Brest, France

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Brest

From top left: Recouvrance bridge, the steeple of Saint-Louis church of Brest, Saint-Malo street, the Abeille Bourbon, the american memorial on the Cours Dajot, panorama from the Recouvrance bridge of the castle of Brest, the Tanguy tower, Saint-Sauveur church of Recouvrance, Dialogues book shop and the place de la Liberté. City logo City coat of arms Brest Location within Brittany region  Brest Administration Country France Region Brittany Department Finistère Arrondissement Brest Intercommunality Brest Métropole Océane Mayor François Cuillandre (PS) (2008–2014) Statistics Elevation 0–103 m (0–338 ft) (avg. 34 m or 112 ft) Land area1 49.51 km2 (19.12 sq mi) Population2 142,097  (2008)  - Density 2,870 /km2 (7,400 /sq mi) INSEE/Postal code 29019/ 29200 Website Official website 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Coordinates: 48°23′27″N 4°29′08″W / 48.3908°N 4.4856°W / 48.3908; -4.4856

Brest (French pronunciation: ​; Breton: ) is a city in the Finistère département in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon. The city is located on the western edge of continental Europe, hence the expression "Europe from Brest to Brest ". With 142,722 inhabitants in a 2007 census, Brest is at the centre of Western Brittany's largest metropolitan area (with a population of 300,300 in total), ranking third behind only Nantes and Rennes in the whole of historic Brittany, and the 22nd most populous city in France; moreover, Brest provides services to the one million inhabitants of Western Brittany. Although Brest is by far the largest city in Finistère, the préfecture (regional capital) of the department is the much smaller Quimper.

During the Middle Ages, the history of Brest was the history of its castle. Then Richelieu made it a military harbour. Brest grew around its arsenal, until the second part of the 20th century. Profoundly marked by the Allies bombing raids during World War II, the city centre was completely rebuilt after the war. At the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, the deindustrialization of the city was followed by the development of the service sector. Nowadays, Brest is an important university town with 23,000 students. Besides a multidisciplinary university, the University of Western Brittany, Brest and its surrounding area possess several prestigious French elite schools such as École Navale (the French Naval Academy), Télécom Bretagne and the Superior National School of Advanced Techniques of Brittany (ENSTA Bretagne, formerly ENSIETA). Brest is also an important research centre, mainly focused on the sea, with among others the largest Ifremer (French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea) centre, le Cedre (Centre of Documentation, Research and Experimentation on Accidental Water Pollution) and the French Polar Institute.

Brest’s history has always been linked to the sea: the Académie de Marine (Naval Academy) was founded in 1752 in this city as well as the aircraft carrier Charles-de-Gaulle was built there. Every four years, Brest hosts the international festival of the sea, boats and sailors: it is a meeting of old riggings from around the world.

History

Brest in 1779 The Maison de la Fontaine in Recouvrance, one of the oldest houses of Brest (end of the 17th century, beginning of the 18th century).

Nothing definite is known of Brest before about 1240, when a count of Léon ceded it to John I, Duke of Brittany. In 1342, John IV, Duke of Brittany, surrendered Brest to the English, in whose possession it was to remain until 1397. The importance of Brest in medieval times was great enough to give rise to the saying, "He is not the Duke of Brittany who is not the Lord of Brest". With the marriage of Francis I of France to Claude, the daughter of Anne of Brittany, the definitive overlordship of Brest – together with the rest of the duchy – passed to the French crown.

The advantages of Brest's situation as a seaport town were first recognized by Cardinal Richelieu, who in 1631 constructed a harbor with wooden wharves. This soon became a base for the French Navy. Jean-Baptiste Colbert, finance minister under Louis XIV, rebuilt the wharves in masonry and otherwise improved the harbour. Fortifications by Vauban (1633–1707) followed in 1680–1688. These fortifications, and with them the naval importance of the town, were to continue to develop throughout the 18th century.

In 1694, an English squadron under Lord Berkeley, was soundly defeated in its attack on Brest.

In 1917, during the First World War, Brest was used as the disembarking port for many of the troops coming from the United States. Thousands of such men came through the port on their way to the front lines.

In the Second World War, the Germans maintained a large U-boat submarine base at Brest. In 1944, after the Allied invasion of Normandy, the city was almost totally destroyed during the Battle for Brest, with only a tiny number of buildings left standing. After the war, the West German government paid several billion Deutschmarks in reparations to the homeless and destitute civilians of Brest in compensation for the destruction of their city. Large parts of today's rebuilt city consist of utilitarian granite and concrete buildings. The French naval base now houses the Brest Naval Training Centre. The town was to serve as a German enclave had the Germans won the war.

In 1972, the French Navy opened its nuclear weapon-submarine (deterrence) base at Île Longue in the Rade de Brest (Brest roadstead). This continues to be an important base for the French nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines.

Coat of arms

The meaning of the coat of arms of Brest is half France (the three fleurs-de-lis of the former kingdom of France), half Brittany (semé d'hermine of Brittany). These arms were used for the first time in a register of deliberations of the city council dated the 15 July 1683.

