Lighthouse of Gravelines

The lighthouse Gravelines was completed in 1843, its first head guard, Jean Sailly lights the rapeseed oil lamp in September of the same year. The tower, 30 meters high, is built of bricks whitewashed to protect the material from the spray.
The sailors having trouble to locate it, in 1932, she is dressed in the black spiral which always colors it. The house at the foot of the tower welcomes the families of the two lighthouse keepers until 1985, when the last one retired. Since then, the lighthouse is no longer in use, it is replaced by beacons on the jetties of the channel. Acquired by the City of Gravelines in 2004, the lighthouse and the guardians' house are now open to the public. In its enclosure there is a guardhouse from the Smogglers camp and a blockhouse set up by the Germans during the Second World War.