Saint-Renan (; , ) 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 city is named after the Irish Saint Rónán who came in the 5th or 6th century to evangelize the area. While Brest was still a village, the city of Saint-Renan developed throughout the Middle Ages. In 1276, the Duke of Brittany established one of the courts of justice there. Until the end of the 17th century, Saint-Renan was a "Sénéchaussée" (town of the seneschal), first ducal and then royal. Many of the buildings in the town center are from this period.

Population

Inhabitants of Saint-Renan are called ''Renanais'' in French.

Tourism

Old houses of 15th and 16th centuries are historical and architectural attractions. Held every two years, the medieval festival of Saint-Renan, the biggest of the department, highlights the city's heritage. The Saturday morning market – one of the biggest – is the opportunity to taste local products such as "

kouign amann Kouign-amann (; ; ) is a sweet, round Breton laminated dough pastry, originally made with bread dough (nowadays sometimes viennoiserie dough), containing layers of butter and incorporated sugar, similar in fashion to puff pastry albeit with few ...

" (cake which name means "sugar and butter" in

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 ...

Kig Ha Farz Kig ha farz is a cooked dish consisting of various meats simmered in a broth with a buckwheat flour based pudding. It is eaten traditionally in Brittany, more specifically around Léon in the region situated west from Morlaix to Brest. This di ...

, mushrooms, crepes, cider, caramel, and chitterling sausages etc. Six artificial lakes are part of the industrial heritage of the city, which was nicknamed "the European capital of tin" in the 1960s. The two largest, "Ty Colo" and "Comiren", are walking destinations. The 17th-century church has undergone several transformations over time. Built on top of a hill, its bell tower is visible from a large part of the city. The churchyard contains a military area dedicated to British aviators from the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

who died during the World War II.

Breton language

In 2016, 14% of primary-school children attended bilingual schools, where

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 ...

is taught alongside French.

Notable natives and residents

Nolwenn Leroy Nolwenn Le Magueresse (; born 28 September 1982), known by her stage name Nolwenn Leroy (), is a French singer-songwriter and actress. Originally classically trained (violin and opera singing), she rose to fame after winning the second season o ...

, singer and songwriter, who rose to fame after winning the second series of the French television reality show ''

Star Academy ''Star Academy'' is a Dutch-developed reality television talent show format that first aired in the Netherlands as '':nl:Starmaker (televisieprogramma), Star Maker''. Format There are many versions of the show, each country having its own sl ...

''. * Benoît Hamon, politician, member of both the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

(“PS”), and the

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, candidate for the

2017 French Presidential Election Presidential elections were held in France on 23 April and 7 May 2017. Incumbent president François Hollande of the Socialist Party (France), Socialist Party (PS) was eligible to run for a second term, but declared on 1 December 2016 that he wo ...

References

External links

Official website
*
Mayors of Finistère Association
Communes of Finistère {{Finistère-geo-stub