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Origin and history

The Virgin Island Lighthouse is an iconic maritime building located on a granite island 1.4 km from the coast of Plouguerneau in Finistère. Built between 1842 and 1845 under the direction of the engineer Léonce Reynaud, the first lighthouse was a 33-metre square tower made of local granite, equipped with a Fresnel lens operating first with rapeseed oil. It signalled the entrance of the Aber Wrac'h alongside the semaphore of Wrac'h Island and the bell tower of Plouguerneau. His white fixed light, visible at 14 miles, was first lit on August 15, 1845. A fog horn, now inactive, completed the device.

By 1863, the lack of its light power led to its replacement. A first project, considered too austere, was rejected in 1896 in favour of a new plan adopted in 1897. The current lighthouse, built between 1897 and 1902, peaks at 82.5 metres, becoming the highest in Europe and the highest cutting stone lighthouse in the world. Its triple-walled truncated structure, interiorly covered with 12,500 plates of blue azure opalin, houses a staircase of 397 steps. On 1 March 1902 it was lit with an oil vapour fire, electrified in 1956 and automated in 2010.

The Virgin Island, an ancient monastic and strategic land, was acquired by the State in 1844 from Sieur Goyon de Coëpel. In 1899, the site of the second lighthouse mobilized seven masons from Cap Sizun – renowned for their expertise – and eighteen local manoeuvres, often unemployed fishermen. The masons, housed on the spot in barracks for 4.50 francs a day, enjoyed a canteen, while the maneuvers, paid 2 to 2.50 francs, returned to Plouguerneau each evening by boat. The stones come from the local quarries, especially from Kersanton for the exterior trimming.

Ranked a historic monument on May 23, 2011, the site includes the two lighthouses, their enclosures, a pier and retaining walls. The old lighthouse, disused, now serves as bitter, while the large lighthouse, which can be visited, is remote controlled from Ouessant. A former guard house was turned into an ecogite after 33 months of work. The island, accessible on foot during the great tides or by boat, also houses a beacon and remains of a 15th century convent dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

The current lighthouse sweeps 52 km around the North-Finistry, visible until mid-Manche in clear weather. Its original lens, replaced in 1956, operated with a Fresnel lens. Aerogenerators, installed in 1967 for its power supply, were withdrawn in 1994. The last respite of guards took place on 29 October 2010, marking the end of an era of continuous human monitoring on this site full of maritime and religious history.

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