The Cap-des-Rosiers Lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse in Canada, standing 34.1 metres (112 ft) tall. It is situated on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River at the top of a steep cliff. It is located at the mouth of the river, where it flows into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It is open for tours in the summer season.
Cap-des-Rosiers Lighthouse Historic Plaque
Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada
The Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada installed a plaque at the base of the lighthouse in 1977, with inscriptions in French and English, which reads (in English):
Built in 1858, this lighthouse is one of a series of tall, tapering towers erected on the Gulf of St. Lawrence and on Lake Huron by the Department of Public Works. The 112 foot structure is the tallest lighthouse in Canada; its stone tower faced with firebrick has walls over seven feet thick at the base, tapering to three feet at the top, with foundations extending to eight feet beneath the surface. Originally a dwelling was attached to the tower. A powerful light 136 feet above high water served as a major coastal aid for shipping headed in the estuary of the St. Lawrence from the Gulf.
Cap-des-Rosiers has a humid continental climate (KöppenDfb). The average annual temperature in Cap-des-Rosiers is 3.6 °C (38.5 °F). The average annual rainfall is 1,195.1 mm (47.05 in) with October as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around 16.2 °C (61.2 °F), and lowest in January, at around −9.8 °C (14.4 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Cap-des-Rosiers was 33.0 °C (91.4 °F) on 9 August 2005; the coldest temperature ever recorded was −32.0 °C (−25.6 °F) on 17 February 2008.
Climate data for Cap-des-Rosiers Lighthouse, 1981–2010 normals, extremes 1973–present
The walls are over seven feet thick at the base, tapering to three feet at the top.
Looking down from the lantern at the stairs that lead up the tower.
The light source is now an electric discharge lamp. This is an occulting light, a rhythmic light in which the duration of light in each period is longer than the total duration of darkness, accomplished by this vertical rotating shutter which periodically shades the light from view. In this case, the light shines for 15 seconds, and eclipses (goes dark) for 5 seconds, and repeats.
The rotating shutter periodically shades the light from view.
The lamp manufacturer's plaque: L. Sautter & Cie. Constructeurs A Paris.
The optic in the lantern, with the shoreline of the Gaspé Peninsula in the distance.
The optic in the lantern, with the shoreline of the Gaspé Peninsula and the St. Lawrence River in the distance.
