Brest, France

Commune of Brest
Vue brest 800x600 ArM.jpg
View of Brest from the castle
Location
Paris plan pointer b jms.gif
Map highlighting the commune of
Administration
Country France
Region Bretagne
Department Finistère
Arrondissement Brest
Intercommunality Brest Métropole Océane
Mayor François Cuillandre
(2008-2014)
Statistics
Elevation 0–103 m
(avg. 34 m)
Land area¹ 49.51 km²
Population²
(1999)		 149,634
 - Density 3022/km²
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code 29019/ 29200
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.
France

Brest (pronounced [bʁɛst] in French, [bʁest] in Breton) is a city in the Finistère department in Bretagne in northwestern France.

Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, Brest is an important seaport and naval base. The 1999 census recorded 303,484 inhabitants of the Brest metropolitan area, while the population of the city itself was estimated in 2004 to number some 146,000. Although Brest is by far the largest city in Finistère, the préfecture (capital) of the department is the much smaller commune of Quimper.

Contents

History

Brest in 1779

Nothing definite is known of Brest before about 1240, when a count of Léon ceded it to John I, duke of Brittany. In 1342 John de Montfort surrendered it to the English, in whose hands it was to remain until 1397. The importance of Brest in medieval times was great enough to give rise to the saying, "He is not duke of Brittany who is not lord of Brest". With the marriage of Francis I to Claude, daughter of Anne of Brittany, the definitive overlordship of Brest – together with the rest of the duchy – passed to the French crown.

The advantages of Brest's situation as a seaport town were first recognized by Richelieu, who in 1631 constructed a wooden-wharved harbour, which soon became a base for the French navy. Colbert rebuilt the wharves in masonry and otherwise improved the base, and fortifications by Vauban (1633–1707) followed in 1680-1688. These fortifications, and with them the naval importance of the town, were to continue to develop throughout the 18th century.

In 1694 an English squadron under John Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley of Stratton, was miserably defeated in the Attack on Brest; but in 1794, during the revolutionary war, the French fleet, under Villaret de Joyeuse, was equally thoroughly beaten in the same place by the English admiral Howe.

In World War II, the Germans maintained a large submarine base in Brest. Almost totally destroyed during the Battle for Brest (barely more than three buildings were left standing), the city has since been rebuilt. After the war, the West German government paid several billion dollars' worth of reparations to the homeless and destitute civilians of Brest in compensation for the destruction of, or damage to, their homes and property during the course of the war. Large parts of today's rebuilt city consist of the utilitarian granite and concrete buildings erected in the war's aftermath. The naval base now also houses the Brest Naval Training Centre.

In 1972, France opened its submarine nuclear deterrence base at Île Longue in the Rade de Brest (Brest roadstead).

Coat of arms

Coat of arms of Brest

Half France, half Brittany

It is in a register of deliberations of the city council dated the 15th July 1683 that this coat of arms was used for the first time.

Geography

Brest is located amidst dramatic landscape near the entrance of the natural Rade de Brest, at the west end of Brittany.

It is situated to the north of a magnificent landlocked bay, and occupies the slopes of two hills divided by the river Penfeld. The part of the town on the left bank is regarded as Brest proper, while the part on the right is known as Recouvrance. There are also extensive suburbs to the east of the town. The hillsides are in some places so steep that the ascent from the lower to the upper town has to be effected by flights of steps and the second or third storey of one house is often on a level with the ground storey of the next.

Transport

The railway station is Gare de Brest and the airport serving the area is Brest Bretagne Airport.

Economy

Due to its location, Brest is regarded as the first French port that can be accessed from the Americas, and hence shipping is big business, although Nantes and Saint-Nazaire offer much larger docks and attract more of the larger vessels. Its protected location means that it is ideal to receive any type of ship, from the smallest dinghy to the biggest aircraft-carrier (the USS Nimitz has visited a few times).

The Charles De Gaulle aircraft carrier was built by DCN in Brest.

Monuments and tourist attractions

Rue de Siam

Brest is best-known for its Pont de Recouvrance (a massive drawbridge 64 m/210ft high), the military arsenal and the rue de Siam (Siam Street). The Castle and the Tour Tanguy are the oldest monuments of Brest.

The Musée de la Tour Tanguy houses a collection of dioramas that depict the city of Brest on the eve of World War II. The Musée de la Marine de Brest contains exhibits which outline Brest's maritime tradition, as well as an aquarium, the Océanopolis marine centre. The city also contains a notable botanical garden specializing in endangered species, the Conservatoire botanique national de Brest, as well as the Jardin botanique de l'Hôpital d'Instruction des Armées Clermont-Tonnerre.

The city of Brest doesn't have much historical architecture, apart from a few select monuments such as the Castle and the Tour Tanguy. This is due to heavy allied bombing during World War II, in an attempt to destroy the submarine base the Germans had built in the harbour. The town was hastily rebuilt in the 1950s using a large amount of concrete. In Recouvrance, the left bank of the town, there remains an authentic street of the 17th century, Saint-Malo Street.

A few kilometres out of town, there are more impressive landscapes, from sandy beaches to grottos to tall granite cliffs. Sunbathing, windsurfing, yachting and fishing are practiced in the area. Brest was an important warship producing port in the Napoleonic wars. The naval port, which is in great part excavated in the rock, extends along both banks of the Penfeld;

Panorama of the castle and the Tour Tanguy

Administration

The city hall, place de la Liberté

Mayors of Brest

Culture-Regional language

Breton is not commonly spoken in the city of Brest and is not an official language (in the same vein as other French minority languages). It is being taught in some schools and universities. The association Sked[1] federates all Breton cultural activities.

Brest was the only "French-speaking" city in western Brittany before the 1789 revolution.

The city is host to several events to celebrate its long maritime history, the largest of which happens every four years, when the town organises a tall ship meeting. The last occurrence of that event was "Brest 2008".

Brest also hosts a yearly Short Film Festival called "Festival Européen du Film Court de Brest"

The city was also the setting for the 1982 art film Querelle.

Food in Brest

Restaurants in Brest have a wide variety of seafood. Fresh fish is featured on practically every menu and you can even find a few fish-only restaurants. Local markets and supermarkets also offer lots of seafood.

Brittany's most famous local delicacy, the Breton crêpe, is another culinary feature. There are many crêpe restaurants (called crêperies) and Breton cider may also be drunk.

Traditional biscuits include Traou Mad which is a full fat butter biscuit, somewhat similar to Scottish shortbreads.

Sport

Since 1901 Brest has served as the midpoint for the epic 1200 km bicycle endurance event, Paris-Brest-Paris. Brest is home to Stade Brestois 29, a football team in Ligue 2, second-highest league in French football.

The 2008 Tour de France started in Brest.

Education

Births

Brest was the birthplace of:

Twin towns

Brest is twinned with:[1]

Friendly relationship

Brest has an official friendly relationship (protocole d'amitié) with:[1]

See also

Battle for Brest

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Les jumelages de Brest

External links