Vieille Light, Historical lighthouse in Plogoff, France
Vieille Light rises from a broad, tapering base of grey stone blocks on the Gorlebella rock, its cylindrical shaft marked by a vertical band of reddish-brown stone with four small rectangular windows. A flat projecting gallery with a corbelled rim carries a small glass lantern with a dark domed roof and finial. The tower stands in the Raz de Sein, less than a nautical mile west of Pointe du Raz.
This lighthouse was built between 1882 and 1887 to secure the dangerous Raz de Sein strait. It helped protect ships from wrecking and marked progress in French coastal safety.
The lighthouse is nicknamed "la Vieille" ("the Old Lady"), while its companion Tourelle de la Plate is called "Petite Vieille" ("Little Old Woman"). It belongs to a small group of French lighthouses known as "hell" because of their remote positions in rough seas. The rock itself is Gorlebella, Breton for "farthest rock".
The lighthouse is not open to visitors: it stands on Gorlebella rock, offshore in the Raz de Sein, and can only be approached from the north side, in calm seas, during the three days either side of the quarter moon. In rough weather whirlpools of 40 to 50 metres form around the rock. It is best seen from the Pointe du Raz or by boat.
In the 1920s, two disabled war veterans became trapped inside during severe storms and could not be rescued. This incident led to important changes in French lighthouse keeper employment practices.
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