Phare de Beauduc, situé Pointe des Sablons
MonumentHidden Treasure
Phare de Beauduc, situé Pointe des Sablons, located in Arles (Bouches-du-Rhône), is a modern edifice built in the 19th-20th centuries. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Modern (19th-20th century)
- Location
- Arles, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 43.3649, 4.5846
- Mérimée Reference
- PA13000068
Sentinelle de pierre dressée aux confins sauvages de la Camargue, le phare de Beauduc veille depuis 1903 sur les eaux traîtresses du golfe du Lion, dernier phare construit en Camargue et monument historique oublié des lagunes.
History
At the end of a dusty track that crosses the ponds and sansouïres of the Grande Camargue, the slender silhouette of the Beauduc lighthouse suddenly appears. This limestone shaft, over twenty-seven metres high, emerges from an almost lunar landscape - on one side the calm waters of the ponds, on the other the roaring Mediterranean. The building is not just beautiful: it is improbable, standing there as if by accident at the tip of Les Sablons, at the very edge of the Rhône delta. The last lighthouse ever to be built in the Camargue, Beauduc is the culmination of a century's battle against shipwrecks along these low, deceptive coasts. What makes it special is its narrow and precise mission: not to guide ships to a port, but to signal a single danger - the Pointe de Beauduc - and put an end to the fatal confusion between the Faraman light and the Île Planier light. In this respect, it is a pure coastal marker lighthouse, dedicated body and soul to a single vital function. The visitor experience begins long before you reach the lighthouse. The track leading up to it, impassable in wet weather, passes through landscapes that few tourists pass through: pink flamingos in low flight, Camargue bulls roaming freely, egrets resting on the banks of salt ponds. Arriving at the foot of the tower, visitors are struck by the silence and immensity. The lighthouse is not open to the public, but its surroundings are enough to justify the diversions. The keepers' accommodation, grouped together in a small hamlet behind the tower, forms a coherent and touching architectural whole, a vestige of a time when men lived here in absolute isolation, halfway between sky and sea. Since the lighthouse was automated in 2001, these buildings have been emptied of their daily life, adding to the atmosphere of the end of the world. Listed as a Historic Monument in 2013, the Beauduc lighthouse is a destination for lovers of photography, wilderness and authentic maritime heritage. It is best visited at dusk, when the low-angled light sets the blonde stone ablaze and the automatic fire begins its rhythm of two flashes - like a heart still beating.
Architecture
The Beauduc lighthouse has the classic morphology of French coastal lighthouses from the early twentieth century: a cylindrical shaft of carefully dressed limestone rising 27.20 metres above the ground. This modest height - compared with the great lighthouses of the open sea - is consistent with its purpose as a local coastal marker: not to be seen from afar, but to be identified precisely by ships travelling along the coast. The tower is topped by a bronze lantern, a metal chosen for its resistance to marine corrosion, topped by a faceted dome typical of the Ponts et Chaussées workshops of the time. The interior of the tower, accessible through a round-headed door at ground level, houses a stone spiral staircase leading up to the lantern gallery. The interior walls, thick enough to guarantee the stability of the structure in the violent winds of the Mistral and the sea, are covered with lime plaster. The 0.50 metre diameter catadioptric optic, a system of four rotating panels, concentrates and directs the light using the Fresnel lens principle, enabling a range of seventeen miles to be achieved despite the modest size of the light source. The architectural ensemble also includes the keepers' accommodation, arranged in low buildings at the back of the tower, forming a small autonomous establishment characteristic of French lighthouse stations. These rendered stone buildings, with their wooden shutters and gardens protected from the wind by low walls, bear witness to the care taken to ensure the habitability of a place destined for prolonged isolation. The contrast between the slender verticality of the lighthouse and the humble horizontality of the dwellings creates a silhouette that is instantly recognisable in the flat Camargue landscape.
Related Figures
Ingénieur Combarnous — concepteur et maître d'œuvre du phare (1901-1903)Entrepreneur Aubran — constructeur du phare de BeauducMinistre des Travaux publics (1898) — signataire de la décision officielle de construction du 18 juillet 1898Gardiens de phare successifs — familles ayant vécu à Beauduc de 1903 à 2001 dans un isolement quasi total
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Phare de Beauduc, situé Pointe des Sablons located?
Phare de Beauduc, situé Pointe des Sablons is located in Arles, Bouches-du-Rhône department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, France.
When was Phare de Beauduc, situé Pointe des Sablons built?
Phare de Beauduc, situé Pointe des Sablons dates back to a period built in the modern era (19th-20th century).
Is Phare de Beauduc, situé Pointe des Sablons open to visitors?
Phare de Beauduc, situé Pointe des Sablons is currently closed to visitors.
