Port Manec'h lighthouse, Stone lighthouse in Finistère, France.
The Port Manec'h lighthouse, also called Beg ar Vechen, is a white cylindrical masonry tower topped by a red lantern, standing on the Pointe de Beg ar Vechen at the mouth of the Aven, facing the Bélon estuary in the commune of Névez. The name "PORT MANEC'H" is painted in red capitals on the shaft, above a small white-framed window. A red gallery with a railing, a glazed lantern and a domed red roof with a weather vane crown the tower.
The lighthouse was built between 1866 and 1867 at Beg ar Vechen point, at the mouth of the Aven river facing the Bélon, in the commune of Névez. Construction followed several strikes by masons who were very poorly paid. The tower was electrified in 1936.
The Breton name Beg ar Vechen has several proposed meanings: "point of the wick", after the wick once used in the lamp; "point of the sheaves", after a wheat field whose bound sheaves were visible from the sea; or "point of the ploughshare", from the shape of the headland seen from above. The tower carries the name PORT MANEC'H in red capitals.
The lighthouse stands on the Beg ar Vechen point at the mouth of the Aven, facing the Bélon estuary in the commune of Névez, Finistère. A keeper's house occupies the same state-owned plot below the tower. The site is reached from the shore; the tower itself is not described as open to visitors in the sources.
The Breton name Beg ar Vechen has several proposed meanings: "point of the wick", after the wick once used in the lamp; "point of the sheaves", after a wheat field whose bound sheaves were visible from the sea; or "point of the ploughshare", because the point resembles a ploughshare seen from above.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 92,798 contributors worldwide.