Kerbel lighthouse, Maritime lighthouse in Riantec, France.
Kerbel lighthouse is a 30-metre cylindrical tower in Riantec, Morbihan, white along most of its shaft with a black band at the top, a glazed lantern room and a narrow gallery beneath a dark rounded roof. A small vertical window is set into the white shaft partway up, and low coastal buildings partly hide the base. The concrete lantern was removed and replaced in 2007 by a 20 m² structure.
The structure was built in 1913 and served as a navigation aid for over 75 years before being decommissioned in 1989. This long period of active use shaped the region's maritime history.
Honorine Le Guen took charge of the light in 1925 at the age of 23. Until the lantern was electrified in 1932 she carried two 8-litre cans of petroleum up the tower each day; she remained keeper until her retirement in 1972.
The tower is private property and stands 30 metres tall, with 126 steps to the top; the upper section is not original, the lantern having been replaced in 2007. The former lantern now serves as a sauna on the grounds, and the oil room beside the keeper's house has been converted into a bedroom.
The original reinforced-concrete lantern, weighing 6 tonnes, was lowered when Daniel Jégat converted the tower; it was kept on the property and fitted out as a sauna. The former "oil room" beside the keeper's house became a bedroom. The tower has 126 steps to its top.
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