Roches-Douvres Light 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 ...
built atop a 5-story elliptical stone dwelling. At a height of
[According to the ''List of Lights''. according to ''The Lighthouse Directory''. 58 m according to ''phares-de-france.pagesperso-orange.fr''.] it is the eleventh-tallest "traditional lighthouse" in the world.
It is located on the Roches-Douvres, a very dangerous reef, completely covered at high tide but exposed at low tide, between the islands of
Brehat and
Guernsey
Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency.
It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...
in the
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
. It is claimed to be the waveswept lighthouse farthest from mainland in Europe, about off the French coast. The location is accessible only by boat in very rough seas. Both the site and the tower are closed to the public.
History
The original 1868 lighthouse was a cast iron tower, tall, tapering to a mere in diameter at the top. It was a twin to
Amédée Lighthouse
The Amédée Lighthouse (french: Phare Amédée) is an iron lighthouse located on Amédée Island in New Caledonia, from Nouméa on Grande Terre.
The metal components were made by Rigolet in North-East Paris in 1862 and the tower was constru ...
. The tower was constructed from elements which were built by Rigolet in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. The tower was constructed for the first time in 1866 on
Champ de Mars, Paris
The Champ de Mars (; en, Field of Mars) is a large public greenspace in Paris, France, located in the seventh ''arrondissement'', between the Eiffel Tower to the northwest and the École Militaire to the southeast. The park is named after the ...
, for the
Exposition Universelle of 1867. It was then disassembled and the parts were transferred to Brehat. The light was first lit on 15 December 1868 during the construction, with a characteristic of white flash every 4s. Actual construction was only completed in August 1869.
On 18 June 1903 the fuel was changed to petroleum.
The lighthouse was destroyed in 1944 during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
by German troops.
In April 1950 a temporary light was mounted on a pylon.
In April 1952 a light was mounted on the tower under construction. The construction was completed on 19 June 1954 and the light to the current specification. In July 1971 the light was electrified, where electricity comes from two wind turbines on towers of concrete and a generator. In October 2000 the lighthouse was automated.
See also
*
List of tallest lighthouses in the world
This is a list of the tallest lighthouses, by tower height (as opposed to focal height, i.e. height of the lamp of a lighthouse from water level). The list includes only "traditional lighthouses", as defined by ''The Lighthouse Directory'', i.e. bu ...
*
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 ...
Notes
References
*
External links
*
*
{{Authority control, additional=Q118139995
Lighthouses completed in 1868
Lighthouses completed in 1954
Lighthouses of the English Channel
Monuments historiques of Côtes-d'Armor
Roches-Douvres lighthouse