The Petit Minou Lighthouse () is a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

in the

roadstead of Brest The roadstead of Brest (, ; ) is a roadstead or bay located in the Finistère Departments of France, department in Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in northwestern France. The surface area is about 180 km² (70 sq mi). The po ...

, standing in front of the Fort du Petit Minou, in the commune of

Plouzané Plouzané () is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. History The shores south of Plouzané are in a strategic location for the defense of the Goulet de Brest strait and were fortified by Sébastien Le P ...

. By aligning it with the Phare du Portzic, it shows the safe route to follow for ships to enter the roadstead. It also has a red signal that indicates a dangerous sector around the plateau of les Fillettes (literally "the girls"), one of the submerged rocks in the

Goulet de Brest The Goulet de Brest (; ) is a 3-km-long strait linking the roadstead of Brest to the Atlantic Ocean. Only 1.8 km wide, the is situated between the Pointe du Petit Minou and the Pointe du Portzic to the north and the îlot des Capucins and t ...

— sailors remember this by using the

mnemonic A mnemonic device ( ), memory trick or memory device is any learning technique that aids information retention or retrieval in the human memory, often by associating the information with something that is easier to remember. It makes use of e ...

"Le Minou rougit quand il couvre les Fillettes" ("the Minou blushes when he covers the girls"). Built between 1694 and 1697, the Fort du Petit Minou was a fort built in the commune of Plouzané in France to defend the goulet de Brest. As part of the massive fortification campaign of France under the direction of the

Marquis de Vauban A marquess (; ) is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife (or wid ...

, construction on the Fort du Petit Minou bastion was finished in 1697. Two hundred and forty cannons and a formidable moat helped protect a waterway leading to the military port town of Brest, on France's northwest coast. The waters offshore are notoriously treacherous, so in 1848, the Phare (lighthouse) du Petit Minou was added in front of the fort to aid navigation through the Goulet de Brest strait. It's one of dozens of lighthouses dotting the craggy, and infamously stormy, Brittany shores.

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* * * Lighthouses completed in 1848 Petit Minou Buildings and structures in Brest, France Tourist attractions in Finistère Round towers {{Europe-lighthouse-stub

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