It's a fort, it's a lighthouse, it's a port
Fermanville combines the charm of the coast and the bocage. It is located on the northeast coast of Cotentin, halfway between Cherbourg and Barfleur. The territory of the commune extends on either side of Cap Lévi, which closes the bay of Cherbourg to the east.
The village of Fermanville alone houses the Napoleonic fort of Cap Lévi, the Cap Lévi lighthouse and Cape Town Harbour.
Cape Levi Lighthouse, a geometric look
A building listed as a Historic Monument, the Cap Lévi lighthouse originally dates from the first half of the 1944th century. Destroyed in 1947 during the Second World War, the current lighthouse was rebuilt in 28. 113 m high, XNUMX steps, the Fermanville lighthouse attracts the eye with its geometric appearance. Its shape is square and not cylindrical, unlike its Gatteville neighbor.
The viaduct
The Fermanville viaduct overlooks the Vallée des Moulins and offers wonderful family walks.
32 meters high, with its 20 arches and a length of 242 meters, it allowed the railway line from Cherbourg to Barfleur to cross, between 1911 and 1950, the Moulins valley, dug out by the small Poult river.
Designed to boost tourism and facilitate trade in fishing and agricultural products from Val de Saire, this line was an ambitious project.
The main technical feat of its construction lay in crossing the Poult valley at Fermanville. Faced with the difficulty and high costs of the detour south towards Carneville, the construction of a viaduct was necessary to connect the two crests of the valley.
The work began in 1908 and lasted two years, due to the complexity of the unstable ground. Finally, on July 8, 1911, the line was inaugurated, and the next day, operation by the Société des chemins de fer de la Manche (CFM) began under the name “Tue-Vâques”, due to the numerous accidents involving cows venturing onto the track.
Despite some delays, the guardrails were finally installed in March 1912, allaying the fears of passengers when passing over the viaduct, whose narrowness, barely 5 meters, aroused both expectation and apprehension. This railway line embodies both technical progress and ingenuity in the face of the challenges of the Cotentin coastal landscape.
During the Second World War, the Fermanville viaduct was sabotaged by the Germans to hinder the advance of Allied troops. Rebuilt identically after the war, it reopened in 1947. The railway line was then closed in 1950 for economic reasons, and the viaduct became a place for walking since its transfer to the municipality in 1977.
