Cape Guardafui marks the very tip of the Horn of Africa. A part of modern-day Somalia, the area is among the most distant on the continent, and was traditionally often called the location of many shipwrecks.
The British took management of the area within the nineteenth century, however ceded it to Italy in 1894 and it turned a part of the Italian colonial undertaking. The Italians first constructed a lighthouse on the cape within the Twenties, however the present stone and metal construction was inaugurated in 1930. It was named “Faro Francesco Crispi” after the nineteenth century Italian Prime Minister whose authoritarian streak was mentioned to be an inspiration to Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime.
The lighthouse was constructed within the form of a “fascio littorio”, or fasces, an historic Roman weapon that was appropriated as a fascist image. As a result of its distinctive form, it stays one of the emblematic constructions of Mussolini’s Italy. Whereas now not in use, the lighthouse is a stark reminder of Italy’s fascist and colonial previous.
