Corseul (; ; Gallo: ''Corsoeut'') is a commune in the
Côtes-d'Armor
The Côtes-d'Armor ( , ; ; , ), formerly known as Côtes-du-Nord until 1990 (, ), is a department in the north of Brittany, in northwestern France. In 2019, it had a population of 600,582.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 ...
.
The town was a major Roman town and contains Roman ruins. The town hall contains a small archaeological museum.
History
Corseul was called ''Fanum Martis'' ("Temple of Mars") in
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
and was the capital of the
Gallo-Roman
Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...
province of Coriosolites. It was founded in 10 BC. In the 3rd and 4th centuries, like many other cities, Fanum Martis was renamed for its people, the Curiosolitae. This name change occurred as the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
weakened and paralleled a revival of the ancient Gallic gods in local religious sculptures and dedicatory inscriptions.
Some 1.5 kilometres to the southeast, at Haut-Bécherel, stand the prominent remains of an extensive Roman temple sanctuary, built at the time of
Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...
and
Vespasian
Vespasian (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...
.Louis Gouipeau, "La datation archéomagnétique du temple du Haut-Bécherel à Corseul", ''Revue Archéologique de l'Ouest'' 1984.1:pp84-88.
Population
Inhabitants of Corseul are called ''coriosolites'' or ''curiosolites'' in French.
See also
*
Communes of the Côtes-d'Armor department
The following is a list of the 348 communes of the Côtes-d'Armor department of France.
The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2025):