The Liar - Dunkirk

The Liar is located at the Place du Minck.

The Leughenaer Tower (old spelling of the Dutch word leugenaar meaning 'liar') is a 30-metre-high octagonal tower in Dunkirk. Built around 1450, this tower is the oldest monument in the city . It was built by Jacques Desfontaines, surrounded by a harbour surveillance platform in the 18th century, then raised in 1814 to install a lighthouse lantern . It has retained much of its 19th-century technical equipment.

From 1825 to 1963 the tower served as a lighthouse. It was claimed that false signals were deliberately given from the tower to beach ships and plunder them. This explains the name of the tower. It is more likely that ships crashed because of the difficult to navigate, winding access channel.

willem vandenameele