The Île de Sein is a Breton

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

, off

Finistère Finistère (, ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. Its prefecture is Quimper and its largest city is Brest, France, Brest. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.Pointe du Raz The Pointe du Raz is a promontory that extends into the Atlantic from western Brittany, in France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territori ...

(''raz'' meaning "water current"), from which it is separated by the Raz de Sein. Its Breton name is ''Enez-Sun''. The island, with its neighbouring islets, forms the commune of Île-de-Sein in the Finistère department of

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

in north-western France. Inhabitants of Île-de-Sein are called in French ''Sénans''. Lying on the sea routes going south from the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

, Sein is well known for the dangers of its waters, the ''Chaussée de Sein'', a vast zone of reefs stretching more than 30 miles from east to west, requiring numerous lighthouses, beacons, and

buoy A buoy (; ) is a buoyancy, floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents. History The ultimate origin of buoys is unknown, but by 1295 a seaman's manual referred to navig ...

s. The lighthouses near the reef include

Ar Men Ar Men ("the rock" in Breton) is a lighthouse at one end of the Chaussée de l' Île de Sein, at the west end of Brittany. It shares its name with the rock on which it was erected between 1867 and 1881. It is a listed monument since 2017. Ar M ...

, La Vieille and Tévennec.

History

There are two

megalithic A megalith is a large Rock (geology), stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging ...

menhirs on the island, which is flat and treeless. It is mentioned by the Roman geographer

Pomponius Mela Pomponius Mela, who wrote around AD 43, was the earliest known Roman geographer. He was born at the end of the 1st century BC in Tingentera (now Algeciras) and died AD 45. His short work (''De situ orbis libri III.'') remained in use nea ...

. The island women used to wear a black headdress, and in the past, they had a reputation for enticing sailors onto the rocks by witchcraft. In the past, it was also known for its wreckers. During World War II, German forces occupied the island. The Île de Sein lighthouse (Le Phare de Goulenez), built in 1839 at the north-western end was destroyed - it was later rebuilt in 1952. After hearing General de Gaulle's call to resistance during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in his appeal to the French on 18 June 1940, every male inhabitant aged between 14 and 54 (or 60, according to the island's official website) (variously totalled as 114 to 128) set sail in their fishing boats for Britain to join the

Free French Free France () was a resistance government claiming to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third French Republic, Third Republic during World War II. Led by General , Free France was established as a gover ...

forces. For this, on 1 January 1946, the community was awarded the high honour of the Order of the Liberation. During the 1960s, French artists Maurice Boitel and Jean Rigaud painted on the Île de Sein. It is featured in the 1995 French film ''Élisa''.

Geography

Climate

Île de Sein has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfb''). The average annual temperature in Île de Sein is . The average annual rainfall is with December as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in February, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Île de Sein was on 11 July 1983; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 13 January 1987.

Legend

According to Breton legend, Île de Sein was once home to a group of virgin

druid A druid was a member of the high-ranking priestly class in ancient Celtic cultures. The druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no wr ...

priestesses called the Gallizenae. They are said to have had the power to predict the future, to calm the winds, and to take the forms of different animals.

References

External links

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State Lighthouse "la VIEILLE" dated April 19, 2009
*

*

23. July.2012 ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''
Mayors of Finistère Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iledesein Landforms of Finistère Sein Companions of the Liberation Communes of Finistère Car-free islands of Europe