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, John ...

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 The ...

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 Pl ...

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, 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 r ...

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 The ...

". Today abandoned, the

Abbaye Saint-Mathieu de Fine-Terre The Abbey of Saint-Mathieu de Fine-Terre (french: Abbaye Saint-Mathieu de Fine-Terre; br, Abati Lokmazhe Penn-ar-Bed) is a former Breton monastery, whose ruins are found in the territory of what is now the commune of Plougonvelin on Pointe Sain ...

, 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 Ch ...

, 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 somet ...

''.

Lighthouse

The point also has a 56m high

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

, 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 The Chenal du Four is a waterway off the coast of Brittany in north-western France, in the area of Porspoder, between Pointe Saint-Mathieu and the Island of Béniguet. It is marked by six lighthouses including the Saint-Mathieu Lighthouse and ...

as the entrance to

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 *Br ...

. 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 and Georges Leygues 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 fightin ...

, it was built following the law of 26 July 1923. The stela (representing a sailor's wife) was designed by

René Quillivic René Quillivic (1879–1969) was a French sculptor whose art expressed Breton cultural identity. His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics. Life René Quillivic was born on 13 May 1879 in the t ...

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