Phare de l’Île Vierge - Plouguerneau, Finistère, FRA
N 48° 38.329 W 004° 34.047
30U E 384527 N 5388491
Phare de l’Île Vierge is the name of a lighthouse on Île Vierge (Virgin Island), which belongs to the municipality of Plouguerneau in the Finistère department.
Waymark Code: WM13DT2
Location: Bretagne, France
Date Posted: 11/18/2020
Views: 3
It is located about 1.5 kilometers from the coast in the Lilia Archipelago. Its range is 27 nautical miles, which corresponds to about 52 kilometers.
The lighthouse has been listed as a historic monument of France since May 23, 2011. It is open to the public for visits. The tower can be reached on foot at low tide, otherwise boat tours are offered.
It is located about 1.5 kilometers from the coast in the Lilia Archipelago. Its range is 27 nautical miles, which corresponds to about 52 kilometers.
The lighthouse has been listed as a historic monument of France since May 23, 2011. It is open to the public for visits. The tower can be reached on foot at low tide, otherwise boat tours are offered.
The first lighthouse on the island of Vierge was built in 1842–1845 with a height of 31 meters and a square floor plan. Its permanently installed white light had a range of 14 nautical miles. Operations continued during the construction of the current lighthouse. The fog horn installed in 1952 is still in operation today. In addition to the accommodation for the lighthouse keepers, a radio beacon completes the system on the island.
Built between 1897 and 1902 at a height of 82.5 meters, the Phare de l’Île Vierge is the highest lighthouse in Europe. The interiors were clad with 12,500 opal tiles from the Saint-Gobain brand. The granite tower, tapering conically upwards on the outside, has 360 stone steps and 32 iron stairs in the cylindrical inner part to get to the lighting system. Five granite stairs on the stone base lead to the tower. All in all, this results in 397 levels. The electric lamp was installed in a mercury bath on a mechanical rotating plate in 1952. The plate was replaced by an electric motor in 1983.
Since October 29, 2010, the Phare de l’Île Vierge is no longer continuously manned by a lighthouse keeper. It is controlled fully automatically by the Créac’h lighthouse on the island of Ouessant.
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