Rocher Percé

 island, interesting place, stone/rock feature

Percé Rock (French rocher Percé, "pierced rock") is one of the largest and most spectacular natural arches in the world.

It rises sheer from the Gulf of St. Lawrence just off the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec near the village of Percé. It is a massive limestone stack 433 metres long/1420ft, 90 metres wide/ca300ft and 88 metres/290ft at the highest point. The rock gets its name from a large 15 metre/50ft high arch near its seaward end.

There were actually two arches in the rock, when the outer arch collapsed on June 17, 1845. For four hours at a time during low tide, the water recedes from a wide spit that allows the rock itself to be visited. Percé Rock is a major tourist attraction in Quebec, with picturesque views of the rock from both Percé and nearby Bonaventure Island. It contains millions of marine fossils such as trilobites, tetracoralla, brachiopods and ostracods from the Devonian period.
www.rocherperce.qc.ca/