Brest (; ) is a

port city A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...

in the

Finistère Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.

department,

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

. Located in a sheltered bay not far from the western tip of the peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

. The city is located on the western edge of continental France. With 142,722 inhabitants in a 2007 census, Brest forms Western Brittany's largest metropolitan area (with a population of 300,300 in total), ranking third behind only Nantes and

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 ...

in the whole of historic Brittany, and the 19th most populous city in France; moreover, Brest provides services to the one million inhabitants of Western Brittany. Although Brest is by far the largest city in Finistère, the ''préfecture'' (regional capital) of the department is the much smaller

Quimper Quimper (, ; br, Kemper ; la, Civitas Aquilonia or ) is a commune and prefecture of the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. Administration Quimper is the prefecture (capital) of the Finistère department. Geography Th ...

. During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, the history of Brest was the history of its castle. Then Richelieu made it a military harbour in 1631. Brest grew around its arsenal until the second part of the 20th century. Heavily damaged by the Allies' bombing raids during World War II, the city centre was completely rebuilt after the war. At the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, the deindustrialization of the city was followed by the development of the service sector. Nowadays, Brest is an important

university town A college town or university town is a community (often a separate town or city, but in some cases a town/city neighborhood or a district) that is dominated by its university population. The university may be large, or there may be several sma ...

with 23,000 students. Besides a multidisciplinary university, the

University of Western Brittany The University of Western Brittany (french: Université de Bretagne-Occidentale; UBO) is a French university, located in Brest, in the Academy of Rennes. On a national scale, in terms of graduate employability, the university oscillates between 1 ...

, Brest and its surrounding area possess several prestigious French elite schools such as ''

École Navale École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

'' (the French Naval Academy), '' Télécom Bretagne'' and the Superior National School of Advanced Techniques of Brittany (ENSTA Bretagne, formerly ENSIETA). Brest is also an important research centre, mainly focused on the sea, with among others the largest

Ifremer IFREMER (Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer; ) is an oceanographic institution in Brest, France. Scope of works Ifremer focuses its research activities in the following areas: * Monitoring, use and enhancement of coa ...

(French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea) centre, ''le Cedre'' (Centre of Documentation, Research and Experimentation on Accidental Water Pollution) and the French Polar Institute. Brest's history has since the 17th century been linked to the sea: the ''

Académie de Marine The Royal Naval Academy of France (french: Académie royale de marine) was founded at Brest by a ruling of 31 July 1752 by Antoine Louis de Rouillé, comte de Jouy, Secretary of State for the Navy. This institutionalised an earlier initiative b ...

'' (Naval Academy) was founded in 1752 in this city. The aircraft carrier was built there. Every four years, Brest hosts the international festival of the sea, boats and sailors: it is a meeting of old riggings from around the world ('' Les Tonnerres de Brest'').

History

The name of the town is first recorded as ''Bresta''; it may derive from *''brigs'', a

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

word for "hill." Nothing definite is known of Brest before about 1240, when

Harvey V, Lord of Léon Herve V of Léon was the eldest son of Herve IV of Léon and his wife Maud of Poissy. Life After his father's death in c. 1290, Herve became Lord of Léon. His fief was the castle of La Roche-Maurice. He died in April 1304. Issue Herve ...

ceded it to John I, Duke of Brittany. In 1342

John IV, Duke of Brittany John IV the Conqueror KG (in Breton Yann IV, in French Jean IV, and traditionally in English sources both John of Montfort and John V) (1339 – 1 November 1399), was Duke of Brittany and Count of Montfort from 1345 until his death and 7th Ea ...

surrendered Brest to the English, in whose possession it was to remain until 1397. This was strategically important to the English as it helped protect their communication with Gascony. The importance of Brest in

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

times was great enough to give rise to the saying, "He is not the Duke of Brittany who is not the Lord of Brest." With the marriage of

Francis I of France Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin on ...

to Claude, the daughter of Anne of Brittany, the definitive overlordship of Brest – together with the rest of the duchy – passed to the

French crown France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the firs ...

in 1491. The advantages of Brest's situation as a seaport town were first recognized by Cardinal Richelieu, who in 1631 constructed a harbour with wooden

wharves A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring location ...

