The Portzic Lighthouse (french: phare du Portzic) is situated on the north-eastern extremity of the
Goulet de Brest
The Goulet de Brest is a 3-km-long strait linking the roadstead of Brest to the Atlantic Ocean. Only 1.8 km wide, the is situated between the Pointe du Petit Minou and the Pointe du Portzic to the north and the îlot des Capucins and the P ...
(
Finistère
Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090. ,
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 ...
) and is the nearest lighthouse to the town of
Brest
Brest may refer to:
Places
*Brest, Belarus
**Brest Region
**Brest Airport
**Brest Fortress
*Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria
*Břest, Czech Republic
*Brest, France
**Arrondissement of Brest
**Brest Bretagne Airport
** Château de Brest
*Brest, ...
. It is a tall octagonal tower.
On the seaward side of the bottleneck entrance to the goulet, the lighthouse faces the
Pointe des Espagnols
The Pointe des Espagnols is the north-east extremity of the Roscanvel peninsula, an outgrowth of the Crozon peninsula closing off the roadstead of Brest. It also marks the south-east limit of the goulet de Brest (the other limits are marked by ...
.
It was built on military land in 1848, at the same time as the
phare du Petit Minou
The Petit Minou Lighthouse () is a lighthouse in the roadstead of Brest, standing in front of the Fort du Petit Minou, in the commune of Plouzané. By aligning it with the Phare du Portzic, it shows the safe route to follow for ships to enter th ...
(started slightly earlier to the north of the Goulet. It was electrified in 1953 and automated in 1994
(though a semaphore post set up at its base in 1987 to regulate traffic in and out of the goulet is still permanently manned).
Characteristics
*Signals: 1 main light for the sector with 2 flashes every 10 seconds (2 second flash then 6 second flash), accompanied by 2 twinkling directional lights in the direction of the Goulet, one continuous (one flash per second, known as the North signal, indicates to a navigator that he finds himself to the north of the channel), the other with 6 short flashes (one per second) and a long flash, known as the South signal, indicating to the navigator that he finds himself to the south of the channel.
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 ...
*
Fort de Portzic
The Fort de Portzic was built near the town of Brest by Vauban between 1693 and 1699 as part of the defences of the goulet de Brest. It faces the pointe des Espagnols
The Pointe des Espagnols is the north-east extremity of the Roscanvel penin ...
Notes
Portzic
Buildings and structures in Brest, France
{{Europe-lighthouse-stub