Cape Fagnet | Office de Tourisme de Fécamp

A panorama

seizing

Cap Fagnet, situated 110 meters above sea level, is the highest point of the Alabaster Coast. And yes higher than Etretat !

On the heights of Fécamp, Cap Fagnet offers an impressive panorama on the city, the sea and the white cliffs. We discover a sea and a sky with changing hues and moods, which have always inspired painters and writers. This high point was also a high historical and strategic place, sometimes Gallic fortress, sometimes stronghold of the Atlantic Wall.

Above the Cape, other “doors” open to you: the “Hole in the Dog”, The “Door to the King” and the “Door to the Queen”.

With its rich biodiversity, Cap Fagnet is part of the European Natura 2000 network and is home to an ornithological reserve and a particular coastal flora.

Did you know?

From the top of Cap Fagnet, you can see Yport and in the distance, when the weather permits, the cliffs upstream from Etretat!

Discover the marine animals of the coastline3MB

Our advice

of hiking

Don’t put your life in danger by walking under or too close to the edge of the cliffs, landslides are frequent, you should never leave the marked trail,
In the event of a path that is not practicable (landslide, mudslide…) follow the detours proposed by the GR®21,
Avoid taking the coastal path after heavy rain or periods of frost.

If you notice a signage defect, feel free to report it using the SURICATE feature.

The Chapel

Our Lady of Salvation

Place of pilgrimage since the 13th century, the Chapel of Our Lady of Salvation is a building registered as Historical Monuments on a classified site. Its ornaments (ex-voto, stained glass windows, statues …), offered in thanks to the Virgin, and witnesses to the dangers encountered by sailors.

At all times, the Fécampois come to worship there, faithful to the Memory of sailors.
Still today the departing crews greet Our Lady with three blasts of siren so that she assures them of “good wind and good sea”.

Agenda

Saint Peter's of the Sailors:

It has traditionally taken place on the first weekend in February since 1930. Each year, St. Peter’s Day of the Sailors pays tribute to the sailors who perished at sea, the terre-neuvas, who went out to fish for cod on the banks of Newfoundland for centuries.

The semaphore

lookout and transmission post

The first semaphore of Fécamp was built in 1808: it is the brick building erected near the edge of the cliff. It has a characteristic hexagonal roof, from which the semaphore mast rose.

The current semaphore has been installed since 1904 in the stone tower of the former “lighthouse of the Virgin” built in 1834, it is about 117 meters above the sea.

What is the purpose of a semaphore?
Classified 1st category, it provides a permanent watch, 24/24h.
The French Navy broadcasts weather warnings and bulletins to mariners and participates in the surveillance of French waters, sea rescue, signaling and pollution control.

What is the difference between a lighthouse and a semaphore?
Lighthouses light up to allow ships to find their way on the water. Semaphores monitor and control maritime spaces.

Did you know?

To get to the top of the Fécamp semaphore, the agents of the French Navy have to climb 199 steps !

Cap Fagnet Intérieur Blockhaus poste d'observation

Cap Fagnet entrance to the German Military Hospital

Cap Fagnet Interior German Military Hospital 3

Cap Fagnet Interior German Military Hospital 0

Cap Fagnet Interior German Military Hospital 2

Fécamp, a support point

of the Atlantic Wall

A strategic place since antiquity, Cap Fagnet retains a wide ditch testifying to a Gallo-Roman oppidum and a series of blockhouses dating from the World War II.

Occupied by the Germans in June 1940, the town hosts an important radar station located at Cap Fagnet and a German military hospital dug into the cliff.

The blockhouses:

In 1942, fearing an Anglo-American landing, Hitler asked the engineer Todt to design a system to protect the European coasts, the “Atlantic Wall”which will be an important fortification system.

Many fortified structures of reinforced concrete and an imposing detection station were built on Cape Fagnet to spot ships, aircraft and to guide the firing of cannons.

A bunker equipped with the radar “Mammut”, intended for long-range detection of 200 to 300 km.
An observation post equipped with the radar Würzburg See Riese (giant), anti-aircraft radar of high accuracy, it performed 25 rotations per minute and its range extended from 40 to 80 km.
A light shelter and several Tobruk (small block for machine gun).

The sanitary shelter:

Unusual place dug in the chalk, it consists of large rooms and several corridors.

Traditionally called in Fécamp “German military hospital”, the site had not revealed all its secrets due to lack of written documents. A recent archival discovery now sheds light on the destination of this underground shelter.

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Good to know

Each year the Archives Heritage Department offers guided tours of the blockhouses and the German military hospital (duration: 2 hours).

These guided tours are called the “Circuit 39-45”

For security and maintenance reasons, these monuments are closed to the public the rest of the year.

Access the Agenda

The park

Wind

Since June 2006, the Cap Fagnet wind farm composed of 5 wind turbines 49 meters high, provided 4.5 Megawatts(*), the equivalent of the electrical consumption excluding heating of 10,000 inhabitants, or about half the population of Fécamp. This park is part of the regional wind power scheme and participates in the development of renewable energy in France.

The development takes into account the regulatory constraints of the site: registered heritage, bird reserve, European network Natura 2000.

(*) The megawatt (MW) is a unit of electrical power that is worth one million watts.

Did you know?

Each mast is named after a wind: Alizé, Tourbillon, Mistral, Brise and Zéphyr.

The Offshore Wind Farm:

The Fécamp offshore wind farm is the 1st wind farm under construction in Normandy, and the 3rd in France. It consists of 71 offshore wind turbines for a total power of about 500 megawatts. It starts its construction site in 2020.

The wind turbines will be between 13 and 24 km off the coast of Fécamp, on 60 km².

In 2023, when the park is commissioned, the planned production will cover the equivalent of the domestic consumption in electricity of more than 770,000 people, or more than 60% of the inhabitants of Seine-Maritime.

How

How do I get there?

On foot:
By the hiking trail, the sente aux matelots,
(30 min from the Fécamp Tourist Office).

By Bike or by car:
Follow the route du phare.

By camper:
At the end of Senneville on the D79.

At the top, a parking lot is available to leave your vehicle, the site offers a PMR tour.

Map of Fécamp3MB

a year ago

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2 years ago

Instagram #capfagnet

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2 years ago

Instagram #capfagnet

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2 years ago

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2 years ago

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2 years ago

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2 years ago

Instagram #capfagnet

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2 years ago

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2 years ago

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2 years ago

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