Photos

View from bottom of "Tour de la Découverte" (Discovery Tower) in "Enclos de la Marine" (Navy Enclosure) in Lorient. This tower looks like a lighthouse ... but i not one ! It is a watch tower built in 1737 top of a small hill over river Scorff, called Faouëdic mountain. From the tower, the watchman could scan the sea from Belle-Ile to Glenans islands and signal english ships threating french boats coming to Lorient. Lorient was the home of "Compagnie des Indes", a company which had monopoly of trade with Asia and Indian Ocean. The tower was hitten many times with lightning and had to be rebuilt in 1786. It is 38.33 meters height and you have to climb 216 steps to reach the top. On foot of the tower are Faouëdic mills. The tower is in the center of Navy Enclosure, an area in the center of Lorient that used to belong to French navy but that was given away to city of Lorient a few years ago. Today it is one of the major town planning projects for city of Lorient.