Editing Cape Point (section)

==Lighthouse==
[[File:Cape Peninsula.jpg|thumb|300px|A map of the Cape Peninsula showing its major features. Cape Point is the small cape jutting out towards the east from [[The Cape of Good Hope]] at the southern end of the Peninsula. The lighthouse is on Cape Point, rather than on the Cape of Good Hope to the west.]]
The new lighthouse is at a lower elevation (87 meters; 285.5 feet above [[sea level]]), for two reasons: the old lighthouse, located at {{coord|34|21|12|S|18|29|25.2|E|type:isle_region:ZA}} (262 meters; 859.6 feet above sea level), could be seen 'too early' by ships rounding the point towards the east, causing them to approach too closely. Secondly, foggy conditions often prevail at the higher levels, making the older lighthouse invisible to shipping. On 18 April 1911, the Portuguese liner ''[[SS Lusitania|Lusitania]]'' was wrecked just south of Cape Point at {{coord|34|23|22|S|18|29|23|E|type:isle_region:ZA}} on Bellows Rock for precisely this reason, prompting the relocation of the lighthouse.

The new lighthouse, located at {{coord|34|21|26|S|18|29|49|E|type:isle_region:ZA}}, cannot be seen from the West until ships are at a safe distance to the South. The light of the new Cape Point lighthouse is the most powerful on the South African coast, with a range of {{convert|63|km|mi nmi}} and an intensity of 10 [[megacandela]]s in each flash.<ref>[http://www.sa-venues.com/attractionswc/cape-point.htm ''Cape Point Attractions: Cape Point, Cape Town, South Africa''], from South Africa Explored</ref>