Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Latalaye de Guéthary, located in Bidart in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, is a watchtower built in the 18th century to spot whales in the Gulf of Gascony. This type of structure, called atalaye, was equipped with a chimney allowing the watchman to alert fishermen with smoke signals. The tower, with an elongated rectangular plan ending with a semi-circle, housed a staircase framed with side walls and a bell fixed at mid-height.

In the 1950s, it was turned into an alignment fire for maritime navigation. A decade later, around 1966, it was embedded in a modern masonry, losing its original shape. Despite these changes, it remains the last architectural testimony of Basque whale hunting, protected as a Historic Monument since 1993. Today, the tower belongs to the municipality of Bidart and its access depends on contemporary uses (visits, rentals, etc.).

The tatalaye system illustrates an ancestral practice of collective fishing, where the watchman played a key role in organising whaling campaigns. The presence of the bell and chimney reflects the ingenuity of local techniques for remote communication. Its designation as Historic Monuments underscores its heritage importance, although its integration into modern construction has altered its historical legibility.

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