Redon (; ) is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine

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, ...

in Brittany in northwestern France. It is a

sub-prefecture A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province. Albania There are twelve Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several districts, sometimes translated as subprefecture ...

of the department.

Geography

Redon borders the Morbihan and

Loire-Atlantique Loire-Atlantique (; br, Liger-Atlantel; before 1957: ''Loire-Inférieure'', br, Liger-Izelañ, link=no) is a department in Pays de la Loire on the west coast of France, named after the river Loire and the Atlantic Ocean. It had a population o ...

departments. It is situated at the junction of the Oust and Vilaine rivers and Nantes-Brest canal, which makes it well known for its autumn and winter floods. It is located at 50 km from

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

, Vannes and their airports The town has a

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

which connects to Quimper and

then Paris in 2h05. Redon-ecluse1

History

Very little information exists about this area before 832, however it would seem that there was a parish by the name of Riedones which gave the town its name. In 832, Conwoion, a Breton monk with the help of the

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...

Emperor Louis the Pious founded the abbey of Saint-Sauveur de Redon. Today, documents relating to the life of the abbey still exist. The town developed around the abbey until a small rural community of 6,000 inhabitants was formed in the 1960s. In the Middle Ages, Redon benefitted from maritime commerce due to its location on the Vilaine.

Population

Inhabitants of Redon are called ''Redonnais/Redonnaises'' in French.

Breton language

The municipality launched a linguistic plan through Ya d'ar brezhoneg on 10 October 2008. In 2008, 14.31% of primary-school children attended bilingual schools. ''Ofis ar Brezhoneg''
''Enseignement bilingue''
/ref>

Economy

* ''Cargill Texturising Systems'' - A

pectin Pectin ( grc, πηκτικός ': "congealed" and "curdled") is a heteropolysaccharide, a structural acid contained in the primary lamella, in the middle lamella, and in the cell walls of terrestrial plants. The principal, chemical component of ...

factory * ''Faurecia'', subsidiary of

Peugeot-Citroën The PSA Group (), legally known as Peugeot S.A. (Peugeot Société Anonyme, trading as Groupe PSA; formerly known as PSA Peugeot Citroën from 1991 to 2016) was a French multinational automotive manufacturing company which produced automobiles ...

. * '' Bic'' - business making lighters, razors and pens among other things (with only lighters being made in Redon) * ''Eis''

Cultural life

* Fête de la Chataigne (sweet chestnut festival) in October. * Festival de la Bogue d'Or (Festival of songs and music from Upper Brittany) * On Monday 4 July, the third stage of the 2011 Tour de France ended in Redon. The stage, which was won by Tyler Farrar, was the first time the Tour had passed through Redon.

International relations

Redon is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: * Andover, United Kingdom. * Goch, Germany.

References

External links

Official Site of Redon
* Communes of Ille-et-Vilaine Subprefectures in France Populated coastal places in France {{IlleVilaine-geo-stub