Huelgoat

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Huelgoat
An Uhelgoad
Watermill of Chaos
Huelgoat
Coordinates: 48°21′54″N 3°44′37″W / 48.365°N 3.7436°W / 48.365; -3.7436Coordinates: 48°21′54″N 3°44′37″W / 48.365°N 3.7436°W / 48.365; -3.7436
Country France
Region Brittany
Department Finistère
Arrondissement Châteaulin
Canton Huelgoat
Intercommunality Monts d'Arrée
Government
 • Mayor (2008–2014) Corentin Garrec
Area
 • Land1 14.87 km2 (5.74 sq mi)
Population (2008)
 • Population2 1,602
 • Population2 Density 110/km2 (280/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code 29081 / 29690
Elevation 92–267 m (302–876 ft)

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

2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Huelgoat (Breton: An Uhelgoad) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France.

Population

Inhabitants of Huelgoat are called in French Huelgoatains.

Historical population of Huelgoat
Year11793180018061821183118361841184618511856
Population977898900929103711711156120012151176
Year11861186618721876188118861891189619011906
Population1203127712401327118414011324141316001874
Year11911192119261931193619461954196219681975
Population2134199622072331228324312363205724562230
Year1982199019992008
Population2026174216871602

Geography

Huelgoat is popular with tourists and holidaymakers due to its impressive natural setting among the vestiges of the ancient forest that once covered inland Brittany. Once part of royal and ducal lands, the forest is now overseen by the French forestry commission, the National Forests Office. It has an area of 10 square kilometres. A large replanting scheme has repaired much of the damage sustained by the forest in storms on the 15–16 October 1987, when 3.1 square kilometres of trees were levelled or damaged.

The village lies on a lake created between the 16th and 18th centuries to supply water to local silver-lead mines by means of a 3 km (1.9 mi) leat or canal.

Sights

Le Champignon rock, Huelgoat

A number of geological and prehistoric curiosities can be found by following trails in and around the village and forest. Among these are:

  • Le Chaos de Rochers, the Chaos of Rocks, is a jumble of hundreds of large boulders below the dammed lake, into which the river vanishes. A 10 m descent down ladders is required to see it again, running rapidly below a dark cave called the Devil's Grotto.
  • La Roche Tremblante or Trembling Rock, is a 137-tonne boulder nearby, pivoted so it can be made to rock by a person pushing against one point.
  • Le Champignon, or The Mushroom, is a large rock balanced on a smaller one to give the eponymous appearance.
  • La Mare aux Fées, the fairies' pool.
  • La Mare aux Sangliers, the wild boar pool.
  • Le Camp d'Artus, Arthur's Camp, a sea promontory hillfort based on a Gaulish oppidum, with a linear murus gallicus rampart. It was used as refuge by the Osisme Gauls against the Roman invasion in 57 BC and later acquired a nickname referring to Arthurian legend. The site was excavated by Sir Mortimer Wheeler.
  • La Grotte d'Artus, or Arthur's Cave, is a natural shelter formed under a roof of jammed rocks.

The Poërop Arboretum is a local arboretum with a nationally recognized collection of maple trees, among other substantial collections.

See also

References

    External links

    Wikimedia Commons has media related to Huelgoat.
    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.