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In the Breton language they say "Breizh", we just say Brittany. Brittany is a peninsula of approx. 28,000 km² which lies in the northwest of France. It has approx. 2,972,700 inhabitants (2003). Brittany lies between the Channel to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the south and west.
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- the flag of Brittany - |
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Rennes is the capital of the Brittany region. Other important cities are Nantes (formally outside the region), Brest, Vannes, Quimper and Saint-Malo. The peninsula consists of the departments Finistère, Côtes d'Armor, Ille-et-Vilaine and Morbihan. Until 1941 Loire-Atlantique (at that moment known as Loire-Inférieur) used to belong to Brittany as well and until today many people continue to consider this department a part of Brittany.
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Since Brittany is conveniently located at the sea, the Breton fishermen are responsible for a third of the whole French fishing. Agriculture has for a long time been difficult because of the typical bocage landscape (bocage = small wood). At this moment however Brittany is the largest horticultural area of France; also cattle-breeding occurs on large scale.
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In Brittany you can still find many remains of the Celtic culture, just like many prehistoric megaliths, for example in Carnac in the south. Menhirs and dolmens can be found all over Brittany.
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Brittany's culture consists of folk dancing, musical instruments like the bombarde, the ossuaires (charnel houses) and the typical calvaires (calvaries), a type of monumental public crucifix.
A minority of the inhabitants of Brittany speaks Breton. This Celtic language was brought from the British islands to the continent.
The photo shows the costumes worn at the "Fête des Brodeuses" (Embroiderer's Festival). Every year, the second weekend of July, the city of Pont l'Abbé organises a festival to celebrate the traditions of the Pays Bigouden, a part of the Finistère.
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The original name of Brittany was Armorica. In this period the Veneti people were living in Brittany. Later the region was named "Small-Brittany", as opposed to Great Britain, since a lot of Brits moved to Brittany in the fifth century. Finally it received its current name Brittany. The Breton name Armor (which means "at the sea") indicates the coastal region, whereas Argoat is the name for the inland part of the country.
In 1113 Brittany became English. Duchess Anna of Brittany married the French king Charles VIII in 1491 which caused the duchy to fall to France by heritage, in 1532.
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