This time, we drove South for our day trip - to the Crozon Peninsula!
It's dotted with forts and batteries from *several* wars. You can see why just from the view - it's a short hop across the estuary to Brest, a busy and important naval center, key to power on the seas.
Our first stop was the Pointe des Espagnols (Spanish Point)...
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| Another lighthouse! |
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| Petit Minou lighthouse |
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| Remains of the battery |
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From plaques at Spanish Point
The Pointe des Espagnols is an important site for the defense of the port of Brest. Fortified works have been superimposed there since at least the end of the 16th century.
During the last War of Religion, the King of Spain Philip II allied with the extremist French Catholics against the King of France Henry IV. In 1594, the Spanish army occupied the point to threaten Brest. It built a fort which was besieged and destroyed by the French royal troops and their English allies. Since then, the point has borne the name of the vanquished...
In the 17th century, Brest became a large naval base. In the 1660s, the accesses to the harbor were fortified. The oldest battery that still exists at the Pointe des Espagnols dates from this period.
In the 1690s, Vauban increased the armament of the point.
A large battery for 32 cannons was built at the bottom of the cliff in 1695. In the 18th century, additional works, buildings and entrenchments on the land side were built.
In 1812-1813, Napoleon I had a tower built to strengthen the defense towards the interior.
Around 1850, the land defense was further strengthened by the construction of the rampart and the current walls.
In the 1880s and 1890s, major modernization work on the batteries was carried out.
In 1900, the point was armed with 21 large-calibre guns to fire on armoured ships, including 2 under casements at the bottom of the cliff. There were also 4 small-calibre guns to fire on fast torpedo boats. Other light guns were added to the end of the point in 1910 in concrete tanks. During the First World War, most of the armament was dismantled to serve on the front. Anti-aircraft armament was installed during the interwar period.
During the Second World War, Nazi Germany used Brest as a base for its navy. At the Pointe des Espagnols, it built a battery of large-calibre anti-aircraft guns and a solid land support point made up of bunkers, trenches and minefields.
The point surrendered to the Americans without a fight in September 1944.
After the war, the site was used for training by the French army. It also began to become a tourist destination.
After the attacks in New York and Washington in September 2001, a battery of anti-aircraft missiles was installed at the point for a few months to protect the nuclear submarine base on Île Longue. This was the last military use of the site.
The Ministry of Defense handed over the Pointe des Espagnols to the Conservatoire du Littoral in 2009. Development work for the public will take place in 2023-2024
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From there, we drove to see Tortoise Rock 🙂
And the Fort des Capucines
We made a quick stop to view the Vauban Tower from Camaret-Sur-Mer
Then on to a viewpoint
By this time, our energy was waning - fortunately, we had built in some flexibility, so we were able to quickly and easily return to our apartment 😊
Here's our route (it's interesting to me that the Iroise Sea is also known as the Celtic Sea!)
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