France‘s 400-year-old Cordouan beacon, nicknamed the
“king of lighthouses”, on Saturday won heritage recognition from
UNESCO.

The lighthouse is only the second after Spain‘s La
Coruna to be added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List. It is the last lighthouse
to be inhabited in France.

Cordouan was built at the very end of the 16th century and
stands in the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Gironde estuary in
southwestern France in a “highly exposed and hostile environment”,
according to UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee which announced its decision on
Saturday.

The lighthouse was designed by engineer Louis de Foix, and
was later remodelled by engineer Joseph Teulere in the late 18th century.

Describing it as a “masterpiece of maritime
signalling”, the committee added: “Cordouan’s monumental tower is
decorated with pilasters, columns modillions, and gargoyles.

“It embodies the great stages of the architectural and
technological history of lighthouses and was built with the ambition of
continuing the tradition of famous beacons of antiquity, illustrating the art
of building lighthouses in a period of renewed navigation, when beacons played
an important role as territorial markers and as instruments of safety.”

The increase in its height in the late 18th century and
changes to its light chamber at the same time were also noteworthy, the
committee said.

They “attest to the progress of science and technology
of the period. Its architectural forms drew inspiration from ancient models,
Renaissance Mannerism and the specific architectural language of France’s
engineering school Ecole des Ponts et Chaussees”.