The stone column on which Tourlitis Lighthouse was built had been shaped by millennia of natural erosion into the perfect pedestal for a coastal beacon. Unfortunately the original lighthouse was not long for this world, and was destroyed during World War II. For a time, the rocky outcropping went without a proper lighthouse, and the fantastical image created by the former structure was all but lost.

However, the beacon apparently had an extra life. The lighthouse was eventually rebuilt in the early 1990s by an oil tycoon who dedicated the structure to his daughter. The replica became Greece’s first automated lighthouse, eliminating the need for an onsite keeper to operate the light.