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| Penmarch Penmarc'h | |
|---|---|
| Commune | |
 Lighthouses on the Pointe de Penmarc'h | |
 Coat of arms | |
| Location of Penmarch | |
  PenmarchShow map of France PenmarchShow map of Brittany | |
| Coordinates: 47°48′46″N 4°20′12″W / 47.8127°N 4.3366°W / 47.8127; -4.3366 | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Brittany |
| Department | Finistère |
| Arrondissement | Quimper |
| Canton | Pont-l'Abbé |
| Intercommunality | Pays Bigouden Sud |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2020–2026) | Gwenola Le Troadec |
| Area | 16.39 km (6.33 sq mi) |
| Population | 5,320 |
| • Density | 320/km (840/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 29158 /29760 |
| Elevation | −1–23 m (−3.3–75.5 ft) |
| French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Penmarch (French pronunciation: [pɛ̃maʁ], Breton: Penmarc'h) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany, northwestern France. It lies 18 km south-west of Quimper by road.
Geography
Penmarch is the southwest-most township of Pays Bigouden, at the southern end of the Bay of Audierne. It is part of the canton of Pont-l'Abbé, and of the arrondissement of Quimper.
The territory of the town (16.39 km) is particularly flat; its altitude ranges from -1 to 23 m amsl. There are many marshy lagoons, some of which have been drained and filled, especially in St. Guénolé to save space or habitat for the installation of local handicrafts.
The municipality consists of four villages:
- Penmarch-Bourg, formerly known as the Tréoultré;
- Saint-Guénolé (main fishing port);
- Kerity (fishing port side moving towards the hosting of the craft);
- Saint-Pierre (port for very small craft).
Many islands or reefs of very variable dimensions punctuate the coast of Penmarch; the most important are the Étocs islets south of Kerity, and the island of Saint-Nonna west of Saint-Pierre.
The port of Saint-Guénolé has a pass opening due west, thought to be dangerous in rough weather. It is protected by two granite peninsulas: Krugen in the South, and Conq in the northwest. Krugen is connected to the mainland by a sandy isthmus. Conq is connected to the shore by an artificial embankment itself protected by concrete blocks to better break the flood wave.
The rocky granite coast (called "savage coast" in Saint-Guénolé) is interspersed with several beaches:
- North, the beach of Pors Carn-which extends to the tip of the torch (joint Plomeur);
- West, the beach of Joy;
- South, the beach Steir Kerity which begins at and continues through Guilvinec.
Climate
Penmarch has a climate bordering between Mediterranean (Köppen Csb) and oceanic (Cfb). It is heavily moderated by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf Stream influence, resulting in cool summers and very mild winters for the latitude as seasonal differences are low.
| Climate data for Penmarch (1981–2010 normals; extremes 1973–2017) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 14.4 (57.9) |
14.6 (58.3) |
23.7 (74.7) |
25.8 (78.4) |
28.3 (82.9) |
33.0 (91.4) |
31.1 (88.0) |
32.7 (90.9) |
30.5 (86.9) |
22.6 (72.7) |
20.0 (68.0) |
16.0 (60.8) |
33.0 (91.4) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 10.1 (50.2) |
9.9 (49.8) |
11.4 (52.5) |
13.3 (55.9) |
16.6 (61.9) |
18.4 (65.1) |
19.7 (67.5) |
20.1 (68.2) |
18.8 (65.8) |
16.0 (60.8) |
13.1 (55.6) |
10.9 (51.6) |
14.8 (58.6) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 8.2 (46.8) |
7.8 (46.0) |
9.3 (48.7) |
10.8 (51.4) |
13.5 (56.3) |
15.8 (60.4) |
17.4 (63.3) |
17.7 (63.9) |
16.3 (61.3) |
14.0 (57.2) |
11.1 (52.0) |
8.9 (48.0) |
12.6 (54.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 6.4 (43.5) |
5.6 (42.1) |
7.1 (44.8) |
8.2 (46.8) |
11.0 (51.8) |
13.3 (55.9) |
15.1 (59.2) |
15.2 (59.4) |
13.8 (56.8) |
11.9 (53.4) |
9.1 (48.4) |
6.9 (44.4) |
10.3 (50.5) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −9.3 (15.3) |
