Bigouden ( Breton: ''Bro-Vigoudenn''; French: ''Pays Bigouden''), historically known as Cap Caval, is, along the Bay of Audierne, the most south-western area of ''Bro Kernev'' in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

, south-west of

Quimper Quimper (, ; br, Kemper ; la, Civitas Aquilonia or ) is a commune and prefecture of the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. Administration Quimper is the prefecture (capital) of the Finistère department. Geography Th ...

, defined since 1790 in the French department of

Finistère Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.

. The designation was an informal label taken from the name of the distinctive headdress traditionally worn by the local women. ''Gallica''
''Brittany & Its Byways p. 258''
/ref> By the end of the 19th century, the name then slipped to designate the women of the area, then to describe all its inhabitants. It has since been formalised within the administration and promotion of the region.

Geography

This traditional area constitutes since French revolution a grouping of three cantons: Guilvinec,

Pont-l'Abbé Pont-l'Abbé (; , "Abbot's bridge") is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. The self-styled capital of Pays Bigouden (roughly the region between the river Odet and the Bay of Audierne), Pont-l'Abbé was fo ...

and Plogastel-Saint-Germain. Its capital is

. The Bigouden is currently divided into two communities of

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

s: ''Communauté de communes du Pays Bigouden Sud'' and ''Communauté de communes du Haut Pays Bigouden''. Some recent debates put forward the question of joining these two entities.

Cultural distinctiveness

The distinctive customs and costumes of the area have attracted artists and ethnologists since the late eighteenth century, leading to some idiosyncratic theories such as the claim that the locals descended from pre-Celtic aboriginal inhabitants of Brittany or that "physiognomic similarities" to Mongolians indicate descent from an ancient Asian race. During the nineteenth century local costumes became increasingly elaborate and colourful. Especially famous was the tall lace bonnet worn by the women, which covered only the top of the skull and extended to a triangle of fabric mounted on a base. These were embroidered with patterns of flowers. Mrs Bury Pallister, writing in 1869, described it as follows, By around 1900 this had evolved into a tall sugarloaf shape. In the early twentieth century the cap became even taller, reaching fifteen to twenty centimeters in the late 1920s and even taller just after the Second World War. Until 2000, the cap has hovered between 30 and 35 centimeters in height by 12-14 centimeters wide at the base.

René Quillivic René Quillivic (1879–1969) was a French sculptor whose art expressed Breton cultural identity. His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics. Life René Quillivic was born on 13 May 1879 in the t ...

's statue ''La Bigoudène'' at Pors-Poulhan depicts a woman wearing the headdress. It marks the border between Pays Bigouden and

Cap Sizun The Cap Sizun (; br, Ar C'hab) is a headland forming the western extremity of the Cornouaille, in the French département of Finistère in Brittany, corresponding to the former canton of Pont-Croix. The best known sites in this region are th ...

Pêr-Jakez Helias Pêr-Jakez Helias, baptised Pierre-Jacques Hélias, ''nom de plume'' Pierre-Jakez Hélias (1914–1995) was a Breton stage actor, journalist, author, poet, and writer for radio who worked in the French and Breton languages. For many years he di ...

, a major Breton writer of the 20th century, was from the Bigouden.

Flag

A flag of the Bigouden was created in 1992 as part of the local promotion of the area. It was designed by Bernard Le Brun at the request of the ''Association de Promotion du Pays bigouden''. It comprises three parts. The left includes heraldic ermines, representing the twenty Bigoudène communes (formerly 22). The golden colour represents the art of gold embroidery, which once dominated the region. The three orange stripes on the right recall the three cantons of the area.Drapeau des Pays Bigouden
/ref>

Notes

{{coord, 47.8672, N, 4.2231, W, source:wikidata, display=title Geography of Brittany Geography of Finistère