Tourelle de la Plate, Maritime cardinal mark and lighthouse in Plogoff, France
Tourelle de la Plate is a concrete lighthouse on the Brittany coast near Plogoff with an octagonal turret rising from a cylindrical base. The structure serves both as a cardinal navigation mark and a light beacon guiding ships through the area.
The lighthouse was built between 1887 and 1896 and underwent rebuilding in 1909 following storm damage from December 1896. This reconstruction shaped the structure as it stands today.
The tower is nicknamed "Petite Vieille" (Little Old Woman), in Breton "Gwrac'h Vihan", a name it shares with its neighbour La Vieille 260 metres to the north-east. Its black-and-yellow paint marks it as a west cardinal mark, telling sailors to pass on its western side; the light shows nine scintillations.
The tower stands in open water in the Raz de Sein, so it is seen from a boat or from the shore at the Pointe du Raz, roughly 2 km away; its companion light, La Vieille, lies 260 m to the north-east. At night it shows a white flash every 1.2 seconds and marks the west side of the passage, so keep west of it when sailing.
This lighthouse stands just a few hundred meters from La Vieille lighthouse and together they form a navigation system for the treacherous Raz de Sein strait. Both have guided ships through these dangerous waters for more than a century.
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