Nizmenny Lighthouse

Also known as: Низменный

active

Image intentionally omitted

Published as a public-ready text record; documentary media remains under attribution review.

Legacy images for this record are suppressed from public-ready surfaces until source, author, license, and credit line are reviewed.

At a glance

Place

Country
Russia

Structure

Status
active Legacy archive claim · Низменный

Light Signature

No accepted light signature claims yet.

Signal pattern, color, period, visibility, optics, and operating context appear here after field-level review.

Names & naming history

RU · Official

Machine-readable names JSON

(autotranslated, could have mistakes)

This is the fourth lighthouse built on the Primorye coast after Skryplevo, Povorotny and Nazimov.  Although it was built more than a hundred years ago—put into operation in 1903—the lighthouse still remains one of the most remote and inaccessible in Primorye. The sea here is quite often stormy, there is no equipped pier, and it is impossible to build one in these places. The road along the coast is approximately 80 km off-road, along river beds and swamps.

*

The history of the construction is indicative. The project was signed in 1901, and in 1903 everything was ready. How in such a wilderness, in just two years, was it possible to build a capital structure that has been in service for more than a hundred years?  There were people at that time...

Equipment for the lighthouse was brought from France. Here is an extract from the old form: "The rotation mechanism of the lighthouse of the Sautre-Garle company. The optical apparatus rotates on mercury using a clock mechanism. The year of installation is 1903... The total height of the lighthouse tower is 17.4 m.... the total height of the tower from sea level is 66.2 m... the color of the lighthouse light is white... the light intensity of the lighthouse is 1,080,000 candles... the geographic range of visibility of the light is 22.8 miles. Light source - kerosene burner. Kerosene consumption - 510 g per hour. Alcohol consumption for heating - 70 g.”

*

The working part of the optical apparatus is a huge prefabricated structure made of Fresnel lenses. The segments are made of crystal, the frame is made of bronze, the entire structure weighs almost 100 kilograms and is about a meter high. The lens had a very complex design; the lighthouse's glimpses were beams into which it collected light. There is a separate lens for each beam. When the lighthouse lens rotates, the beams cast rays far into the sea and the fire appears to flare up and go out. The combination of flashes and the repetition cycle are individual for each lighthouse in the world. For each lighthouse, a lens of a separate design was made. The entire structure floated in a bowl into which about 150 kg of mercury was poured. On such a bearing, it began to rotate at the touch of a finger. The lens rotates, the fire shines - the sailors know where they are.

*

Since 1906, a meteorological post has also been operational at the lighthouse. It operated from 1906 to 1940, then from 1946 to 1960. In July 1948, the weather station was converted into a weather station.

In 1938, the lighthouse equipment was replenished with the RMS-3m radio beacon. This installation was replaced in 1957 by a more modern one - KRM 50/24. In 1965, its own radio station, R 657, appeared here for operational communication with management.

The lighthouse operated on kerosene for almost half a century. Then kerosene was replaced by electricity; in 1952, the kerosene-heating installation here was replaced by an electric one, but the lens served until the beginning of the 21st century, and only a few years ago was replaced by a new one. The old one was dismantled, and now its components - thick glasses in bronze frames - are stored in the administration of the district hydrographic network and are listed on the balance sheet. The lighthouse workers are worried about their fate: “Lest they force them to sell them for scrap, but this is an ancient relic. It needs to go to a museum!”

Here, in the administration of the RGS, they carefully store (for more than a hundred years!!!) blue tracing papers - copies of the plans of the Nizmny lighthouse. More precisely, copies of copies of these plans, on which notes, comments, and the names of those responsible for construction are written in beautiful calligraphic handwriting

lighthouse of people.

*

In 1975, the Nizmny lighthouse was reconstructed. A new lighthouse technical building, a 2-story, 8-apartment residential building, was built. The KRM-100 radio beacon was installed, the siren was replaced with a nautofon, and new radio masts were installed.

In the 90s, with the widespread return of Orthodoxy to Russia, a command was passed through the hydrography service - to transfer the bells that had once been confiscated from churches and transferred to the lighthouse service to the churches. Lowland also lost its bell. The bell that served here was transferred to the recently opened parish of the Orthodox Church in the village. Timofeevka.

The ringing of the bell in Timofeevka continued some elusive connection between the village of military sailors and the lighthouse that served these sailors. The village of Timofeevka is the only settlement on which there is a street called Mayak Nizmny. But this is more likely from the realm of mysticism and superstition, with which stories about the seas and ancient buildings are so full. But there is some disagreement about the origin of the bell, which served in Nizmny and now in Timofeevka. The placement of the bell on the lighthouse was provided for by the lighthouse design (sheet 10 of the Project), and it would be logical to assume that the removed bell was at one time specially made for Lowland.  ABOUT

However, in 1981, the head of the hydrographic network district, captain-lieutenant Alexander Aleksandrovich Kontorzhevsky, mentioned in a memo that the bell at the Nizmny lighthouse was installed in 1929. It was during these years that church bells requisitioned from the belfries of monasteries and churches were transferred to the lighthouses. Did Lowland have its own bell, where did it disappear, if there was one, and did the church really originally own the bell handed over in the nineties? Apparently, the true origin of the bell and its “biography” before the service on Nizmenny has yet to be established.

