>> Click to enlarge << The magnificent courtyard at the Cordouan ... Photo by: Stephane Bidouze

The over 400-year-old Cordouan Lighthouse near Le Verdon-sur-Mer, France has been added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List making it only the second lighthouse in the world to be added to the list; the other being the Tower of Hercules in La Coruña, Spain.

>> Click to enlarge << One of the dining areas in the Cordouan ...

Built in 1611, the 213-foot-tall Cordouan Lighthouse, renovated in 1786, was the first lighthouse in the world to be built on the open ocean and the first in the world to have a Fresnel lens. Its interior is one of the most lavish of any lighthouse ever built. As well as having a chapel that would make any small church envious, it was designed and built with an opulent bedroom to be used by the King of France, should he ever have decided to visit.

>> Click to enlarge << Interior stairway of the Cordouan Lighthouse. ...