Roches-Douvres Light

Roches-Douvres Light is a cylindrical stone tower standing about 64 meters above sea level with a green lantern at its top. It sits on a rocky reef between the French coast and the British island of Guernsey, serving as a key navigation marker for ships passing through the English Channel.

The original cast iron tower was built in 1868 using components that had been displayed at the 1867 Paris Exposition. German forces destroyed it during World War II, after which a new stone structure was erected in its place.

The French Service des phares et balises maintains this maritime navigation structure, which received historical monument status in 2017.

The structure sits roughly 30 kilometers offshore from the French coast and operates fully automatically with no public access allowed. Visitors can only view it from the water, making a boat trip from nearby Île-de-Bréhat the best way to see it.

The post-war reconstruction used approximately 11,000 tons of materials including numbered pink and gray granite blocks assembled with precision at this isolated offshore location. This numbered assembly process was a remarkable feat of engineering for rebuilding on the open sea.

Location: Île-de-Bréhat

Inception: 1954

Architects: Joël Hardion, Henry Auffret

Elevation above the sea: 69.4 m

Height: 213 m

Made from material: stone

GPS coordinates: 49.10508,-2.81412

Latest update: December 8, 2025 19:47