Cordouan

Lighthouse of Cordouan in the setting sun. Erected between 1548 and 1611, it is the oldest lighthouse in service in France. Situated in the mouth of the Gironde, on a sandbank which was formerly an island; Augustine Fresnel, inventor of the famous optic which equips almost every lighthouse in the world, installed the first model there in 1823. Situated near Bordeaux, nicknamed the king of lighthouses and lighthouse of kings. See P 125, 106, of the book Enfers et Paradis, P 104 of the book Tous les phares de France; P 16, P 180 of the book phares de l'Atlantique nord.