Quiberon

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Coordinates: 47°29′03″N 3°07′09″W / 47.48417, -3.11917

Commune of Quiberon

Kiberen

Location

Coordinates

47°29′03″N 3°07′09″W / 47.48417, -3.11917

Administration

Quiberon (chief town)

Intercommunality

none as of 2007

Mayor

Jean-Michel Belz
(2001-2008)

Statistics

Elevation

0 m–33 m
(avg. 15 m)

Land area^¹

8.83 km²

Population^²
(1999)

5,073

- Density

574/km² (1999)

Miscellaneous

INSEE/Postal code

56186/ 56170

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

² Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once.

Quiberon or Kiberen in Breton is a commune of the Morbihan département, in the région of Bretagne. It is situated on a peninsula, the Presqu'île de Quiberon. It is primarily known as a seaside resort for the French during summer, and for its history of sardine production.

1 History
2 Monuments
3 Demographics
4 See also
5 Sources
6 External links

[edit] History

During the Seven Years War the bay was the site of the Battle of Quiberon Bay between the French and British fleets. In the French Revolution, in July 1795 Quiberon was used by French Royalist exiles, with assistance from the British, as the base for a failed invasion of Brittany (traditionally a royalist area). The invasion was defeated by the Revolutionaries under general Lazare Hoche.

In the 19th century, Nicolas Appert, a chemist, tuned a technique that permitted the sterilization of food. Thanks to this process, Quiberon became the leading harbour for sardine fishing and the production of canned sardines in France. Many families from the Finistère département migrated to Quiberon for the fishing season (May to October). When the men put out to sea, the women worked in the sardine can factories.

The railway between Auray and Quiberon was inaugurated in 1882. It deeply changed Quiberon's inhabitants' way of life. Fishing, canning and the exploitation of seaweed has been replaced by tourism. At that time, some famous people went to Quiberon for a stay, including the writer Gustave Flaubert, Anatole France and Sarah Bernhardt. The year 1924 was important for the peninsula because it was classified as health resort. Now, the main resources for Quiberon come from tourism.