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Discover the most beautiful lighthouses in Charente-Maritime
The Cordouan Lighthouse
The Cordouan lighthouse is located in the middle of the entrance to the Gironde estuary and faces Saint-Palais sur Mer and its most beautiful beaches. The oldest lighthouse in France stands alone and magnificent in the middle of the sea and remains today one of the few lighthouses still inhabited.
Identity sheet :
Address : Phare de Cordouan – 33123 Le Verdon-sur-Mer
Height: 67.5 m
Number of steps: 301
Range: approximately 40 kilometres
Construction: As early as the 14th century, a fire tower was built on the island of Cordouan, puis au 16è siècle un véritable phare est édifié, avec une hauteur initiale de 37 m, véritable performance pour l’époque, d’édifier pareil ouvrage en pleine mer. C’est dans les années 1780 que le Phare de Cordouan prend sa forme d’aujourd’hui grâce à l’architecte Joseph Teulère.
Commissioning: evolution over the centuries, but "efficient" evolution thanks to the Fresnel lens in 1823.
The Cordouan lighthouse The Gironde Estuary's harbour, situated in the middle of the sea, still has all its functions as a guide for the many ships sailing on the Gironde Estuary. Discover this giant of the seas, but it won't be easy. Indeed, you will start this visit with a sea cruise, departing from Royan, to dock on the island of Cordouan and begin the visit proper.
Discover the emblematic Cordouan lighthouse
The Cordouan Lighthouse is not only a historic building, but also a UNESCO World Heritage Site
1 Cordouan, an island, a lighthouse, a history
UNESCO World Heritage Sites are a collection of natural or man-made places of great interest to culture and humanity.
The Cordouan lighthouse n’est pas comme tous les phares que nous avons évoqués jusqu’alors. Il prend place au milieu de l’estuaire de la Gironde et retrace à lui seul l’histoire de la création architectural de l’homme. En effet ce chef d’oeuvre d’architecture est non seulement magnifique mais a su relever les défis pour pouvoir s’ériger en pareil lieu.
2 A visit to the Cordouan lighthouse, an unforgettable experience
Incredible memories have to be earned, they have to be provoked... The ones you will get from this visit to the Cordouan Lighthouse are unforgettable because they are the result of the short journey necessary to reach the lighthouse that its creators wanted to build on the open sea off Royan about 7 km from any coast.
You will embark at the port of Royan (or Le Verdon sur Mer) for a superb cruise alongside other adventurers. On board this boat you will leave for this crossing of a few kilometres which will bring you to the lighthouse in approximately 3/4 of an hour.
So take advantage of this moment in the open air, to relax, smell the sea spray and the iodine air and admire this magnificent landscape on the coast but also this silhouette which is slowly but surely approaching. The shape of the Cordouan lighthouse is unmistakable and you will have plenty of time to observe it during this approach.
You will then be disembarked quite close to the Cordouan Lighthouse, which is only accessible at low tide in order to be able to walk on the shallows, made up of sandbanks which are even visible from the coast at low tide (on the Grande Côte beach in Saint Palais sur Mer for example).
Bring a swimming costume or at least shorts and old trainers or flip-flops as you will finish your journey to the lighthouse, walking on the sandbank and depending on the movements of the sandbank during the previous tides, you may get water above your knees.
3 The Cordouan lighthouse, 4 reasons to visit this unmissable monument of the seas
The more you approach the magnificent Cordouan Lighthouse, the more you will be amazed. So take the time to stay at the foot for a few minutes to admire its fantastic architecture up close.
Discover the foreshore at the foot of the Cordouan lighthouse and its incredible ecosystem
If the weather is good, we advise you to take your time on the foreshore at the foot of the Cordouan lighthouse. Indeed, many plant species such as a multitude of varieties of algae thrive here, but also more than 200 animal species. You will see curiously shaped algae, crabs by the hundreds, but also numerous sponges, shellfish and crustaceans.
You see it, a