The Ploumanac'h Lighthouse (officially the Mean Ruz Lighthouse
) is an active
lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
Lighthouses mar ...
in
Côtes-d'Armor
The Côtes-d'Armor (, ; ; br, Aodoù-an-Arvor, ), formerly known as Côtes-du-Nord ( br, Aodoù-an-Hanternoz, link=no, ), are a department in the north of Brittany, in northwestern France. In 2019, it had a population of 600,582. ,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, located in
Perros-Guirec
Perros-Guirec (; br, Perroz-Gireg) is a commune in the department of Côtes-d'Armor in Brittany. It has been a seaside resort since the end of the 19th century.
Geography Climate
Perros-Guirec has a oceanic climate (Köppen climate classificatio ...
.
The lighthouse is closed to the public.
The structure is composed of pink
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
, and marks the entrance to the channel leading to the port of
Ploumanac'h
Ploumanac'h ( or lumana and in Breton luˈmãːnax is a village port in a natural harbour, part of the commune of Perros-Guirec, in the arrondissement of Lannion, in the Côtes-d'Armor department of the Brittany region of France. In 2015 it w ...
.
History
The first Ploumanac'h Lighthouse dates from 1860. This was destroyed by German troops on August 4, 1944, and replaced by the current lighthouse in 1946. The present-day version was planned by architect Henry Auffret, and built by ''Martin et frère'' (a local construction company).
The lighthouse offers a direct view of
Château de Costaérès
The ''Château de Costaérès'' is located on the island of Costaérès in the territory of the French commune of Trégastel, in Côtes-d'Armor, Brittany.
History
Château is not technically accurate: the château is actually a big neo-mediev ...
,
l'île Renote and
Jentilez
''For the city in Quebec, see Sept-Îles, Quebec''
Sept-Îles ( French for ''seven islands'') or Jentilez (in Breton) is a small archipelago off the north coast of Brittany, in the Perros-Guirec commune of Côtes-d'Armor. This group of islands ...
.
Etymology
The lighthouse gets its common name from the nearby town of Ploumanac'h, meaning "monk's pool" in
Breton
Breton most often refers to:
*anything associated with Brittany, and generally
** Breton people
** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany
** Breton (horse), a breed
**Ga ...
. The official name of "Mean Ruz" comes from the Breton
cacographic phrase ''Maen Ruz'', meaning "red stone".
See also
*
List of lighthouses in France
This is a list of lighthouses in France. It includes the French overseas territories.
Metropolitan France
French Overseas Departments and Territories
* List of lighthouses in Guadeloupe
* List of lighthouses in French Guiana
* List of li ...
References
External links
*
Lighthouses completed in 1860
Lighthouses completed in 1946
Lighthouses in Brittany
Lighthouses of the English Channel
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