The Florentine Tower of Buire (
French: ''Tour Florentine de Buire''), located in the commune of
Buire
Buire () is a commune in the department of Aisne in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Aisne department
The following is a list of the 799 communes in the French department of Aisne.
The communes ...
in the
Aisne department in
Picardy in northern France, is a former 45.76 meter tall
signal box. Since November 6, 1995, it has been classified as a
monument historique (
National Heritage Site
A national heritage site is a heritage site having a value that has been registered by a governmental agency as being of national importance to the cultural heritage or history of that country. Usually such sites are listed in a heritage registe ...
of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
). It is the work of French architect
Gustave Umbdenstock and the engineer
Raoul Dautry
Raoul Dautry (16 September 1880 – 21 August 1951) was a French engineer, business leader and politician. He was born on 16 September 1880 at Montluçon in the department of Allier; he died on 21 August 1951 at Lourmarin in the department of Vauc ...
employed by the
Compagnie des chemins de fer du Nord. The decision to build the tower was made following the development of the railway station of
Hirson
Hirson ( pcd, Urchon) is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
Geography Location
Hirson is adjacent to Belgium. It is located in the northeastern department of Aisne, near the departments of Nord and ...
, which, due to the development of the local mining and metallurgical industry, became the second most important French rail junction (after Paris) in the early twentieth century.
It was built in 1920-1921, in reinforced concrete, and based on the traditional brick
Art déco style of northern belfries.
The tower has six floors:
[''Le rail à Hirson'', 2010, page 89]
* Ground floor: cable entry
* 1st floor: store
* 2nd floor: unassigned
* 3rd floor: small workshop
* 4th floor: sanitation
* 5th floor: room containing relays
* 6th floor: control room with the optical panel of the
Mors railroad switch.
The top of the tower was equipped with four clocks (one for each cardinal direction), each 3.20 meters in diameter.
The name Florentine is explained by reference to typical buildings of
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...
or the fact that the contractor who built the Tower of
Lens
A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements ...
was
Florentine.
The tower has been unused since 1944.
Gallery
File:Florentine 0005.jpg
File:Florentine 0006.jpg
File:Florentine 0008.jpg
File:Florentine 0009.jpg
File:Florentine 0010.jpg
File:Florentine 0011.jpg
File:Florentine 0012.jpg
File:Florentine 0013.jpg
References
{{Reflist
Thiérache
Buildings and structures completed in 1921
SNCF
Landmarks in France
Towers in France