. This soon became a base for the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

. Jean-Baptiste Colbert, finance minister under

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

, rebuilt the wharves in masonry and otherwise improved the harbour. Fortifications by Vauban (1633–1707) followed in 1680–1688. These fortifications, and with them the naval importance of the town, were to continue to develop throughout the 18th century. In 1694, an English squadron under Lord Berkeley was soundly defeated in its

attack on Brest The Battle of Camaret, also referred to as the Brest expedition, was a notable engagement of the Nine Years' War. Expecting Brest to be unguarded as the French fleet stationed there sailed south to face the Spanish, an amphibious operation at ...

1858 Gustave Le Gray la batterie Royale à Brest

In 1917, during 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 ...

, Brest was used as the disembarking port for many of the troops coming from the United States. Thousands of such men came through the port on their way to the front lines. The

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

established a naval air station on 13 February 1918 to operate

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their technological characteri ...

s. The base closed shortly after the

Armistice of 11 November 1918 The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, sea, and air in World War I between the Entente and their last remaining opponent, Germany. Previous armistices ...

. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

maintained a large

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

base at Brest. Despite being within range of RAF bombers, it was also a base for some of the German surface fleet, giving repair facilities and direct access to the Atlantic Ocean. For much of 1941, , and were under repair in the dockyards. The repair yard facilities for both submarines and surface vessels were staffed by both German and French workers, with the latter forming the major part of the workforce; huge reliance was made on this French component. In 1944, after the Allied invasion of Normandy, the city was almost totally destroyed during the

Battle for Brest The Battle for Brest was fought in August and September 1944 on the Western Front during World War II. Part of the overall Battle for Brittany and the Allied plan for the invasion of mainland Europe called for the capture of port facilities, ...

, with only a tiny number of buildings left standing. After the war, the

West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

government paid several billion

Deutschmark The Deutsche Mark (; English: ''German mark''), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was ...

s in

reparations Reparation(s) may refer to: Christianity * Restitution (theology), the Christian doctrine calling for reparation * Acts of reparation, prayers for repairing the damages of sin History *War reparations **World War I reparations, made from G ...

to the homeless and destitute civilians of Brest in compensation for the destruction of their city. Large parts of today's rebuilt city consist of utilitarian

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

and concrete buildings. The French naval base now houses the

Brest Naval Training Centre The Brest Naval Training Centre (the ''Centre d'instruction naval de Brest'', or ''CIN'') is one of the main training centres for the French Navy. Housed in the Brest naval base, the CIN is made up of the lycée naval (a lycée that also prepar ...

. During the postwar

Nuremberg Trials The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies of World War II, Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II. Between 1939 and 1945 ...

, a memorandum of German admiral and chief of staff

Kurt Fricke Kurt Fricke (8 November 1889 – 2 May 1945) was an Admiral with the Kriegsmarine (navy) of Nazi Germany during World War II and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Biography Fricke entered the ''Kaiserliche Marine'' as a cadet ...

from 1940 was given in evidence which suggested that the town should perhaps serve as a German enclave after the war. In 1972, the French Navy opened its

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...

-submarine (deterrence) base at

Île Longue Île Longue ( 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 SNLE, the French ballistic missile submarines, and as such one of the most secretive ...

in the ''Rade de Brest'' (Brest roadstead). This continues to be an important base for the French nuclear-armed

ballistic missile A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are guided only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles stay within the ...

submarines.

Coat of arms

The meaning of the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

of Brest is half France ( the three fleurs-de-lis of the former kingdom of France), half Brittany ( ''semé d'hermine'' of Brittany). These arms were used for the first time in a register of deliberations of the city council dated the 15 July 1683.Les Armoiries de Brest

Sights

Pont de Recouvrance The Pont de Recouvrance () is a vertical-lift bridge in Brest, France, across the river Penfeld. Opened on 17 July 1954, it was the largest vertical-lift bridge in Europe until the opening of the Rouen Pont Gustave-Flaubert in 2008. It links ...

