Editing Formigas (section)

===Formigas Lighthouse===
The '''Formigas Lighthouse''' ({{langx|pt|[[:pt:Farol das Formigas|Farol das Formigas]]}}) is located on Formigão, the largest islet of the Formigas. The current beacon is a {{convert|19|m|ft|adj=on}} stone tower painted white. As the base of the tower is at an elevation of about {{convert|3|m|ft}} above sea level, the beacon is at {{convert|22|m|ft}} above sea level. The lighthouse's signal is visible from {{convert|12|nmi|km}} away on clear days, although there have been reports of seeing it from the southeastern part of São Miguel and the northeastern part of Santa Maria. In rough seas, waves completely immerse the tower.

As early as 1883 the Portuguese government formally recognized the dangers posed by the Formigas to navigation and proposed building a lighthouse on the islets, but nothing was constructed at the time. On 2 March 1895, at the General Meeting of the [[Ponta Delgada (district)|Autonomous District of Ponta Delgada]], the District initiated construction of lighthouses on São Miguel and Santa Maria. Because of this, and also due to the technical difficulties of building a lighthouse in that era in a place so inhospitable as the Formigas, construction of a lighthouse on the islets themselves was further delayed.

Finally, in the summer of 1948 the Portuguese government began a complex operation to build a lighthouse on Formigão. In order to land personnel and equipment on the islet, the workers first had to break away subsurface rocks and build a [[wharf]]. Despite various interruptions to the work due to rough seas and inclement weather, in 36 days the workers managed to build a small beacon. In 1962, the [[Portuguese Navy]]'s [[lightvessel|lightship]] ''[[:pt:NRP Almirante Schultz|NRP Almirante Schultz]]'' anchored at the Formigas and was used as a work base for renovating and modernizing the lighthouse. In the succeeding years the lighthouse was further modernized; the beacon now runs on [[solar power]] and its old [[acetylene]] lamp has been replaced with a newer model.