Phare du Cap Lihou
MonumentHidden Treasure
Phare du Cap Lihou, located in Granville (Manche), 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
- Granville, Manche, Normandie
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.8345, -1.6130
- Mérimée Reference
- PA50000062
Lit in 1828 on the Pointe du Roc in Granville, this Norman granite jewel designed by Augustin Fresnel combines revolutionary optical prowess with a refined interior featuring precious marquetry.
History
Standing at the western end of Granville's granite peninsula, the Cap Lihou lighthouse has been keeping watch over one of the Channel's most formidable coastlines for almost two centuries. Its cylindrical silhouette, sober and slender, is a natural part of the Norman maritime landscape, just a stone's throw from the Chausey islands and the Cotentin coast. It's not so much its height - an eleven-metre tower, thirty-four metres above the highest seas - as the exceptional quality of its interior architecture that sets it apart from other French lighthouses. What really sets the Cap Lihou lighthouse apart from its contemporaries is the sophistication of its interior fittings, an eloquent testimony to the esteem in which its keepers were held in the 19th century. The large enclosed bed panelled in oak, the marble fireplace, the ceilings and floors adorned with marquetry: so many details that make this lighthouse a home in its own right, as opposed to the bare utilitarian towers that we too often imagine. This attention to the lighthouse keeper's living environment reveals a humanist conception of maritime service that is both rare and precious. A visit to the lighthouse is an intimate experience, far removed from the usual tourist circuits. Climbing up the superimposed floors is like tracing the thread of an intertwined technical and human history: that of the light conquered over the coastal darkness, that of the solitary watchmen who punctuated their nights with the regular beat of the optical apparatus. From the summit, the panorama takes in the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel, the Chausey islands and, on a clear day, the English coastline on the horizon. The site of the Pointe du Roc, battered by westerly winds and sea spray, lends the monument a dramatic atmosphere that is particularly striking in autumn and winter, when the sea rises and we understand viscerally why this fire was deemed absolutely necessary. Photographers will find it an inexhaustibly rich subject at any time of changing light.
Architecture
The Cap Lihou lighthouse is part of the rationalist trend in engineering architecture of the early 19th century, characteristic of the work produced by the Ponts et Chaussées under the Restoration. The cylindrical tower in dressed granite, sober and devoid of superfluous external ornamentation, responds to a purely functional logic: maximise resistance to sea winds and salt spray, while offering a silhouette recognisable to sailors. Eleven metres high, it has three superimposed levels, each dedicated to a different use, from the caretaker's accommodation to the summit lantern. It is the interior that holds the most striking surprises. The caretaker's bedroom, furnished with almost domestic care, combines a large oak-panelled bed - a direct heritage of Norman tradition - with a marble fireplace of fine bourgeois style. The ceilings and floors are adorned with marquetry, an exceptional combination of the decorative vocabulary of cabinet-making and the rigour of a technical building. This exceptional interior is one of the few preserved examples of the lifestyle of 19th-century lighthouse keepers in France. The lenticular apparatus installed according to Augustin Fresnel's plans represents a technological feat of the first order: the stepped lenses concentrate and project the light beam with an efficiency unprecedented for the time. Situated 34 metres above the highest seas, the light had a remarkable range over the English Channel, making Cap Lihou an essential milestone in the beaconing of the Normandy coast.
Related Figures
Augustin Fresnel — physicien et ingénieur des Ponts et Chaussées, inventeur des lentilles à échelons, concepteur des plans du phareLes membres de la Chambre de commerce de Granville — initiateurs de la demande d'érection du phare en 1822Le directeur général des Ponts et Chaussées — décideur de la construction et du type d'ouvrage au début des années 1820Les gardiens de phare successifs — veilleurs anonymes qui habitèrent la chambre lambrissée de chêne durant plus d'un siècle
Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Phare du Cap Lihou located?
Phare du Cap Lihou is located in Granville, Manche department, Normandie region, France.
When was Phare du Cap Lihou built?
Phare du Cap Lihou dates back to a period built in the Middle Ages (11th-15th century).
Is Phare du Cap Lihou open to visitors?
Phare du Cap Lihou is currently closed to visitors.