Cap Blanc Lighthouse (Miquelon)

Fresnel lens in use. Located on a headland on Le Cap, the northwestern tip of Miquelon. Accessible by road from the town of Miquelon. Site open, tower closed.

Following the sinking, on May 21, 1874, of the English frigate Niobé off the CapBlanc, the British government asked its French counterpart for the concession of land in Miquelon or Langlade to build a lighthouse. In 1881, the Ministry of the Navy ordered two lighthouses at the Barbier and Fenestre workshops. Built in 1883, the Lighthouse of Cap Blanc the oldest and most important example. The shaft, entirely made of riveted metal tubes, is supported at the base by six triangular buttresses whose top reaches the spandrel of the first bays. It has been equipped with a drum, a small entrance lock designed to protect against bad weather. To remedy the corrosion, the lighthouse was completely covered with a concrete jacket. The metal tower remains visible inside. Access to the lantern is via a steel staircase, protected by a cast iron railing. The optics are conventionally based on a mercury bath, the tank of which is supported by a central post.