−6.8 (19.8) |
−2.0 (28.4) |
0.4 (32.7) |
2.0 (35.6) |
6.0 (42.8) |
8.8 (47.8) |
8.3 (46.9) |
6.7 (44.1) |
−0.2 (31.6) |
−3.0 (26.6) |
−6.3 (20.7) |
−9.3 (15.3) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 74.9 (2.95) |
59.6 (2.35) |
53.9 (2.12) |
47.8 (1.88) |
46.8 (1.84) |
29.0 (1.14) |
31.2 (1.23) |
29.6 (1.17) |
43.5 (1.71) |
72.3 (2.85) |
67.0 (2.64) |
77.5 (3.05) |
633.1 (24.93) |
| Average precipitation days | 13.7 | 10.3 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.2 | 5.7 | 5.8 | 6.1 | 7.4 | 11.8 | 12.4 | 12.7 | 116.1 |
| Source 1: Météo Climat | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Météo Climat | |||||||||||||
History
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On the extremity of the peninsula on which Penmarc'h is situated are the fortified remains of a town which was of considerable importance from the 14th to the 16th centuries and included, besides Penmarc'h, Saint-Guénolé and Kerity. It owed its prosperity to its cod banks, the disappearance of which together with the discovery of the Newfoundland cod banks and the pillage of the place by the bandit La Fontenelle in 1595, contributed to its decline.
The church of Saint Nouna, a Gothic building of the early 16th century at Penmarc'h, and the church of St. Guénolé, an unfinished tower, and the church of Kerity are of interest. The coast is known to be very dangerous for sailors. On the Pointe de Penmarc'h stands the Phare d'Eckmühl, with a light visible for 100 km (60 mi). There are numerous megalithic monuments in the vicinity.
Population
Inhabitants of Penmarch are called in French Penmarchais.
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| Source: EHESS and INSEE (1968-2017) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sights
Penmarch is home to the 'Droguen' rock.
Literary references
Dorigen, the female protagonist in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Franklin's Tale, has a name similar to the local rock, which may symbolise her obduracy..
See also
- Communes of the Finistère department
- The Penmarch monument aux morts has sculpture by Pierre Charles Lenoir
- The Penmarch serves as a landing point for SEA-ME-WE 3, the longest submarine cable on Earth
References
- "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 9 August 2021.
- "Populations de référence 2022" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 19 December 2024.
- ^ Commune de Penmarch (29158), INSEE
- ^ Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Penmarch, EHESS (in French).
- "French climate normals 1981-2010". Météo Climat. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
- "Weather extremes for Penmarch". Météo Climat. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
- Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Penmarc'h". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 21 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 99.
Further reading
- Couliou, Jean-René (1997) La Pêche bretonne. 446 p. Rennes: Presses Universitaires de Rennes
- Foyer de l'enseignement (1950) Grandeurs ... au pays de Penmarc'h: terre et mer. 58 p. Les Amitiés de Lorraine et d'Alsace
- Le Gallo, Yves (ed.) (1991) Le Finistère de la Préhistoire à nos jours. Ed. Bordessoules
- Quaghebeur, Joëlle (2001) La Cornouaille du ix au xii siècle. Société archéologique du Finistère
- Dubois, Xavier (2002) « La Crise sardinière et les Mutations de la conserverie », in: Humbert, M., ed. La Bretagne à l'heure de la mondialisation. Rennes: Presses Universitaire de Rennes; pp. 27–33
- Duigou, Serge, et al. (2003) Histoire du Pays bigouden. Ed. Palantines
- Dreyer, Francis & Fichou, Jean-Christophe (2005) L'histoire de tous les phares de France. 316 p. Ouest-France ISBN 2-7373-3704-6; pp. 179–182
External links
- Official website (in French)
- Base Mérimée: Search for heritage in the commune, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
