Plabennec (; ) 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 north-western France.

History

The area around Plabennec has been occupied since

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

times and into the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

. The commune of Plabennec was formed around the 6th century by a

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...

, Saint Abennec. Its name comes from a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of two

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 ...

words, ''Plou'' and ''Abennec'', which translates as "Parish of Saint Abennec". The land in the area is especially good for growing crops. Since the 19th century, things such as

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong and absorbent, and it dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. Lin ...

hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a plant in the botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial and consumable use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest ...

and

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

have been grown locally. In more recent times, with the advancement of agriculture, the land has started to be used for

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

growing.

Population

Inhabitants of Plabennec are called in French ''Plabennecois''.

Breton language

In 2008, 13.88% of primary-school children in Plabennec attended

bilingual schools Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monoling ...

, where

is taught alongside French. ''Ofis ar Brezhoneg''
''Enseignement bilingue''
/ref>

Economy

Since the 1960s a lot has changed in the economy of the area. The popularity of new vehicles and mechanicalisation of farming has led to certain professions, such as

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

s and

saddle A saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not know ...

rs, disappearing. However, many people are now moving to the area to live in the revamped barns and lodges. Most money in the area comes from tourism (due to the fact it is only 10 km from

Brest Bretagne Airport Brest Bretagne Airport () , formerly known as Brest Guipavas Airport, is an international airport serving Brest, France. It is located in the '' commune'' of Guipavas and 10.2 km (6.4 miles) northeast of Brest, within the ''département'' ...

), industry, hand-crafted goods and agriculture.

Sport

Plabennec is home to the

Championnat National The Championnat National (), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, is the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, the Championnat National operates on a system of ...

team

Stade Plabennécois Stade Plabennécois Football (; commonly referred to as simply Plabennec) is a French association football club based in the commune of Plabennec. The club was founded in 1934 and achieved promotion to the Championnat National after winning its ...

, who play at the Stade de Kervéguen in the commune. The club also deals with other sports such as

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

International relations

Plabennec has been twinned with

Waltenhofen Waltenhofen is a municipality in the district of Oberallgäu in Bavaria in 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 ...

in since 1976.

References

External links

Official commune website

Commune website
* Communes of Finistère {{Finistère-geo-stub