Ploumanac'h Lighthouse, Côtes-d'Armor, France
© Christian Handl/Getty Image
Ploumanac'h Lighthouse, France
The Pink Granite Coast of Côtes-d'Armor in Brittany, France, is a unique site in the world. It extends over ten kilometres through the municipalities of Trébeurden, Trégastel and Perros-Guirec. Formed almost 300 million years ago, this granite rock slowly cooled from a magma chamber, enriched by external minerals. Unlike other similar coasts, such as in Corsica or China, this one is characterised by blocks of rock stacked or forming structures with soft, rounded angles, shaped by erosion.
At the heart of this spectacular landscape stands the Ploumanac’h lighthouse, also called 'Mean Ruz' (red stone in Breton), in reference to the rock on which it is built. Standing 15 metres tall, it blends perfectly into its natural environment. The current lighthouse replaces the Mean Ruz lighthouse, built in 1860 and destroyed in 1944 by the retreating German army. Today, this lighthouse is an iconic symbol of the Pink Granite Coast, attracting visitors from all over the world.