Milizac (; ) is a former

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Finistère Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

in northwestern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune

Milizac-Guipronvel Milizac-Guipronvel (; br, Milizag-Gwiproñvel) is a commune in the department of Finistère, western France. The municipality was established on 1 January 2017 by merger of the former communes of Guipronvel (the seat) and Milizac.

. Milizac lies along the D38 road about halfway between

Saint-Renan Saint-Renan (; , ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. History The city is named after the Irish saint "Rónán", who came in the 5th century to evangelize the area. While Brest was a village, the ci ...

and

Bourg-Blanc Bourg-Blanc (; ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. Population Inhabitants of Bourg-Blanc are called ''Blanc-Bourgeois'' in French. See also *Communes of the Finistère department *List of the work ...

, northwest of

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Brest, ...

. It contains a 17th-century parish church dedicated to

Saint Anne According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come o ...

, the Ecole Marcel Ayme, and a memorial dedicated to 95 local people who lost their lives in various wars.

Geography

The former commune is spread over an area of . Its elevation ranges from . The nearest larger towns are

Guilers Guilers (; ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. Population Inhabitants of Guilers are called in French ''Guilériens''. Breton language In 2008, 7.02% of primary-school children attended bilingual ...

(5 km to the south) and

(6 km to the southwest). The village was once covered by thick forest in the wastelands of the moors and marshes. Vegetation consisted of

gorse ''Ulex'' (commonly known as gorse, furze, or whin) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. The genus comprises about 20 species of thorny evergreen shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. The species are n ...

broom A broom (also known in some forms as a broomstick) is a cleaning tool consisting of usually stiff fibers (often made of materials such as plastic, hair, or corn husks) attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. I ...

and heather.

History

The name Milizac has several other spellings, such as Milizac, Milisac, Milizag, Mélisac or Mélizag. It was the name of a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

centurion A centurion (; la, centurio , . la, centuriones, label=none; grc-gre, κεντυρίων, kentyríōn, or ) was a position in the Roman army during classical antiquity, nominally the commander of a century (), a military unit of around 80 ...

who commanded a Gallo-

Roman Military The military of ancient Rome, according to Titus Livius, one of the more illustrious historians of Rome over the centuries, was a key element in the rise of Rome over "above seven hundred years" from a small settlement in Latium to the capital of ...

establishment (''fundus militiacus'') in Brittany. The

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

was a disturbing time for the residents of Milizac. There were several significant events, such as the installation of the Municipal Assembly in 1789 and the first City Council meeting in 1790. Religious persecution occurred in 1791 and the Supplication of the Faithful to King Louis XVI in the following year. Signposts were changed to crosses and crucifixes in 1794 while the freedom of worship in the town and the Oath to the Municipality is dated to 1795. In the mid-1870s, a local committee gathered to discuss surtaxes on alcohol and

absinthe Absinthe (, ) is an anise-flavoured spirit derived from several plants, including the flowers and leaves of ''Artemisia absinthium'' ("grand wormwood"), together with green anise, sweet fennel, and other medicinal and culinary herbs. Historical ...

as the law which authorized the collection of the surtax ceased being in effect on 31 December 1873. A special resolution was recommended to extend the surtax as its proceeds were an important financial resource for Milizac. Without the surtax, the village could not fulfill its commitments or pay for the maintenance of the town hall, reconstruction of the boys' school, the restoration of the cemetery wall, and rural road improvements. Municipal advisers ruled in favor of the surtax system on 15 February 1874. The passed bill, in effect from January 1875 until 31 December 1879 inclusive, applied a surcharge of 20 fr. per hectolitre of pure alcohol in spirits and liqueurs as well as per hectolitre of absinthe. During World War II the commune was under German occupation from 24 June 1940 until 27 August 1944. A total of 29 were killed in the town, including six

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

soldiers who were killed and buried in Milizac (five British and one Canadian). The streets and squares of the commune were given names on 16 January 1973. The official

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

for the commune was awarded on 22 January 1974.

Coat of arms

The municipal coat of arms is dated to the 17th century, representing the noble families of Kéranflec'h (1448) and Manor Curru (Roue Pharamus Kernezne from 1238 to 1689). It is mounted on two willow branches and the top of the shield bears the motto in Breton: ''War Atao Zao'' (Still standing). The left side of the coat of arms has three wavy bars in

azure Azure may refer to: Colour * Azure (color), a hue of blue ** Azure (heraldry) ** Shades of azure, shades and variations Arts and media * ''Azure'' (Art Farmer and Fritz Pauer album), 1987 * Azure (Gary Peacock and Marilyn Crispell album), 2013 ...

surmounted by two cockle shells commemorating an ancestor of the Kéranflec'h family's having made the pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James of Compostella at

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of St ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. A black lion with a golden crown adorns the right half.

Landmarks

The 18th-century church is parish church dedicated to St Anne. The

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

is decorated with stained glass depicting St

Paul Aurelian Paul Aurelian (known in Breton as Paol Aorelian or Saint Pol de Léon and in Latin as Paulinus Aurelianus) was a 6th-century Welshman who became first bishop of the See of Léon and one of the seven founder saints of Brittany. He allegedly died ...

and St

Corentin of Quimper Saint Corentin (Corentinus; in Breton, ''Sant Kaourintin'') (d. 460 AD) is a Breton saint. He was the first bishop of Quimper The Diocese of Quimper (–Cornouaille) and Léon (Latin: ''Dioecesis Corisopitensis (–Cornubiensis) et Leonensis''; ...

, patrons of the diocese. In the

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

are two side altars. The aisles are separated from the nave by columns, connected by semicircular arches. The very slender tower has two galleries which surround the rooms with bells. On the corner of each gallery, a

pinnacle A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was mainly ...

is connected to the tower by a

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (s ...

. The four corner

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...

s are cantilevered over a molded cornice. 16 Milizac Le monument aux morts

Other landmarks include the Ecole Marcel Ayme, the ruins of Faramus castle (also known as Curru, or Kurru castle) whose coat of arms included a silver lion crowned with gold, and a memorial dedicated to 95 people who lost their lives; 70 in World War I, 24 in World War II, and 1 in the

Algerian War The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...

. Improvements to the public spaces in the town have been an issue of debate in the meetings of the town council held on 27 July 2011. Work commenced on the streets of General de Gaulle, Lamennais, Treg and Leon in August 2011, involving provision of footpaths, parking space, cycleway, road signs and traffic lights. The changes were due to be completed by December 2012.

Population

Inhabitants of Milizac are called in French ''Milizacois'' and ''Milizacoises''. Its population was 3,743 in 2019. There were 1,341 dwellings in the commune in 2012 out which 1,244 were principal residences.

Breton language

The municipality launched a

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

linguistic plan through

Ya d'ar brezhoneg (french: Oui au breton, en, Yes to Breton) is a campaign started in the 21st century by the ( en, Office of the Breton language) to promote and stimulate the use of the Breton language in daily life in Brittany, northwestern France. Breton is a ...

on 31 May 2005. In 2008, 7.52% of primary-school children attended bilingual schools. ''Ofis ar Brezhoneg''
''Enseignement bilingue''
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Notable people

* Gabriel de Poulpiquet (1914–2013), politician