'' (Recouvrance Bridge, is a massive drawbridge 64 m/210 ft high), the military arsenal and the ''rue de Siam'' (Siam Street) are other sights. The castle and the Tanguy tower are the oldest monuments of Brest. The ''Musée de la Tour Tanguy'', in the Tanguy tower, houses a collection of dioramas that depict the city of Brest on the eve of World War II. The ''

Musée national de la Marine The Musée national de la Marine (National Navy Museum) is a maritime museum located in the Palais de Chaillot, Trocadéro, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. It has annexes at Brest, Port-Louis, Rochefort ( Musée National de la Marine de ...

de Brest'', housed in the ancient castle, contains exhibits which outline Brest's maritime tradition, as well as an aquarium, the Océanopolis marine centre. The city also has a notable

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

specializing in endangered species, the ''

Conservatoire botanique national de Brest The Conservatoire botanique national de Brest (32 hectares) is a notable botanical garden located at 52 Allée du Bot, Brest, Finistère, in the region of Brittany, France. It is open daily without charge. The conservatory site was formerly a qua ...

'', as well as the '' Jardin botanique de l'Hôpital d'Instruction des Armées Clermont-Tonnerre''. The city of Brest does not have much remaining historical architecture, apart from a few select monuments such as the castle and the Tanguy tower. This is due to heavy bombing by the Allies during World War II, in an attempt to destroy the submarine base the Germans had built in the harbour. In the 1950s, the town was hastily rebuilt using a large amount of concrete. In Recouvrance, the west bank of the town, there remains an authentic street of the 17th century, Saint-Malo Street. A few kilometres out of town, there are landscapes, from sandy beaches to grottos to tall

cliffs.

Sunbathing Sun tanning or tanning is the process whereby skin color is darkened or tanned. It is most often a result of exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sunlight or from artificial sources, such as a tanning lamp found in indoor tanning b ...

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...

yachting Yachting is the use of recreational boats and ships called ''yachts'' for racing or cruising. Yachts are distinguished from working ships mainly by their leisure purpose. "Yacht" derives from the Dutch word '' jacht'' ("hunt"). With sailboats, ...

and fishing are enjoyed in the area. Brest was an important warship-producing port during the

Napoleonic wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. The naval port, which is in great part excavated in the rock, extends along both banks of the

Penfeld The Penfeld,The ''d'' was added in the 17th century by a naval engineer influenced by the German word ''feld'' - the name is masculine in the Breton language. ( Breton: ''Penfell'') is a French coastal river. The town of Brest, in Finistère, has ...

river. File:Brest.jpg, The Tanguy tower hosts a museum of the history of Brest; in the background, the ''

'' (Recouvrance Bridge). File:Brest chateau.jpg, The castle hosts the ''

'' (National Navy Museum). File:Stangalar2.JPG, the '' conservatoire botanique national'' in autumn File:Saint-Sauveur-clocher.jpg, Saint-Sauveur church in Recouvrance, designed by

Amédée-François Frézier Amédée-François Frézier (1682 – October 26, 1773) was a French military engineer, mathematician, spy, and explorer who is best remembered for bringing back five specimens of '' Fragaria chiloensis'', the beach strawberry, from an assignment ...

, the oldest church of Brest, built in 1750 File:Place liberté2 800x600.JPG, Monumental perspective from the ''Place de la Liberté'' opening to the ''

rue de Siam The ''rue de'' Siam (or ''Siam'' Street, br, Straed Siam) is the main arterial street of Brest, a port city in Brittany, France. Its name comes from the arrival of three ambassadors led by Kosa Pan, sent by the King of Siam on the 29 June 1686 ...

'' (Siam Street), with the ''

rade de Brest The roadstead of Brest (''rade de Brest'') is a roadstead or bay located in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. The surface area is about 180 km² (70 sq mi). The port of Brest and one of the two French naval ...

