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Origin and history

The Penmarc'h Point Lighthouses, located in Penmarch, Brittany, consist of two major buildings. The first lighthouse, built in the 2nd quarter of the 19th century (1835), is a 40-metre high stone masonry tower, topped by a military antenna. Its eclipse fire, first fed with vegetable oil and then mineral, was extinguished in 1897 after the new lighthouse was commissioned.

The Eckmühl lighthouse, built between 1893 and 1897, replaces the old lighthouse considered obsolete for the criteria of electrification of the French coast. Funded by a legacy of Adelaide-Louise Davout, Marquise de Blocqueville, he pays tribute to Marshal Davout. This octagonal Kersanton granite lighthouse, 60 metres high, incorporates technical innovations: Sautter-Harlé electric optics, mercury tank, and a 100 km range lantern. Its architecture combines functionalism and aesthetics, with richly decorated interiors (opaline, woodwork, marble).

The construction of the Eckmühl lighthouse was marked by logistical challenges, such as delays in stone deliveries and unforeseen costs. Inaugurated on 17 October 1897, he became one of the most powerful lighthouses in France, symbolizing the technical progress of the time. The former lighthouse, disused, was redeveloped, while the new one incorporated auxiliary buildings for guards and technical premises.

The origin of the first lighthouse dates back to a revolutionary project launched in 1794 under the Public Salvation Committee, but the work, interrupted for lack of funds, did not resume until 1831. The current tower, built by the Rouvillois entrepreneur of Glomel, was lit in 1835. Its extinction in 1897 marked the transition to the electric era, embodied by the Eckmühl lighthouse, still in operation today.

The bequest of the Marquise de Blocqueville, in the amount of 300,000 francs, made it possible to finance a lighthouse "worthy of the name" of Eckmühl, combining maritime utility and historical homage. The plans, approved in 1892, were made by the engineers Bourdelles and Ribière, with the collaboration of architect Paul Marbeau. The tower, entirely made of stone from Kersanton, was equipped with a bronze staircase and an opaline interior covering, reflecting an exceptional attention to detail for the time.

Ranked Historical Monuments in 2011, the two lighthouses and their appendices (accommodation, enclosure walls) reflect the evolution of maritime lighting techniques. The Eckmühl Lighthouse, with its dual optics and its Sautter-Harlé rotation machine, remains a masterpiece of the Breton industrial heritage, while the former lighthouse, though disused, retains a major historical and architectural value.

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