Port Soller Nord / busstop - Far des Cap Gros - Soller GR 221

Port Soller Nord / busstop - Far des Cap Gros - Soller GR 221

The lighthouse Far des Cap Gros stands above the narrow entrance to the harbour at Port de Soller.

Sóller:
In a fertile valley surrounded by olive and orange trees and vegetable gardens, this commercial town with a great love for the produce of the land blossoms. The ancestral homes of emigrants who returned enriched from their time in South America or France stand in its narrow streets. Regular commerce with France had cultural consequences, reflected in aspects such as the architecture and the language, and indeed many families here still speak French. The Plaza de la Constitució is dominated by the church of Sant Bartomeu and the Banco de Sóller, buildings with Modernist features. The municipality is highly prized by hikers who walk, among others, along the cobbled path of Barranc de Biniaraix. The Sóller tram and train, which still operate, are from the early 20th century. The town of Sóller, in the centre of the valley, at an altitude of about 30 m, was already settled in the time of Moorish rule. One of its most distinctive features are the grand houses built towards the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th, paid for with money made by emigrants from the town. Many were constructed in the Modernist style, which was also used in the design of the façade of parish church of Sant Bartomeu, the Bank of Sóller and the houses of Can Prunera.

Far des Cap Gros lighthouse was built between 1842 and 1850 at the initiative of Sóller Town Council and was later incorporated into the state lighthouse network. It underwent alterations in 1870, in accordance with plans designed by the engineer Llorenç Abrines. The tower is twenty metres high and its light has a range of eighteen nautical miles. It was originally built in order to guarantee the safety of the ships that at the time would call in at Port de Sóller, the port of exit for many goods that were exported for the French markets, oranges from the Sóller valley in particular.