- A Roman Lighthouse was built in Boulogne by Caligula (37-41 CE) and it was only switched off in 475 CE.
Construction
- The Lighthouse was a 12 storey octagonal Tower 180-195 ft (55-60m) high, almost identical to Dover Roman Lighthouse, with which it was intervisible.
- A seventeenth century CE engraving of the Lighthouse is kept in the Boulogne Castle Museum.
Column of the Grande Armee
- The Lighthouse fell down in 1644 and later in 1810, Napoleon built the Column of the Grande Armee on its former location.
- The Column was modelled on Trajan's Column in Rome, and still stands today.
Caligula’s Planned Invasion
- Built in c.40 CE by Caligula for his aborted attempt to invade Britannia, and switched off in 475 CE.
- Between 39-40 CE, Caligula planned an invasion of Britannia and assembled the Legions of Germany on the Channel Coast.
- He built the Roman Lighthouse at Boulogne (Bononia) in c. 40 CE.
- Suetonius states that he changed his mind about the Invasion, and ordered the troops to collect sea shells instead and to bring them back to Rome.
- The Lighthouse was known as the ‘Tour de l’Ordre’ or ‘Le Phare de Caligula’. It collapsed on the 29th July 1644.
- It seems to have been almost identical to Dover Roman Lighthouse. On a clear night the two would have been intervisible, guiding ships through the Fretum Gallicum (Straits of Dover).
Column of the Grande Armee, Wimille