In 1584 an eminent French architect, Louis de Foix, secured the requisite concession to build a new structure. He evolved the fantastic idea of a single building which should comprise a beacon, a church and a royal residence in one. For nearly twenty-seven years he laboured upon the rock, exposed to the elements, before he (or rather his successor) was able to throw the welcome warning rays from the summit of his creation. This was certainly the most remarkable lighthouse that has ever been set up. It was richly decorated and artistically embellished, and the tower was in reality a series of galleries rising tier upon tier. At the base was a circular stone platform, 134 feet in diameter, flanked by an elegant parapet surrounding the light-keepers’ abode. This lower structure was intended to form a kind of breakwater which should protect the main building from the force of the waves. On the first floor was a magnificent entrance hall, leading to the King’s apartment, a _salon_ finely decorated with pillars and mural sculptures. Above was a beautiful chapel with a lofty roof supported by carved Corinthian columns. Finally came the beacon, which at that date was about 100 feet above the sea-level. Access to the successive floors was provided by a beautiful spiral staircase, the newels of which were flanked by busts of the two French Kings, Henry III. and Henry IV., and of the designer de Foix. The architect died not long before his work was completed, but the directions he left behind him were so explicit that no difficulty was experienced in consummating his ideas, and the Tour de Cordouan shed its beneficial light for the first time over the waters of the Bay of Biscay in 1611. So strongly was the building founded that it has defied the attacks of Nature to this day, although it did not escape those of the vandals of the French Revolution, who penetrated the tower, where the busts of the two Henrys at once excited their passion. The symbols of monarchy were promptly hurled to the floor, and other damage was inflicted. When order was restored, the busts were replaced, and all the carvings which had suffered mutilation from mob law were restored. At the same time, in accordance with the spirit of progress, the tower was modified to bring it into line with modern lighting principles; it was extended to a height of 197 feet, and was crowned with an up-to-date light, visible twenty-seven miles out to sea. For more than three centuries it has fulfilled its designed purpose, and still ranks as the most magnificent lighthouse that ever has been built. Its cost is not recorded, but it must necessarily have been enormous.