The brick-built tower is high and wide at the base, with its windowless wall painted red-white-red and topped by a black lantern housing and gallery. Only a door pointing to the west provides access to the building. The light is above
sea level emitting white flashes every ten seconds with a range of . The lighthouse is still in operation, is remote-controlled, automated, uninhabited, and is not open to the public, guarding the sea entrance to Ushuaia. Electricity is supplied by solar panels. The lighthouse was put into service on December 23, 1920. It is a popular tourist attraction, reached on short boat tours from Ushuaia. It is known to the Argentines as the Lighthouse at the End of the World (
Faro del fin del mundo), although that name is misleading. The lighthouse is often confused with the
San Juan de Salvamento lighthouse on the east coast of the remote
Isla de los Estados, made famous by
Jules Verne in the novel
The Lighthouse at the End of the World, which is actually much further east. == See also ==