Population

Historical population Year Pop.   ±%   1793 24,180 —     1800 25,865 +7.0% 1806 22,130 −14.4% 1821 26,361 +19.1% 1831 29,860 +13.3% 1836 29,773 −0.3% 1841 48,225 +62.0% 1846 55,820 +15.7% 1851 61,160 +9.6% 1856 54,665 −10.6% 1861 67,833 +24.1% 1866 79,847 +17.7% 1872 66,270 −17.0% 1876 66,828 +0.8% 1881 69,110 +3.4% 1886 70,778 +2.4% 1891 75,854 +7.2% 1896 74,538 −1.7% 1901 84,284 +13.1% 1906 85,294 +1.2% 1911 90,540 +6.2% 1921 73,960 −18.3% 1926 67,861 −8.2% 1931 69,841 +2.9% 1936 79,342 +13.6% 1946 74,991 −5.5% 1954 110,713 +47.6% 1962 136,104 +22.9% 1968 154,023 +13.2% 1975 166,826 +8.3% 1982 156,060 −6.5% 1990 147,956 −5.2% 1999 149,634 +1.1% 2005 145,100 −3.0% 2007 142,722 −1.6% 2008 142,097 −0.4% 2012 141,315 −0.6%

Sights

Rue de Siam (Siam Street) in 2006.

Brest is best known for its Pont de Recouvrance (Recouvrance Bridge, a massive drawbridge 64 m/210 ft high), the military arsenal and the rue de Siam (Siam Street). The castle and the Tanguy tower are the oldest monuments of Brest.

The Musée de la Tour Tanguy, in the Tanguy tower, houses a collection of dioramas that depict the city of Brest on the eve of World War II. The Musée national de la Marine de Brest, housed in the ancient castle, contains exhibits which outline Brest's maritime tradition, as well as an aquarium, the Océanopolis marine centre. The city also has a notable botanical garden specializing in endangered species, the Conservatoire botanique national de Brest, as well as the Jardin botanique de l'Hôpital d'Instruction des Armées Clermont-Tonnerre.

The city of Brest does not have much remaining historical architecture, apart from a few select monuments such as the castle and the Tanguy tower. This is due to heavy bombing by the Allies during World War II, in an attempt to destroy the submarine base the Germans had built in the harbour. In the 1950s, the town was hastily rebuilt using a large amount of concrete. In Recouvrance, the west bank of the town, there remains an authentic street of the 17th century, Saint-Malo Street.

A few kilometres out of town, there are more impressive landscapes, from sandy beaches to grottos to tall granite cliffs. Sunbathing, windsurfing, yachting and fishing are enjoyed in the area. Brest was an important warship-producing port during the Napoleonic wars. The naval port, which is in great part excavated in the rock, extends along both banks of the Penfeld river.

The Tanguy tower hosts a museum of the history of Brest; in the background, the Pont de Recouvrance (Recouvrance Bridge).

The castle hosts the Musée national de la Marine (National Navy Museum).

Brest -Oceanopolis (1).jpg

Océanopolis, an aquarium which displays a large variety of marine species and includes one of the Europe's largest penguins aquariums.

the conservatoire botanique national.

Saint-Louis church of Brest, rebuilt after the Second World War, between 1953 and 1958 in a modernist style, is worth seeing for its stained glass.

Saint-Sauveur church in Recouvrance, designed by Amédée-François Frézier, the oldest church of Brest, built in 1750.

Monumental perspective from the Place de la Liberté opening to the rue de Siam (Siam Street), with the rade de Brest (Brest roadstead) in the background, and on the right, the steeple of Saint-Louis church dominating the rebuilt centre of Brest.

Geography

Topography of Brest Brest and its surrounding area

Brest is located amidst a dramatic landscape near the entrance of the natural rade de Brest (Brest roadstead), at the west end of Brittany.

It is situated to the north of a magnificent landlocked bay, and occupies the slopes of two hills divided by the river Penfeld. The part of the town on the left bank is regarded as Brest proper, while the part on the right is known as Recouvrance. There are also extensive suburbs to the east of the town. The hillsides are in some places so steep that the ascent from the lower to the upper town has to be effected by flights of steps and the second or third storey of one house is often on a level with the ground storey of the next.

Climate

Climate data for Brest Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year Average high °C (°F) 9.1 (48.4) 9.4 (48.9) 11.0 (51.8) 12.5 (54.5) 15.6 (60.1) 18.1 (64.6) 20.4 (68.7) 20.6 (69.1) 18.7 (65.7) 15.3 (59.5) 11.9 (53.4) 10.0 (50) 14.38 (57.89) Average low °C (°F) 4.2 (39.6) 4.2 (39.6) 5.1 (41.2) 5.8 (42.4) 8.5 (47.3) 10.8 (51.4) 12.8 (55) 13.0 (55.4) 11.4 (52.5) 9.3 (48.7) 6.5 (43.7) 5.2 (41.4) 8.07 (46.52) Precipitation mm (inches) 138.4 (5.449) 115.8 (4.559) 97.5 (3.839) 81.8 (3.22) 72.6 (2.858) 56.4 (2.22) 50.9 (2.004) 60.4 (2.378) 89.2 (3.512) 119.1 (4.689) 121.0 (4.764) 141.6 (5.575) 1,144.7 (45.067) Avg. precipitation days 18 15 15 12 11 9 9 9 11 15 16 17 157 Mean monthly sunshine hours 65.1 87.6 127.1 174.0 210.8 216.0 229.4 207.7 168.0 124.0 81.0 62.0 1,752.7 Source #1: World Meteorological Organisation (UN) Source #2: