Fouesnant is a common department of the Finistere, in the area Brittany, in France.

Its name in Breton is Fouenant but locally one pronounces Fouenn , name indicated on the bilingual panels to the entry of the commune. The significance of the name is not certain. An assumption attaches it for its second part to old man-Celtic (and old man-Welsh) the nant , valley. One as thought as the first syllable could come from Breton the foenn , Foin. On the old documents, one finds the names Fuinant (between 1022 and 1058), Plebs Fuenant (in 1084), Foynant (in 1294), Foenant (in 1324, about 1330 and in 1368), Fouesnant (in 1382).

Its inhabitants is called Fouesnantais.

Geography

Littoral commune of South-Finistere located at 15 kilometers in the south of Quimper and eight kilometers in the west of Concarneau, Fouesnant is bordered of 15 kilometers coast, of the Cape Coz in the marshes of Mousterlin and the dunes of the white Sea, while passing by the point of Beg Meil. The territory is moderately undulating, going down soft inclined towards south-west, in direction of Bénodet and from the sea. Towards the east, the slope is accentuated towards the handle of Penfoulic and bay of the Forest.

The coasts present very diverse aspects: sandy cord of the Cape Coz, escarpée rock coast bordering bay of the Forest, until Beg Meil. The point of Beg Meil and its perched dunes closes bay of the Forest. The southern part of Fouesnant is made of two offshore bars of before-coast on both sides of the point of Mousterlin. They separated from the sea modest the ria S which occupied the courses lower several small brooks, thus forming two Lagune S, that of Mousterlin, which was transformed into Polder about 1930, and that of the White Sea which is always subjected to the mode of the tides.

Fouesnant is an old rural district which preserved an aspect of Bocage with four urbanized units. Perched to 60 m of altitude, and three kilometers of the coast, the borough of Fouesnant dominates bay of the Forest. Around the Saint-Pierre church, the Center town is at the same time administrative (town hall, library, social services…) and commercial (small shops). The narrow sand point of the Cape Coz hardly exceeding the sea level, is almost entirely occupied by constructions. Several allotments increase the Cape Coz towards the interior of the grounds. Opposite its end, at the bottom of Bay of Concarneau, is the exit of Port-la-Forêt, the port of the Forest-Fouesnant. As of the end of the 19th century, Beg Meil was a famous seaside resort where many hotels and particular villas were built. Lastly, the Pointe of Mousterlin was the object of a more moderate urbanization.

Housing stock is made up for 80% of particular houses of which about half are second home. Artisanal and commercial zones very active (Kervihan, Park Ar It hastel) gather, with the limits of the center town, the services and the specialized companies in the food one in particular (Tipiak, Salaison S, industrial pastry makings…).

Fouesnant became true a Seaside resort and tourist developed around its beach suit and Beg Meil. The agglomeration belongs to the zone of extension périurbaine of Quimper where a broad part of the population fouesnantaise works.

Lastly, Fouesnant has a vast insular unit: the Island with the Sheep and the archipelago of the Glénan, together of small islands located at about fifteen kilometers in the south of the Point of Mousterlin, belong to the communal territory.

History

  • the presence of two Menhir S on the communal territory, one inside the grounds and the other on the Point of Beg Meil is the mark of a human occupation of the territory at the end of the Bronze Age or the beginning of the age of iron. The excavations currently in hand on the Island with the Sheep highlighted permanent habitats at various times (Neolithic, age of iron, Roman Period). On Glénan, funerary trunks are also the trace of an old human presence.
  • This commune is known for facts related to the Affaire Nédelec in 1792.

Administration

Monuments

  • Church Saint-Pierre
Built at the end of the 11th century, altered at the 18th century following the collapse of its turn-lantern, it is a perfect example of the Romanesque architecture. Its Nef of five spans is entirely panelled and the windows in the form of loophole are bored in the axis of the arcades. The column S are capped with Chapiteau X decorated with sheets of acanthus, stars and characters. A sacristy external with the roof in the shape of hull, carried out at the 18th century flanks the building in the South. The Saint-Pierre church is classified Historic building since 1930.

On the Placître, a Calvaire of the 17th century carries the statues of the Vierge and Midsummer's Day.

On the western side of the church is the War memorial the of the Guerre of 1914-1918, carried out, in a sober style and moving by the sculptor Rene Quillivic: a woman in mourning carrying the Coiffe of Fouesnant requests for her deaths (see photograph gallery).

  • Vault Saint-Thomas-Becket
Built in 1674 with the memory of saint Thomas Becket, archevèque of Canterbury by the descendant of one of its assassins. The cross of the placître is 16th century.
  • Vault Holy-Anne
Built in 1685 with the financial aid of faithful on an old site of gatherings and forgiveness very attended by the sailors. The damaged arrow was rebuilt in 1883. In the north of the enclosure, one finds a fountain of devotion and his basin. A forgiveness firmly anchored in the tradition is celebrated there each year, Sunday following the Sainte Anne (July 26th). It is classified Historic building since 1914.

  • Vault St-Sebastien

Built at the 15th century, it preserves elements of a former construction of the 12th century.
  • Vault of Kerbader
It dates from the 18th century, to replace an older vault of the 16th century. It was partly the theater of the business Nédelec .

Remarkable sites

  • Ponds and wood of Penfoulic (natural site protected by the Conservatory from the littoral)

  • Beach and site of the Cape Coz
  • Hold and Dune S of Beg Meil
  • Polder of Mousterlin (natural site protected by the Academy from the littoral
  • Point from Mousterlin
  • Marsh and dunes from the white Sea
  • Island with the Sheep
  • Archipelago from the Glénan

Events

  • Each summer, the Festival of the Apple trees.

  • the Forgiveness of Holy Anne, first Sunday after the Holy Anne (July 26th)
  • since 2004, every summer, Festidreuz: festival of music

Specialities

The Cidre of Fouesnant is one of most famous ciders of Cornwall. Those profit since 1996 from the label Appellation from controlled origin .

Births

  • Jos Parker, poet, author of the poem " The ways bretons".

Death

Twinning

. Very alive twinning enters the two communes.

Internal bonds

External bonds

  • Site of the commune
  • Site of the Tourist office of the commune
  • Site of the community of communes of the Country Fouesnantais

History of Fouesnant and its canton

  • Foën Izella
  • " Fouesnant during the war 39-45"

Sites of the Academy of the littoral

  • Ponds of Penfoulic
  • Polder of Mousterlin

More

  • Fouesnant between ground and sea, two hundred years of stories, the Revolution to our days, 1789-2000 , Arnaud PEN, Fouesnant, 2001, ISBN: 2-9516662-0-9

  • Aspects of the Revolution in Country fouesnantais , Foën Izella, 1989.
  • the business Nédelec , Foën Izella, cultural Institut of Brittany, 1989.
  • Clochers of Fouesnantais to the wind of the history , Pierre Cariou, 1999.
  • Glénan , Louis-Pierre the Master, Palatines, 2006.
  • Robinsons of Glénan , Serge Duigou, Editions Undertow, 1998. (history of the permanent populations of Glénan with XIXe and XXe centuries)

Photograph gallery

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