The Île de Sein is a Breton

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, off

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.

, eight kilometres from the

Pointe du Raz The Pointe du Raz is a promontory that extends into the Atlantic from western Brittany, in France. The local Breton name is ''Beg ar Raz''. It is the western point of the ''commune'' of Plogoff, Finistère. It is named after the ''Raz de Sein' ...

(''raz'' meaning "water current"), from which it is separated by the

Raz de Sein Raz may refer to: Places France * Pointe du Raz, the western point of the ''commune'' of Plogoff, Finistère, France *Alderney Race (''Raz Blanchard''), a strong tidal current between La Hague and Alderney * Raz de Sein, a stretch of water located ...

. Its Breton name is ''Enez-Sun''. The island, with its neighbouring islets, forms the

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 ...

of Île-de-Sein in the Finistère department of

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 ...

in north-western France. Inhabitants of Île-de-Sein are called in

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

''Sénans''. Lying on the sea routes going south from the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" ( Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), ( Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Ka ...

, Sein is well known for the dangers of its waters, the ''Chaussée de Sein'', a vast zone of reefs stretching more than 30 miles from east to west, requiring numerous lighthouses, beacons, and

buoy A buoy () is a floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents. Types Navigational buoys * Race course marker buoys are used for buoy racing, the most prevalent form of y ...

s. The lighthouses near the reef include

Ar Men Ar Men ("the rock" in Breton) is a lighthouse at one end of the Chaussée de l'Île de Sein, at the west end of Brittany. It shares its name with the rock on which it was erected between 1867 and 1881. It is a listed monument since 2017. Ar Men i ...

La Vieille La Vieille ("The Old Lady" or "The Wrass") is a lighthouse in the ''département'' of Finistère at the ''commune'' of Plogoff, on the northwest coast of France. It lies on the rock known as ''Gorlebella'' ( Breton for "farthest rock"), guiding ma ...

and Tévennec.

History

There are two

megalithic A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...

menhirs A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be fou ...

on the island, which is flat and treeless. It is mentioned by the Roman geographer

Pomponius Mela Pomponius Mela, who wrote around AD 43, was the earliest Roman geographer. He was born in Tingentera (now Algeciras) and died AD 45. His short work (''De situ orbis libri III.'') remained in use nearly to the year 1500. It occupies less ...

. The island women used to wear a black headdress, and in the past, they had a reputation for enticing sailors onto the rocks by witchcraft. In the past, it was also known for its wreckers. During World War II, German forces occupied the island. The Île de Sein lighthouse (Le Phare de Goulenez), built in 1839 at the north-western end was destroyed - it was later rebuilt in 1952. After hearing

General de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...

's call to resistance during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

in his appeal to the French on 18 June 1940, every male inhabitant aged between 14 and 54 (or 60, according to the island's official website) (variously totalled as 114 to 128) set sail in their fishing boats for Britain to join the

Free French Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...

forces. For this, on 1 January 1946, the community was awarded the high honour of the Order of the Liberation. During the 1960s, French artists

Maurice Boitel Maurice Boitel (July 31, 1919 – August 11, 2007) was a French painter. Artistic life Boitel belonged to the art movement called "La Jeune Peinture" ("Young Picture") of the School of Paris,The School of Paris (1945–1965) by Lydia Harambourg. ...

and Jean Rigaud painted on the Île de Sein. It is featured in the 1995 French film ''Élisa''.

Geography

Climate

Île de Sein has a

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

''Cfb''). The average annual temperature in Île de Sein is . The average annual rainfall is with December as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in February, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Île de Sein was on 11 July 1983; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 13 January 1987.

Legend

According to Breton legend, Île de Sein was once home to a group of virgin

druid A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. Whi ...

priestesses called the Gallizenae. They are said to have had the power to predict the future, to calm the winds, and to take the forms of different animals.

References

External links

* *
State Lighthouse "la VIEILLE" dated April 19, 2009
*

*

23. July.2012 ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''
Mayors of Finistère Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iledesein Landforms of Finistère

Sein Sein can refer to: Places * Île-de-Sein, an island and commune in Brittany, France *Raz de Sein, a stretch of water in Brittany, France People ;Given name * Sein Aye, birthname of Sitt Nyein Aye (born 1956), Burmese artist * Sein Hlaing (1918-20 ...

Companions of the Liberation Communes of Finistère