Île du Planier

Description

Île du Planier lies at water level 15 km out to sea from the Old Port. Five successive lighthouses have been built on the small island since the first lighthouse was erected in the Middle Ages to guide sailors and to warn Marseille of the arrival of pirates and invaders from the Barbary Islands. The lighthouse has no easy task as it must light up the largest port in the Mediterranean. The present lighthouse dates from 1959. It is the tallest building on the Mediterranean coast and its lamp is almost 68 metres above sea level. On this 3-hectare island a magnificent column is built of stone from Cassis. Only a few prestigious buildings in Marseille, such as the Courthouse, the Prefecture and the Palais Longchamp, have been built using this stone. The stone dates back 115 million years and has the unusual property of capturing the rays of the sun and expelling any impurities at night. It is for this reason that the lighthouse has remained perfectly white.