Phare de la Noéveillard

History of the Pornic lighthouse

At the end of 1885, the Lighthouses and Beacons department decided to carry out refurbishment work for the lighthouse keeper, for two reasons:

the building was too small to accommodate his entire family,
the slate roof needed to be redone.

The work, carried out the following year, gave the lighthouse its current appearance. The height of the light was raised by 4m.
Still in use, it was automated in the early 1980s.


Consequences of automating the lighthouse

The Société des Phares et Balises is gradually abandoning these monuments because they are too costly to maintain. The town of Pornic exercised its right of pre-emption to "preserve our heritage and avoid seeing a lighthouse go to a new home".
In 2009, the building, now owned by the town of Pornic, was made available to the SNSM (Société Nationale de Sauvetage en Mer). The building provides new premises for the lifeguards at sea.



The little extras :


It is possible to follow a presentation of the site with members of the SNSM as part of a tour entitled "Encounters with our enthusiasts" entitled Le Phare de la Noéveillard "L'éclaireur de la côte se dévoile", organised from time to time by the Office de Tourisme Intercommunal de Pornic.
The lighthouse site can be explored by following the Sainte-Marie hiking trail or the romantic seaside landscape heritage trail.