Île des Morts (''Island of the Dead''; ) is a 7-hectare island in the Bay of Roscanvel, to the south-west of the

roadstead of Brest The roadstead of Brest (, ; ) is a roadstead or bay located in the Finistère Departments of France, department in Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in northwestern France. The surface area is about 180 km² (70 sq mi). The po ...

, between the Quélern peninsula and

Île Longue Île Longue (; French language, French for "Long Island"; ) is a peninsula of the roadstead of Brest in the department of Finistère in the Brittany region. It is the base of the French SSBN, nuclear ballistic missile submarines (), and as such ...

. It is 26m above sea level at its highest point.

History

In 1720, the neighbouring island of Trébéron became a quarantine island or

lazaret A lazaretto ( ), sometimes lazaret or lazarette ( ), is a quarantine station for maritime travelers. Lazarets can be ships permanently at anchor, isolated islands, or mainland buildings. In some lazarets, postal items were also disinfected, usu ...

for

lepers Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a Chronic condition, long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the Peripheral nervous system, nerves, respir ...

, with Île des Morts as its cemetery. During the 18th century, the arsenal at Brest was supplied with gunpowder from the powder-mills of Pont-de-Buis. Transported by boat, the gunpowder made a last stop at the

île d'Arun The Île d'Arun () is an islet in the confluence of the rivers Aulne and Le Faou, at the base of the roadstead of Brest. It is located in the territory of the commune of Rosnoën in Finistère, France France, officially the French Republic ...

, at the mouth of the River

Aulne The Aulne (; ) is a long river of Brittany in north-western France, flowing down the hills and emptying into the roadstead of Brest, one of the many fjord-like bays just south of Brest. The river is part of the Canal de Nantes à Brest, the na ...

. However, the magazine on the île d'Arun was small and remote from Brest and was not convenient in the context of the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

, with the British fleet blockading Brest. In 1808,

Jean-Nicolas Trouille Jean-Nicolas Trouille (1750–1825) was a French politician, architect and military engineer. Life After a short career in the cavalry (which he left due to a duel) then in the naval artillery in Brest, he was taken on by Antoine Choquet de Lind ...

, director of the maritime works at Brest, decided to develop Île de Morts by adding powder magazines.Poudrières de l'île des Morts http://www.fortiff.be/iff/index.php?page=m189 The rock-breaking works done by convicts from the Brest prison allowed him to level a plateau on which to build three 45m-long and 12m wide two-level powder-magazines (in which the use of metal was banned to avoid risk of explosion). In completing the magazines, he also built a

mole Mole (or Molé) may refer to: Animals * Mole (animal) or "true mole" * Golden mole, southern African mammals * Marsupial mole Marsupial moles, the Notoryctidae family, are two species of highly specialized marsupial mammals that are found i ...

out towards

île Trébéron Ile or ILE may refer to: Ile * Ile, a Puerto Rican singer * Ile District (disambiguation), multiple places * Ilé-Ifẹ̀, an ancient Yoruba city in south-western Nigeria * Interlingue (ISO 639:ile), a planned language * Isoleucine, an amino aci ...

, several landing points and a barracks for the magazines' garrison. Ile longue

In 1868, with the railways' arrival in Brest, the French Navy decided to build a new powder magazine at the Saint-Nicolas powder-factory, at Guipavas. Even so, the Île des Morts continued in use in both World Wars, during which time the metal "

Decauville Decauville () was a manufacturing company which was founded by Paul Decauville (1846–1922), a French pioneer in industrial railways. Decauville's major innovation was the use of ready-made sections of light, narrow-gauge track fastened to st ...

" road was built, which still survives. In 1960, the installations on the island were decommissioned and some years later the island became included in the protective perimeter around

– it is still closed to public access.

Sources

External links

Poudrières de l'île des Morts (Inventaire général de Bretagne)
*''Bretagne Magazine'' n° 31 (November/December 2005-January 2006) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ile Des Morts Fortifications of Brest, France Landforms of Finistère Islands of Brittany Brittany region articles needing translation from French Wikipedia