Phare d'Hourtin
MonumentHidden Treasure
Phare d'Hourtin, located in Hourtin (Gironde), is a medieval landmark built in the Middle Ages. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Medieval (11th-15th century)
- Location
- Hourtin, Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 45.1420, -1.1609
- Mérimée Reference
- PA33000113
Sentinel of bricks erected in the heart of the Landes forest, the phare d'Hourtin is an absolute curiosity: a lighthouse with no sea in sight, keeping watch over the pine forests as far as the eye can see.
History
At the bend in a forest track in the Gironde, a magnificent anomaly emerges: a dark red brick tower rising high above the canopy of maritime pines. The Hourtin lighthouse is no ordinary lighthouse - it has never looked out to sea, but has guided navigators on Lac d'Hourtin, the largest natural lake in France, whose waters were once much less controlled than they are today. This geographical singularity makes it one of the most unusual monuments on the Atlantic coast. Built in the third quarter of the 19th century, at a time when the French government was embarking on a vast programme to mark out and make safe its inland and coastal waterways, the Hourtin lighthouse bears witness to an era when the science of optics and lighthouse engineering were reaching their apogee. Its square brick tower, enhanced by quoins and an ashlar base, illustrates the architectural care that went into even the most remote structures. What makes the visit truly unique is the environment: drowned in the green mass of the largest artificial forest in Europe, the Hourtin lighthouse creates a feeling of total disorientation. You wait for a maritime horizon and you find a cathedral of pine trees. From the lantern, the panorama of the Landes de Gascogne forest is breathtaking, an infinite sea of vegetation in place of the Atlantic. Around the main shaft, the caretakers' houses and the old stables remain, forming a small, coherent group of buildings that recreate the atmosphere of a life away from the world, punctuated by the maintenance of light and the obligations of the navy. Listed as a Historic Monument since 2009, the lighthouse is now a powerful symbol of the Gironde's heritage policy, which aims to enhance the value of a coastline rich in much more than just sand and waves.
Architecture
The Hourtin lighthouse has a sober, robust silhouette, typical of civil engineering architecture in the second half of the 19th century in France. Its square red brick tower stands out from the cylindrical lighthouses more common on the Atlantic coast, giving the building an austere, almost fortified appearance. The ashlar quoins visually reinforce the edges of the tower and provide a structural link between the brick courses, using a tried and tested technique in public construction at the time. The more solid stone base firmly anchors the building in its sandy, wooded terrain. The tower rises to several levels, accessed by an internal staircase - probably a spiral or straight staircase, given the square cross-section - leading to the exterior gallery and the summit lantern. This lantern originally housed a high-precision optical device, equipped with a Fresnel prism for concentrating and projecting light over long distances. The mercury tank on which the rotation mechanism rested was removed and replaced by a concrete platform during a technical upgrade. The architectural ensemble also includes the traditional outbuildings of lighthouses of this generation: one-storey and two-storey brick caretaker's houses and stables, which bear witness to the logistical organisation specific to isolated sites. This coherent ensemble, well-preserved in its main volumes, offers a complete picture of how a continental lighthouse station functioned in the 19th century.
Related Figures
Ingénieurs des Ponts et Chaussées (concepteurs anonymes du projet, troisième quart XIXe siècle)Léonce Reynaud (directeur des phares et balises, théoricien de l'architecture des phares français au XIXe siècle)Augustin Fresnel (physicien dont les lentilles à échelons ont équipé des milliers de phares dans le monde, dont vraisemblablement celui d'Hourtin)Gardiens de phare successifs (familles résidentes jusqu'à l'automatisation, garants du fonctionnement de la station)
Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Phare d'Hourtin located?
Phare d'Hourtin is located in Hourtin, Gironde department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, France.
When was Phare d'Hourtin built?
Phare d'Hourtin dates back to a period built in the Middle Ages (11th-15th century).
Is Phare d'Hourtin open to visitors?
Phare d'Hourtin is currently closed to visitors.