Île Dumet
| Île Dumet | ||
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| Waters | Biscay | |
| Geographical location | 47 ° 24 '39 " N , 2 ° 37' 13" W | |
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| length | 600 m | |
| width | 150 m | |
| surface | 8.5 ha | |
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The Île Dumet is a small island off the Breton coast, which is a nature reserve and belongs to the Loire-Atlantique department in the Pays de la Loire and to the municipality of Piriac-sur-Mer 6 km away . The island is 8.5 hectares in size, 600 m long and 150 m wide.
About the name
The island used to be called Aduna. The name later became Audumet, then Dumay, and then the current name. In Breton it is called Enez Aodum.
history
The island was inhabited earlier, first belonged to the diocese of Nantes and then to the abbey of Saint-Sauveur de Redon . The monks exchanged the island with Count Jacques de Mahé de la Bourdonnais , Sieur de La Bourdonnais (1674–1705), shipbuilder and captain and father of the famous admiral Bertrand François Mahé de La Bourdonnais . The strategic position later led to military occupation for the purpose of defending the mouth of the Vilaine River , which was also the scene of the naval battle in the Bay of Quiberon .
In 1949 Henri Dresch, manufacturer of the Dresch motorcycles , acquired the island and had trees planted. In 1953, the Fleury de Valois couple moved into the guard house of Fort de Ré and lived there for 33 years without electricity, with little fresh water and only one boat every 15 days, if the weather was good. The couple also put the lighthouse back into operation.
Henri Dresch sold the island in 1971 and in 1990 it became the property of the Coastal Protection Authority ( Conservatoire du littoral ).
The forts
Two forts were built on the island.
Fort de Ré
The Fort de Ré was built in a semicircle around 1756 by the Duke of d'Aiguillon . It served the guards until it was released in 1782. Restored in the 19th century, it was later abandoned and reused around 1900 with a beacon to protect shipping.
Fort de Carré
Fort Carré, or Fort Vauban , was built in 1845 under the direction of Gustave Flaubert . In 1912, the professor Alphonse Berget (1860-1933) placed the marker of the center of the continental hemisphere on the island , which serves as a reference for some geographic contracts.
The lighthouse
The fire is divided into white, blue and red sectors. The lighthouse lights up with a frequency of 12 seconds. The beam range is 7 miles for the white light and 4 miles for the colored lights.