Îlot des Capucins (''Islet of the Capuchins'') is a rocky

islet An islet is a very small, often unnamed island. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no vegetation and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral; may be permanent ...

at the foot of a cliff in the commune of

Roscanvel Roscanvel (; br, Roskañvel) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. Population Inhabitants of Roscanvel are called in French ''Roscanvelistes''. See also * Quélern *Communes of the Finistère departm ...

on the

Crozon peninsula Crozon (, ; br, Kraozon, , ) is a commune in the department of Finistère and the administrative region of Brittany, northwestern France. As well as the town of Crozon, the village of Morgat is part of the commune. Crozon is located on the Cr ...

. Its name comes from a rock near the island, shaped like a praying monk. It has a strategic position at the entrance to the

goulet de Brest The Goulet de Brest is a 3-km-long strait linking the roadstead of Brest to the Atlantic Ocean. Only 1.8 km wide, the is situated between the Pointe du Petit Minou and the Pointe du Portzic to the north and the îlot des Capucins and the P ...

and so a fort sited on it controlled the whole of

Camaret Bay Camaret Bay () is a small bay on the north coast of Brittany, France. In 1694 it was the site of the battle of Camaret, a naval action between French and English forces, which culminated in a disastrous amphibious landing by the English as part o ...

, with views stretching from

pointe du Grand Gouin The pointe du Grand Gouin is a rocky promontory with vertical cliffs to the west of the inlet of Camaret-sur-Mer in France. It protects a port which, in Vauban's era, was vulnerable to possible landings. It is divided into the Grand Gouin (the to ...

(to the southwest), to

fort de Bertheaume The Fort de Bertheaume is a fort in Plougonvelin, in the Department of Finistère, France. It is located on a tidal island that nowadays connects to the mainland via a footbridge. The fort sits well above sea level, and its steep cliffs have rend ...

(to the northwest). The fort was built in 1848 after plans drawn 150 years earlier by Vauban, built in

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes o ...

and

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

and made up of an underground battery (1890) and a rapid-fire battery (1890)Michel Dion, ''Batteries, réduits, tours, forts, casemates... de Camaret et Roscanvel, Association du Mémorial Montbarey'', Brest, 1996, 67 p. It was linked to the mainland by a bridge in 1859. On the heights overlooking the islet is an upper battery (1885) to the islet's right and left, a platform battery with an underground magazine (1897) and a mortar battery (1889).

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position of îlot des Capucins

îlot des Capucins
(photos) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ilot des Capucins Capucins Tourist attractions in Finistère Landforms of Finistère Islands of Brittany