It would be very interesting to establish the fate of the lighthouse signal cannon, the placement of which was provided for by the Lighthouse Project.

In 1988, the Dalnegorsky branch of the Primorsky branch of the Geographical Society of the USSR carried out a walking local history expedition from Olga to Preobrazhenie, along the sea coast. The expedition also visited Cape Low. One of its participants, Viktor Anatolyevich Tatarnikov, provided photographs showing the bell, which was then still located on Nizmenny.

*

Another photo taken then reminds us of a legend associated with the lighthouse.

On the territory of the lighthouse there is the grave of Joel Vikentievich Davidovich. Local rumor claims that this is the first head of the lighthouse. They say that in the summer of 1907, when he was bringing payment for the installation of equipment to the lighthouse, a bill for one million rubles in gold, he was attacked by Honghuzes at the pass, counting on cash and brutally dealt with him.

However, a publication in the Far East newspaper on August 4, 1907 refutes these allegations. Here is its full text:

“The other day, the head of the Milogradovsky telegraph department, Davidovich, fell victim to his own carelessness. Davidovich, with a coachman, on horseback, went into the forest to fix the telegraph line from the Olginsky tract to the Nizmny lighthouse in the South Ussuri district. During the trip, Davidovich had a gun with him, which he did not carefully inspect when leaving the house, and it itself fired for an unknown reason a shot that pierced the right side and Davidovich’s left hand. At the Nizmenny lighthouse, the victim was provided with medical assistance, but he still died soon.”

The fiancee of the young head of the telegraph department took him here from St. Petersburg for two years,

in the Far Eastern wilderness, a tombstone made of white marble. During Soviet times, the grave was destroyed. An officer took the tombstone away. Then, in the eighties, the lighthouse workers themselves restored the burial place. The gravestone was made of concrete, an old monument and a cross were installed, although it had been knocked down long ago. They surrounded the grave with chains. On the monument, which stands surrounded by oak trees, today you can still read the inscription: “Here lies Joel Vikentyevich Davidovich, died July 15, 1907, 29 years old.” "From your dear homeland, far away, you found a grave here on a rock. Sleep, my dear, deeply. Eternal memory to you."

*

Unfortunately, the Nizmny lighthouse is not recognized as a historical or any other monument, although, of course, it is of both architectural and historical value.

Extract from the pilot:

FROM CAPE LOW TO OLGA BAY The coast stretches for 8.3 miles to NNE. Almost along its entire length it is high, rocky, and steep in places; low areas are located at the tops of bays, where river and stream valleys open out to the sea. The coast is slightly indented; a bay juts into it, located 1.1 miles from Cape Nizmny, and Manevsky Bay.

Cape Nizmny (43°30' N. 135°08' E) is the southeastern tip of the peninsula, which protrudes into the sea in the form of a flat plateau and ends with rocky cliffs. In these cliffs, wide horizontal layers of dark brown rocks are visible.

The peninsula is noticeable due to the fact that it is relatively lower than the adjacent mountainous area and protrudes far into the sea. The cape and the adjacent shores are overgrown with grass, and a mixed forest grows in the depths of the peninsula. On the radar screen from 10-15 miles, Cape Nizhnyny is depicted as an island, and from a distance of less than 10 miles, the image of the cape is clear and matches its outline on the maps.

The Nizmny lighthouse was built on Cape Nizmny. At the lighthouse there is a radio beacon and a sound signaling installation. The lighthouse buildings are noticeable when approaching from the SW.

A stone with a depth of 8.2 m lies at 2.2

kbt to ENE from Cape Nizhny.

Thanks to the head of the Olga hydrographic network district, Ivan Slakvenko, for the materials provided.

***Roman Tarasov.

Photos of the author, Ivan Slakvenko, Viktor Tatarnikov, as well as from the free Internet encyclopedia - Wikipedia were used. ***

Heritage identity & evidence

Identity

LUX ID
LUX-LH-000054
Type
Church lighthouse
Object kind
Church lighthouse
Current status
active

Review & coverage

Showcase rank 32 · readyReadiness readyCoordinates not reviewedRecord-level source only13 accepted field claims

External identifiers

No reviewed external identifiers yet.

Key source-backed claims

Claim evidence

Operational status

Selected valueInherited from archiveNeeds reviewed field source

Selected value: active

Why this value is shown: Current evidence is active; Source: Legacy archive field; Inherited from the archive

Field support: Needs a reviewed field source

Archive value: active

Show claim history
  • active selected why: Current evidence is active; Source: Legacy archive field; Inherited from the archive · Низменный Current · archive · Legacy archive field
    Technical details
    claim_id
    CLAIM-LUX-LH-000054-status-001
    review_status
    current
    confidence
    archive
    source_type
    migration_field
    winner_reason
    current active claim; source type migration_field; confidence archive
Technical details
field_id
status
current_claim_id
CLAIM-LUX-LH-000054-status-001
winner_reason
current active claim; source type migration_field; confidence archive
field_support_status
no-trusted-reference
candidate_count
1
distinct_value_count
1
review_guidance
accepted/current claims without valid_to; prefer accepted, then latest valid_from, curated source, confidence, id.

