenth-century lighthouses they did not have a light nor did they warn of danger. Instead they were navigational beacons indicating latitude. In southern Africa many present day lighthouses are located where these padrões used to be. |
Guide
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of US Lighthouses | Buoys
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