CALLIGLASS SEMAPHORE
Semaphore in Marseille, offering a prodigious view of the La Ciotat coastline, Marseille harbor and the Riou and Frioul islands.
Built in 1860, the former telegraph tower of 109 metres high has been used to supervise the maritime entries from the Napoleonic time by sending optical signals. It replaced the lookout built in 1302: le Farossium in loco de Masselhaveyra which was on the heights of Marseilleveyre. It offers a stunning view of the whole coast, from La Ciotat to the harbour of Marseilles via the islands of Riou and Friuli. The Batterie de Semonce of Sémaphore de Croisette was armed with 2 canons in 1939, but disarmed at the end of the Second World War. Since then, the semaphore has been left abandoned, sprayed with graffiti, partly collapsed and dangerous. Today, rehabilitation and security works are ongoing, financed by Calanques National Park and the Departmental Board. The first stage of a mutation which, in the long run, should lead to the opening of a place of public information that the Park does not have now.