Concarneau (, meaning "Bay of Cornouaille") is a commune in the

Finistère Finistère (, ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. Its prefecture is Quimper and its largest city is Brest, France, Brest. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.department of

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

in Northwestern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Concarneau is bordered to the west by the Baie de La Forêt. The city has two distinct areas: the modern town on the mainland and the medieval Ville Close, a walled town on a long island in the centre of the harbour. Historically, the old town was a centre of shipbuilding; its ramparts date from the 14th century. The Ville Close is now devoted to tourism with many restaurants and shops aimed at tourists. However restraint has been shown in resisting the excesses of souvenir shops. Also in the Ville Close is the fishing museum. The Ville Close is connected to the town by a bridge and at the other end a ferry to the village of Lanriec on the other side of the harbour.

Events

In August the town holds the annual ''Fête des Filets Bleus'' (Festival of the blue nets). The festival, named after the traditional blue nets of Concarneau's fishing fleet, is a celebration of Breton and pan-Celtic culture. Such festivals can occur throughout

but the Filets Bleus is one of the oldest and largest, attracting in excess of a thousand participants in traditional dress with many times that number of observers. In 2005, the 100th festival was celebrated.

Literature

Concarneau was the setting for Belgian mystery writer

Georges Simenon Georges Joseph Christian Simenon (; 12/13 February 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a Belgian writer who created the fictional detective Jules Maigret. One of the most prolific and successful authors of the 20th century, he published around 400 ...

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

novel ''Le Chien jaune'' ('' The Yellow Dog''), featuring his celebrated sleuth Maigret.

Economy

Fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

, particularly for

tuna A tuna (: tunas or tuna) is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae ( mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bul ...

, has long been the primary economic activity in Concarneau. The Les Mouettes d'Arvor is one of the last traditional canning factories in Concarneau. Concarneau is one of the biggest fishing ports in France. Since the 1980s, other industries have arisen, such as boat construction and summer tourism. The Ville Close separates the working port from the yacht basin. Concarneau - Panoramique

Demographics

Inhabitants of Concarneau are called in French ''Concarnois'' (masculine) and ''Concarnoises'' (feminine). In 1959, Concarneau absorbed the former commune Lanriec.

Breton language

In 2008, 2.16% of primary-school children attended bilingual schools, where

Breton language Breton (, , ; or in Morbihan) is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic languages, Celtic language group spoken in Brittany, part of modern-day France. It is the only Celtic language still widely in use on the European mainland, albei ...

is taught alongside French. ''Ofis ar Brezhoneg''
''Enseignement bilingue''
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Sport

The football club US Concarneau is based in the town.

Personalities

* Michel Desjoyeaux, navigator * Samantha Davies, sailor * Guy Cotten, founder of a clothes factory * Stéphane Guivarc'h, French footballer, won the

FIFA World Cup 1998 The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

with the French national side * Théophile Deyrolle and Alfred Guillou, founders of the Concarneau Art Colony. * Valérie Hermann President of Ralph Lauren

International relations

Twinned towns: *

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region () of Detmold (region), Detmold and the L ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

since 1969 * M'bour,

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

since 1974 *

Penzance Penzance ( ; ) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is the westernmost major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated in the ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

since 1982

Gallery

File:Ville Close de Concarneau (1.1).jpg, The medieval Ville Close File:Bretagne Finistere Concarneau1 tango7174.jpg, The medieval Ville Close File:Bretagne Finistere Concarneau2 tango7174.jpg, The commercial harbour File:Bretagne Finistere Concarneau3 tango7174.jpg, The yachting harbour File:Bretagne Finistere Concarneau4 tango7174.jpg, At dusk File:Port de Concarneau.jpg, The port File:Concarneau - Port de plaisance.jpg, The yachting harbor File:Château de Kériolet (0).jpg, Château de Kériolet File:La plage des Sables Blancs.jpg, Les Sables Blancs File:La Ville Close.jpg, The Ville Close File:Statue de Duquesne à Concarneau.jpg, Abraham Duquesne File:Localisation Concarneau dept29.png, Concarneau's location in Finistère

Climate

References

External links

Official website
* {{Authority control Communes of Finistère Populated coastal places in Brittany Port cities and towns on the French Atlantic coast Seaside resorts in France