Tourists often pass by the oldest operating lighthouse on the Black Sea coast without even suspecting the purpose of this charming white-and-red building. And this is not surprising, because not only does the lighthouse stand in the city center, it also differs from the stereotypical image of a lighthouse as a tall tower somewhere on a distant cape. Nevertheless, ships entering Gelendzhik Bay still use it as a point of reference today.
Range lights are always paired: when entering a harbor or port, the captain must see two range lights positioned strictly one above the other. If the picture does not line up from afar - the course needs to be corrected. The building on the boulevard, with a wide red stripe down the center, is the front light, while the wall of the boarding house on the hill above the lighthouse serves as the rear light. There is also a red stripe on the wall, which should continue the line on the main lighthouse if the course is correct. Previously, the rear light was a white obelisk on the hillside; it still stands there to this day, though in slightly worn condition.
The building of the Gelendzhik range lighthouse was built by the Frenchman Joseph de Tonde back in 1897. The architectural style is unusual for navigational structures - it is the fashionable turn-of-the-century Art Nouveau style that made the lighthouse one of the most beautiful buildings in the city.
The lighthouse has never been rebuilt; only in 1927 was electricity brought here to replace the kerosene lamps with modern ones. The reflectors around the lighthouse lantern are made of rock crystal and send green or red beams a full 9 miles out to sea.
