The Capel Rosso Lighthouse stands in an outpost of great beauty that we find at the extreme south of the Giglio island, in Punta Capel Rosso, a place of silence and ancient stories from which it takes its name. A paved path and steps carved into the rock lead to the lighthouse, the red colors of the building and the streaks of the rock, which in this evocative setting combine with the brilliant colors of the uncontaminated Mediterranean scrub.
The structure, built in 1883 by the Navy (at the time called Regia Marina) for the illumination of the southern part of the island, is made up of a white tower with an octagonal section which rises in front of the central part of the façade facing the sea. The Lantern rises 300 feet above sea level and has a rotating optic with a range of 23 miles. The building with red and white stripes and a rectangular plan, arranged on two levels, housed the keepers' quarters before automation in the 1980s. The last lighthouse operator was Luigi Baffigi who lived at the lighthouse for 37 years.

Origins of the name Capel Rosso


Legend tells of the corsair Khair al-Dīn, also called the "Terror of the Tyrrhenian Sea" or Barbarossa, who in 1544 razed the town to the ground, deporting the inhabitants and effectively leaving the island depopulated.

A second legend tells of a girl named Marsilia, of Sienese origins, known for her fiery red hair with which she enchanted everyone. Even at that time, pirates frequently plundered the island of Giglio and during one of the attacks they kidnapped the woman and brought her as a gift to the Sultan. She later became respected and revered and in her honor the current promontory was called "Capel Rosso".