The Pointe Saint-Mathieu ( French) or St Matthew Point () is a

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, Jo ...

located in the commune of

Plougonvelin Plougonvelin (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Finistère Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in north-western France. Geography Climate Plougonvelin has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate ...

in Finistere Department in western

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 ...

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 ...

. Flanked by high cliffs, it was the sight of major Anglo-French naval battles in 1293 and in 1512.

Village

At present, there are only a few houses on the point, grouped around the abbey ruins. However, in the past, the settlement was not limited to the abbey and its dependents. Very soon a village was established along the coast for commercial potential and the possibilities for salvaging wrecks.

Abbey

The abbey held many privileges - right to rushes, right to furnaces, rights to a twelfth of jet, right to markets, right to fairs ( Henry IV of France had instituted, in 1602, 5 annual fairs and a weekly market), right to measure wheat and wine, etc... In 1157 Hervé de Léon accorded the abbey the right of flotsam and jetsam on wrecks in all his fiefdoms; in 1390 the abbey received the right to take 10% of the hull, cargo and rigging of wrecked ships. To this right were added the right of remains, confirmed in 1602 by royal letters patent. He accorded this right to the monks for "all those who perish in the sea, and on the coasts at Saint Mathieu,

and le Conquet". Today abandoned, the Abbaye Saint-Mathieu de Fine-Terre, was said to have held the skull of the apostle Matthew, now lost in the ocean off the point. Its ruins served as a set for the summer TV saga ''

Dolmen A dolmen, () or portal tomb, is a type of single-chamber Megalith#Tombs, megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period (4000 ...

''.

Lighthouse

The point also has a 56m high

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

, built in 1835.

Signal station

The first signal station near the point was built in 1806, but the present one was built nearer the point in 1906, to give a view of the

chenal du Four The Chenal du Four is a waterway off the coast of Brittany in north-western France, in the area of Porspoder, between Pointe Saint-Mathieu and the Island of Béniguet. It is marked by six lighthouses including the Saint-Mathieu Lighthouse and t ...

as the entrance to Brest. Progressively expanded in the 20th century, its top is now 39m above sea level, with lodging for spotters.

The cenotaph (Memorial to sailors who have died for France)

Commissioned by Émile Guépratte and Georges Leygues after the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, it was built following the law of 26 July 1923. The stela (representing a sailor's wife) was designed by René Quillivic and inaugurated on 12 June 1927. Since 2005, it has been open to the public and accompanied by a permanent exhibition of photos of disappeared sailors.

Quotations

External links

Personal page, with pages on Saint-Mathieu

Mémorial national des Marins morts pour la France de la Pointe Saint Mathieu
Headlands of Brittany Landforms of Finistère {{Finistère-geo-stub