Phare de la Pietra, Maritime lighthouse in L'Île-Rousse, France.
Phare de la Pietra is a square white masonry tower rising from the centre of a four-sided rendered base on the summit of the Île de la Pietra, linked to L'Île-Rousse by a causeway road. A green lantern crowns the tower, and an uninhabited keeper's cottage adjoins the building. Dark solar panels lie flat on the lower roof, and a pale blue door and two grey louvered shutters face the approach.
The lighthouse was first lit in 1857 with a fixed red fourth-order light, as part of Corsica's second maritime signalling programme alongside the Madonetta, Ajaccio citadel, Bastia Dragon and Lavezzi lighthouses. In 1877 it was replaced by a more powerful fixed white light, and in 1902 it began emitting three flashes every twelve seconds. It was automated in the second half of the 20th century and later fitted with solar panels.
The lighthouse is known in Corsican as Fanale di a Petra, and the islet it stands on, Île de la Pietra, is now linked to L'Île-Rousse by a causeway road. The tower marks the entrance to the port of L'Île-Rousse, the town founded by Pascal Paoli in the 18th century, and its light has guided boats into that harbour since 1857.
The island of la Pietra is linked to L'Île-Rousse by a road-dyke, so the lighthouse can be reached on foot or by car without a boat. The tower stands at the highest point of the rocky islet, and the keeper's cottage beside it is not inhabited. The site is exposed to wind off the north-west coast of Corsica.
The light's signature is three flashes every twelve seconds, adopted in 1902 after a fixed red light from 1857 and a stronger fixed white light from 1877. The square tower rises from the centre of a four-sided rendered masonry base, with an unused keeper's cottage attached and solar panels on the roof.
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