The pointe Saint-Mathieu (Lok Mazé in Breton) is a

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, Joh ...

located near

Le Conquet Le Conquet (; br, Konk-Leon) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. This is the westernmost town of mainland France. Only three insular towns— Ouessant, Île-Molène and Ile de Sein—are further west ...

in the territory of the commune of

Plougonvelin Plougonvelin (; br, Plougonvelen) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. Geography Climate Plougonvelin has a oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification ''Cfb''). The average annual temperature in Plo ...

in France, flanked by 20m high cliffs.

Village

At present, there are only a few houses on the point, grouped around the abbey ruins. However, in the past the settlement was not limited to the abbey and its dependents. Very soon a village was established along the coast for commercial potential and the possibilities for salvaging wrecks.

Abbey

The abbey held many privileges - right to rushes, right to furnaces, rights to a twelfth of

jet Jet, Jets, or The Jet(s) may refer to: Aerospace * Jet aircraft, an aircraft propelled by jet engines ** Jet airliner ** Jet engine ** Jet fuel * Jet Airways, an Indian airline * Wind Jet (ICAO: JET), an Italian airline * Journey to Enceladus a ...

, right to markets, right to fairs (

Henry IV of France Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarc ...

had instituted, in 1602, 5 annual fairs and a weekly market), right to measure wheat and wine, etc... In 1157 Hervé de Léon accorded the abbey the right of

flotsam and jetsam In maritime law, flotsam'','' jetsam'','' lagan'','' and derelict are specific kinds of shipwreck. The words have specific nautical meanings, with legal consequences in the law of admiralty and marine salvage. A shipwreck is defined as the remai ...

on wrecks in all his fiefdoms; in 1390 the abbey received the right to take 10% of the hull, cargo and rigging of wrecked ships. To this right were added the right of remains, confirmed in 1602 by royal letters patent. He accorded this right to the monks for "all those who perish in the sea, and on the coasts at Saint Mathieu,

and

le Conquet Le Conquet (; br, Konk-Leon) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. This is the westernmost town of mainland France. Only three insular towns— Ouessant, Île-Molène and Ile de Sein—are further west ...

". Today abandoned, the Abbaye Saint-Mathieu de Fine-Terre, was said to have held the skull of the apostle

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Chi ...

, now lost in the ocean off the point. Its ruins served as a set for the summer TV saga ''

Dolmen A dolmen () or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BCE) and were so ...

''.

Lighthouse

The point also has a 56m high lighthouse, built in 1835.

Signal station

The first signal station near the point was built in 1806, but the present one was built nearer the point in 1906, to give a view of the chenal du Four as the entrance to Brest. Progressively expanded in the 20th century, its top is now 39m above sea level, with lodging for spotters.

The cenotaph (Memorial to sailors who have died for France)

Commissioned by

Émile Guépratte Émile Paul Aimable Guépratte (30 August 1856 – 21 November 1939) was a French admiral. Biography Guépratte was born in Granville to a family of naval officers. He studied at the ''Lycée impérial'' in Brest from 1868, and joined the Écol ...

and

Georges Leygues Georges Leygues (; 29 October 1856 – 2 September 1933) was a French politician of the Third Republic. During his time as Minister of Marine he worked with the navy's chief of staff Henri Salaun in unsuccessful attempts to gain naval re-arma ...

after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

, it was built following the law of 26 July 1923. The stela (representing a sailor's wife) was designed by René Quillivic and inaugurated on 12 June 1927. Since 2005, it has been open to the public and accompanied by a permanent exhibition of photos of disappeared sailors.

Quotations

External links

Personal page, with pages on Saint-Mathieu

Mémorial national des Marins morts pour la France de la Pointe Saint Mathieu
Headlands of Brittany Landforms of Finistère {{Finistère-geo-stub