The Pointe du Raz is a promontory that extends into the Atlantic from western Brittany, in France.
Pointe du Raz
The local Breton name is Beg ar Raz. It is the western point of the commune of Plogoff, Finistère.
Pointe du Raz seen from Spot Satellite.
It is named after the Raz de Sein, the dangerous stretch of water between it and the island of Sein (Enez Sun in Breton). It is a dramatic place of crashing waves and strong winds. The word raz was borrowed from Norman by the Bretons and shares the same etymology as the English word race, "strong current of water"; both are from Old Norse rás. It also marks the western end of the 3,200km E5 European long distance path to Venice in Italy.
The "La Vieille" lighthouse can be clearly seen from the headland.
Although it is not quite the westernmost extent of continental France—that would be Pointe de Corsen, just to the north—its rocky isolation makes it a popular tourist destination, comparable in some ways to Land's End in the southern UK.
A brief description of Pointe du Raz is part of the culminating farewell conversation between the hero and heroine of Daphne du Maurier's novel "Frenchman's Creek," symbolizing the passionate turmoil (like the winds and waves of Pointe du Raz, in the channel between France and Britain) that characterizes the relationship between the French pirate hero and the aristocratic British heroine.
On November 2, 2023, Storm Ciarán hit the area with winds reaching 207 km/h (129 mp/h).
Finistère is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. Its prefecture is Quimper and its largest city is Brest. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.
The Gulf of St. Lawrence is the outlet of the North American Great Lakes via the St. Lawrence River into the Atlantic Ocean. The gulf is a semi-enclosed sea, covering an area of about 226,000 square kilometres (87,000 sq mi) and containing about 34,500 cubic kilometres (8,300 cu mi) of water, at an average depth of 152 metres (500 ft).
Ushant is a French island at the southwestern end of the English Channel which marks the westernmost point of metropolitan France. It belongs to Brittany and, in medieval terms, Léon. In lower tiers of government, it is a commune in the Finistère department. It is the only place in Brittany, save for Brittany itself, with a separate name in English.
Douarnenez, is a commune in the French department of Finistère, region of Brittany, northwestern France.
Raz or RAZ may refer to:
Pont-Croix is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.
The Île de Sein is a Breton island in the Atlantic Ocean, off Finistère, eight kilometres from the Pointe du Raz, from which it is separated by the Raz de Sein. Its Breton name is Enez-Sun. The island, with its neighbouring islets, forms the commune of Île-de-Sein in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. Inhabitants of Île-de-Sein are called in French Sénans.
The Raz de Sein is a stretch of water located between the Isle of Sein and the Pointe du Raz in Finistère located in the Brittany region of France.
Ar Men is a lighthouse at one end of the Chaussée de l'Île de Sein, at the west end of Brittany. It shares its name with the rock on which it was erected between 1867 and 1881. It is a listed monument since 2017.
Iroise or the Iroise Sea is the part of the Atlantic Ocean which stretches from the Ile de Sein to Ushant off the coast of Brittany in north-western France. It is contained within the Celtic Sea, bordering the remainder of the Celtic Sea to the north and west, and the Bay of Biscay to the south. It is one of the most dangerous seas in Europe for sea-going vessels. In winter, there are often violent storms with huge waves. It is also one of the richest areas for marine life and was designated as one of UNESCO's biosphere reserves in 1988 and as France's first marine park in October 2007.
Locquirec is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.
The pointe de Pen-Hir is a promontory of the Crozon peninsula in Brittany, to the south-west of Camaret-sur-Mer. On a clear day there are views to the Pointe du Raz and the islands of Sein and Ouessant and to Pointe Saint-Mathieu. The cliffs are as tall as 70 metres (230 ft) high.
The Cap Sizun is a headland forming the western extremity of the Cornouaille, in the French département of Finistère in Brittany, corresponding to the former canton of Pont-Croix.
Île Vierge is a 6-hectare (15-acre) islet lying 1.5 kilometres off the north-west coast of Brittany, opposite the village of Lilia. It is in the commune of Plouguerneau, in the département of Finistère. It is the location of the tallest stone lighthouse in Europe, and the tallest "traditional lighthouse" in the world. The International Hydrographic Organization specifies Île Vierge as marking the south-western limit of the English Channel.
La Vieille is a lighthouse in the département of Finistère at the commune of Plogoff, on the northwest coast of France. It lies on the rock known as Gorlebella, guiding mariners in the strait Raz de Sein, across from the companion lighthouse Tourelle de la Plate—also known as Petite Vieille. It is among the small class of lighthouses around the coasts of France carrying the moniker "hell", due to a remote position in rough seas.
The Pointe du Van is a promontory that extends into the Atlantic from western Brittany, in France.
The Battle of the Raz de Sein was a single-ship naval engagement of the blockade of Brest during the French Revolutionary Wars between a French and Royal Navy ships of the line on 21 April 1798. The British blockade fleet under Admiral Lord Bridport had sailed from St Helens on 12 April and on the morning of 21 April was crossing the Iroise Passage when sails were spotted to the east. Three ships were detached in pursuit, led by the 74-gun ship of the line HMS Mars under Captain Alexander Hood. As the British ships approached their quarry a third sail was sighted to the southeast close to the coastline and moving north towards Brest.
The Fromveur Passage, sometimes called St. Vincent's Channel, is a strait that lies between the island of Ushant and Kéréon lighthouse on Men Tensel Rock, off the coast of the French province of Brittany. It forms part of the northern limit of the Iroise Sea.
TévennecLighthouse is a lighthouse located at the western tip of Brittany, in the northern part of the Raz de Sein off the Pointe du Van. Automated in 1910, it accompanies the light of La Vieille in securing the passage of the Raz de Sein, which presents many difficulties. The rocks near Tévennec were historically known as Stevenet Banks.
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