2 active / 2 total in-archive source links. Full sources and reference search leads below

External Identity Graph

  • LUX Light Archive
    LUX-LH-000054 Canonical LUX ID

    Local identity anchor for the record and related claims.

  • Wikidata
    Search / review Search lead

    review lead · Resolve to a verified QID before treating as evidence.

  • Wikipedia
    Search / review Search lead

    review lead · Useful for public descriptions and cross-checking, but text must be rewritten or quoted sparingly.

  • ARLHS
    Search / review Review source

    review lead · Search the World List of Lights and add a verified ARLHS ID when found.

  • OpenStreetMap
    Search / review Search lead

    review lead · Resolve to a stable node, way, or relation URL before acceptance.

  • Source URLs
    2 active / 2 total in-record source links Record source URLs

    record provenance · Record-level source URLs are listed in the source provenance section.

  • Lighthouse Directory
    Search / review Review source

    review lead · Use the regional directory page as a trusted catalogue lead; add the exact URL after review.

Evidence graph

Derived view of how sources, facts, identifiers, lifecycle events, and relationships support this record.

8 sources1 field-supported facts7 object-only refs

Open evidence graph JSON

View by year

Reconstructed state

No reviewed year-by-year state profile yet.

History and connections

Lifecycle summary

Current status: active

Construction phases

Repeated construction dates are treated as lighthouse phases or rebuilds, not one current-date conflict.

  1. 1903 · Source narrative · Narrative lead

    Source narrative context: ...coast after Skryplevo, Povorotny and Nazimov. Although it was built more than a hundred years ago—put into operation in 1903—the lighthouse still remains one of the most remote and inaccessible in Primorye. The sea here is quite often stormy, there is no equipped pier, and it is impossible to build one in these places. The road along the coast is approximately 80 km off-road, along river beds and swamps.

Evidence and data

Detailed timeline, graph, map history, and JSON exports for review and research.

0 history events 2 record changes 1 connected objects 0 places

Coverage: no-accepted-coordinates

Lighthouse history (0 events)

No timeline events yet.

Record history (2 changes)
  1. Archive record createdarchive-metadata
  2. Archive record updatedarchive-metadata
Connection graph (1 objects)
Geo timeline (0 places)

No accepted coordinate point yet. The text geography remains listed as context.

  • Geography contextРоссия · text-only

Rights & Attribution

Content License

Original editorial content on this page: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International. See Rights & Reuse.

Media Rights

No published media with documented rights on this record.

Attribution

"Nizmenny Lighthouse" · LUX-LH-000054 · © LUX143 · Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International · https://light.lux143.org/lighthouses/LUX-LH-000054/

Citation

LUX Light Archive, Lighthouse record: "Nizmenny Lighthouse", LUX-LH-000054, https://light.lux143.org/lighthouses/LUX-LH-000054/, accessed 2026-07-03, archive v0.24.42.

Legacy archive provenance

This object now uses its LUX identity as the public record. The original Drupal node is preserved as migration provenance and a compatibility route.

Canonical LUX ID
LUX-LH-000054
Legacy node
node:544
Legacy URL
/node/544/
Drupal source type
lighthouse
Source system
drupal_migration
Source path
/node/544

Source provenance

Forum sources

Trusted References

Known external identifiers and review leads for Wikipedia, Wikidata, map, registry, and catalogue coverage. Search leads are not accepted evidence until reviewed. Field-level evidence is implied only when evidence scope or supported fields are explicit.

SourceStatusEvidence scopeReferenceReview note
Wikidatasearch-candidateSearch / reviewResolve to a verified QID before treating as evidence.
Wikipediasearch-candidateSearch / reviewUseful for public descriptions and cross-checking, but text must be rewritten or quoted sparingly.
OpenStreetMapsearch-candidateSearch / reviewResolve to a stable node, way, or relation URL before acceptance.
ARLHSreview-sourceSearch / reviewSearch the World List of Lights and add a verified ARLHS ID when found.
Lighthouse Directoryreview-sourceSearch / reviewUse the regional directory page as a trusted catalogue lead; add the exact URL after review.
Record identifiers
Node
544
Source type
lighthouse
Review class
Lighthouse
Wikidata class
Q39715
Created
27/05/2011 12:28:11 UTC
Changed
13/09/2012 15:37:21 UTC
Source path
/node/544
All technical fields
Status
active Legacy archive claim · Низменный
Construction date
Not recorded
Tower height
Not recorded
Focal height
Not recorded
Light height
Not recorded
Light characteristic
Not recorded
Light number
Not recorded
Operation
Not recorded
Visibility
Not recorded
Legacy light IDs
Not recorded
Call sign
Not recorded
Lens / optics
Not curated
Latitude
Not recorded
Longitude
Not recorded

Empty lighthouse fields are shown so review gaps are visible. Lens and optics are curated as heritage assets when evidence exists.