Ancien phare de Honfleur, Lighthouse in Honfleur, Calvados, France.

The Ancien Phare de Honfleur is a cylindrical masonry tower of pale grey and beige stone, tapering slightly toward its top, with a projecting gallery ringed by a stone balustrade of short pillars. Two narrow rectangular windows are set one above the other on its face, and the tower rises from a wider, windowless base with trees at its foot. Its green lantern and apparatus came from the former phare de l'Hôpital.

A first lighthouse, the phare de l'Hôpital, was built in 1853 to complement the Fatouville light, replacing a wooden fire tower that had succeeded a simple lamp installed by the naval engineer de Gaulle. It was lit in 1857 and served until 1908, when it was extinguished and its lantern removed; the town of Honfleur now owns it. The present lighthouse was built in 1908 to mark the western entrance to Honfleur's harbour after the Fatouville light was discontinued. It was electrified in 1933, went dark during the war and was relit in 1951.

The tower is also called phare de la Falaise des Fonds or phare du Butin, after the Honfleur cliff where it stands. Its green lantern and optical apparatus came from the earlier phare de l'Hôpital, decommissioned in 1908. A red light on the jetty still completes the marking of the harbour entrance.

You can reach this lighthouse via a walking trail that offers views of the Seine estuary and connects with the GR 223 hiking path. The approach is straightforward for those prepared with basic walking shoes.

The current tower's green lantern and its optical apparatus were transferred from the earlier Phare de l'Hôpital, which was lit in 1857 and switched off in 1908. The present light shows three flashes every twelve seconds, and a red light on the jetty completes the marking of the harbour entrance.