Name and Location

Tour Chappe is a small, square stone tower located at 10 Rue de la Tour, 64500 Ciboure, France. It is situated in the heart of Ciboure (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) and has an official name of Tour Chappe.

Construction and History

The Tour Chappe was built as part of the late-18th/early-19th-century optical telegraph network devised by Claude Chappe. Its historic role was as a semaphore station, relaying messages between Bayonne and strategic posts along the Atlantic coast. The tower is estimated to be around 8-12 meters tall.

Architecture and Materials

The Tour Chappe is constructed from locally quarried stone (probably limestone or sandstone) bonded with lime mortar. It has a roughly square plan, two to three storeys high, with narrow slit-windows and a flat roof platform where semaphore arms would have been mounted.

Light and Navigation

Tour Chappe was not originally intended as a navigational light. Its function was to relay coded messages via pivoting wooden arms, rather than serving as a coastal beacon.

Accessibility and Visiting

The Tour Chappe is closed to visitors, but can be viewed from Rue de la Tour. It appears to be privately owned or held by the commune of Ciboure, with limited access on foot from Ciboure town centre.

Notable Views and Landscape

From higher floors (if internal access were possible), intermittent glimpses of the Adour estuary and Bay of Biscay can be seen. The tower is set among traditional Basque townhouses, with views limited to neighboring roofs.

Anecdotes and Folklore

Local lore suggests that the tower was once thought haunted by "the ghost of a long-lost semaphore operator," though no documentary evidence exists. During World War II, some residents reportedly hid radio-listening equipment in its upper rooms—a story that remains unverified.

Technical and Operational Details

The Tour Chappe has no formal Monument historique designation, but may be subject to municipal historic-tower bylaws. It does not have a light characteristic or focal height/range, nor is it equipped with AIS/Radar installation or used for modern marine navigation.

Further Information

(Note: No further information available in the provided data.)