Ploumanac'h Lighthouse
Phare de Ploumanac'h
Interesting facts
- The interior of the lighthouse is decorated with mosaics by Isidore Odorico, a mosaicist from Rennes.
- Its crenellations and arrow-slit windows are a deliberate neo-medieval touch, making the post-war tower look more like a small castle keep than a beacon.
- The pink granite blocks came from the quarries of La Clarté in Perros-Guirec, the same stone that shapes the surrounding coast.
- Besides Henry Auffret, the architect Joël Hardion co-designed the tower, which was built by a local firm, Martin et frère.
- The light shows white and red sectors with an occultation every four seconds, its white sector covering the passage between the islets of Tomé and Rouzic.
- The white light has a nominal range of 12 nautical miles and the red light of 9 nautical miles; the tower is automated and unmanned.
- The natural site around the lighthouse has been legally protected as a classified site since 1940, and the tower entered France's heritage inventory in 2020.
Why it is worth it
The Ploumanac'h lighthouse, officially the Mean Ruz light, stands at the heart of one of the most extraordinary coastlines in France, the Côte de Granit Rose in northern Brittany. Here the shore is a chaos of enormous pink granite boulders, rounded and hollowed by wind and sea into shapes that locals have named for what they suggest: Napoleon's hat, the tortoise, the three brothers. The lighthouse is built of the same stone and seems to grow from the rocks; the Breton name Mean Ruz means simply "red stone".
The first lighthouse here dates from 1860. German troops blew it up on 4 August 1944 as they withdrew, and the present square tower, designed by the architect Henry Auffret, was built in 1946 and lit in 1948. It is about 15 metres high, left unpainted to show its warm granite, with a small red lantern at the top that marks the channel into the little harbour of Ploumanac'h. The tower is still in service and is not open inside.
The best way to see it is on foot along the sentier des douaniers, the old customs officers' path that forms part of the GR34 coastal trail around Brittany. The stretch from Trestraou beach in Perros-Guirec to the beach of Saint-Guirec at Ploumanac'h runs for a few kilometres past coves, heather and granite sculptures, with views to the islets offshore and to the Château de Costaérès on its island. At sunset, when the rocks glow from pink to deep orange, the lighthouse is the natural centre of the scene.
Getting there
The lighthouse is on the coast of Ploumanac'h, part of Perros-Guirec, about 12 km from Lannion. The nearest airport listed is Brest Bretagne Airport (BES), about 81 km away. From Trestraou beach in Perros-Guirec, the coastal path to the lighthouse and on to Saint-Guirec makes a walk of about 8 km there and back.
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
The Ploumanac'h Lighthouse is an active lighthouse in Côtes-d'Armor, France, located in Perros-Guirec. The lighthouse is closed to the public.
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