Plouay (; ) is a

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

Morbihan Morbihan ( , ; br, Mor-Bihan ) is a department in the administrative region of Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton), the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastli ...

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 north-western

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 ...

. Plouay hosts the

GP Ouest-France The Bretagne Classic, also called Bretagne Classic Ouest–France, is an elite cycling classic held annually in late summer around the Breton village of Plouay in western France. The race was originally named Grand–Prix de Plouay and, from 19 ...

and the

GP de Plouay Gp or GP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming * Gameplanet (New Zealand), a New Zealand video game community * GamePolitics.com, a blog about the politics of computer and video games * ''GamePro'', a monthly video game magazine * ...

, annual cycling races (a men's and women's race, respectively). It was also the location of the

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and a mixed team relay. Events ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

. The

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

has visited this town three times: in 1998, 2002 and in 2006.

Population

Inhabitants of Plouay or Ploue are called ''Plouaysiens'' in French and ''Plouead'' (''Ploueiz''), ''Ploueadez'' (-''ed'') in

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 ...

Geography

Plouay is located in the west of Morbihan, northwest of

Hennebont Hennebont (; ) is a commune in the Morbihan department in the region of Brittany in north-western France. Geography Hennebont is situated about ten miles from the mouth of the River Blavet, which divides it into two parts: the ''Ville Close'', ...

and north of

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

. Historically, it belongs to

Vannetais Vannes (; br, Gwened) is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. It was founded over 2,000 years ago. History Celtic Era The name ''Vannes'' comes from the Veneti, a seafaring Celtic people who live ...

. The river

Scorff The Scorff (; br, Skorf) River flows from central Brittany and enters the Atlantic Ocean on the south coast in Lorient. The Scorff rises north of Langoëlan, in the Morbihan department, and flows through the towns of Guémené-sur-Scorff and Pon ...

forms the commune's western border. The area is hilly and forest-covered. Apart from the village centre, there are many hamlets in the commune.

Map

List of places

History

The oldest surviving parish registers date back to

1576 Year 1576 (Roman numerals, MDLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 20 – Viceroy Martín Enríquez de Almanza founds the settle ...

. The marquis of Pontcallec had in the seventeenth century in the village of Plouay court, prison,

pillory The pillory is a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, formerly used for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse. The pillory is related to the stocks ...

and

gallows A gallows (or scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended (i.e., hung) or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sacks ...

with four pillars.

Breton language

The municipality launched a 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 10 February 2006. In 2008, 11.56% of the children in Plouay attended Breton-French bilingual classes in primary education. ''Ofis ar Brezhoneg''
''Enseignement bilingue''
/ref>

Gallery

Maison Marquis Plouay.JPG, The Marquis's house, maybe the oldest house in the village centre. Château de Manehouarn.jpg, Manehouarn castle. Plouay Saint-Ouen.jpg, The church of Saint-Ouen. 013 Plouay Chapelle Notre-Dame de Grâce.jpg, The chapel of Notre-Dame des Grâces. Chapelle Notre-Dame des Fleurs.jpg, The chapel of Notre-Dame des Fleurs.

Twin towns

Plouay is twinned with

Pershore Pershore is a market town in the Wychavon district in Worcestershire, England, on the banks of the River Avon. The town is part of the West Worcestershire parliamentary constituency. At the 2011 census, the population was 7,125. The town i ...

in England.