Lighthouse of La Coubre, Maritime lighthouse in La Tremblade, France
The Lighthouse of La Coubre is a concrete structure at the northern edge of the Gironde estuary with a viewing platform reached by 300 steps. The tower rises clearly above the flat coastal landscape, offering far-reaching views across water and land.
A beacon was recorded at the Pointe de la Coubre in 1690, and an imperial decree of 12 May 1860 ordered a lighthouse at the northern mouth of the Gironde after repeated shipwrecks. A 57-metre stone tower completed in 1895 collapsed in May 1907 as erosion undermined its foundations. The present tower, decided in October 1904, entered service in 1905, built 1,800 metres from the shore; by 2018 the sea was only 150 metres away at high tide.
The museum opened in July 2005 for the lighthouse's centenary and traces the successive towers from a wooden beacon of 1699 onward. One room displays engravings of shipwrecks taken from works by Jules Verne, who died in 1905, the year the present tower entered service.
The climb to the viewing platform takes time and stamina due to the many steps involved. It helps to wear good shoes and plan time to rest along the way while taking in the views.
The tower was the first French lighthouse built entirely of concrete, and its interior is tiled with 7,500 blue opaline tiles. The metal staircase inside was made to plans by Gustave Eiffel. A second red light, nicknamed "la barbette", sits two-thirds up the tower where the paint changes from white to red, marking a danger zone caused by sandbanks.
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