Risban Lighthouse - Dunkirk

An emblem of the Dunkirk landscape, the Risban lighthouse is the northernmost lighthouse in France and offers a magnificent view of the harbour, the city and the Flemish plain.

The tower can be visited and climbed.

The Dunkirk Lighthouse was built on the ruins of the Risban fort built by Vauban in 1681 and originally home to the city's first lighthouse , a lantern lit in 1683 that was swept away by a storm in 1825. The lighthouse was put into service in 1843. It is a cylindrical tower 63 metres high. A staircase of 276 steps leads to the lantern. It is a first-class automated coastal harbour lighthouse. It is the tallest lighthouse of its type in France (63 m) and the sixth tallest of all types (the French lighthouse on Ile Vierge is the tallest in the world at 82.5 m).

The light has a range of over 50 km.

In 1885, the Risban Lighthouse was one of the first lights to be electrified using an arc lamp powered by magneto generators. Before electrification, the fuels used were successively vegetable oil (1843) and then mineral oil (1875). The lighthouse was severely damaged by the bombings of 1940 and major repair work was planned for 1946. The lighthouse has been automated since 1985. It was restored in 1992.

Willem Vandenameele