'' (Brest roadstead) in the background, and on the right, the steeple of Saint-Louis church dominating the rebuilt centre of Brest

Geography

Brest is located amidst a dramatic landscape near the entrance of the natural ''

'' (Brest roadstead), at the west end of Brittany. It is situated to the north of a magnificent landlocked bay, and occupies the slopes of two hills divided by the river Penfeld. The part of the town on the left bank is regarded as Brest proper, while the part on the right is known as Recouvrance. There are also extensive suburbs to the east of the town. The hillsides are in some places so steep that the ascent from the lower to the upper town has to be effected by flights of steps and the second or third storey of one house is often on a level with the ground storey of the next.

Climate

Brest experiences an oceanic climate (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

: ''Cfb'') in its classic version (due to its location in the Atlantic Ocean and the sea intrusion) where it shares a considerable moderation shared with other places of the

Finistère Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.

and islands of Great Britain. As a result of the maritime moderation, Brest has very chilly summers by French standards and in spite of the low latitude, July afternoons are cooler than the norm in far northern Europe. Rainfall is common year-round, but snowfall is a rarer occurrence since temperatures usually remain several degrees above freezing during winter nights. An extreme temperature of was recorded on 18 July 2022.

Population

In 1945 Brest absorbed three neighbouring communes. The population data for 1936 and earlier in the table and graph below refer to the pre-1945 borders.

Transport

The railway station of Brest, Gare de Brest, is linked to

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and provides services to other stations in Brittany as well.

TGV The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...

trains to Paris take approximately three hours and forty minutes to reach the capital. A new 28 stop, tram line connecting Porte de Plouzané in the west with Porte de Gouesnou and Porte de Guipavas northeast of the city centre opened in June 2012. Brest international airport,

Brest Bretagne Airport Brest Bretagne Airport (french: link=no, Aéroport de Brest Bretagne) , formerly known as Brest Guipavas Airport, is an international airport serving Brest, France. It is located in the '' commune'' of Guipavas and 10.2 km (6.4 miles) nort ...

, is mainly linked to Paris, London,

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

, Dublin. The primary operator is

Air France Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global a ...

(via its subsidiary

HOP! Air France Hop, formerly branded HOP!, is a French regional airline operating flights on behalf of its parent company Air France. The airline was founded on 21 December 2012http://www.verif.com/societe/HOP!-790151716/ after the merger of Airlin ...

). Brest international airport is the main airport of the region of Brittany in terms passager traffic with 45% of this traffic of the region, representing 919,404 passengers in 2010. A new terminal has been in service since 12 December 2007 and can accommodate up to 1.8 million passengers annually. The harbour of Brest is mainly dedicated to

bulk Bulk can refer to: Industry * Bulk cargo * Bulk liquids * Bulk mail * Bulk material handling * Bulk pack, packaged bulk materials/products * Bulk purchasing * Baking * Bulk fermentation, the period after mixing when dough is left alone to f ...

, hydrocarbon and

freight container An intermodal container, often called a shipping container, is a large standardized shipping container, designed and built for intermodal freight transport, meaning these containers can be used across different modes of transport – from ship ...

s. The harbour's facilities can accommodate the largest modern ships. A cruise ship port is also located in Brest, near the city centre.

Economy

Due to its location, Brest is regarded as the first French port that can be accessed from the Americas. Shipping is big business, although Nantes and

Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean ...

offer much larger docks and attract more of the larger vessels. Brest has the ninth French commercial harbour including ship repairs and maintenance. The protected location of Brest means that its harbour is ideal to receive any type of ship, from the smallest

dinghy A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel for use as a tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they differ from sailing dinghies, which ...

to the biggest

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

( has visited a few times). Naval construction is also an important activity: for example, the was built by

Direction des Constructions Navales Naval Group is a major French industrial group specialized in naval defense design, development and construction. Its headquarters are located in Paris. Heir to the French naval dockyards initiated in 1631 by Cardinal Richelieu and to the Di ...

(DCN) in Brest. Despite its image of an industrialised city whose activity depends mainly on military order, the service sector represents 75% of the economic activity. The importance of the service sector is still increasing while industrialised activity is decaying, explaining the unchanged rate of working-class in Brest. Brest also hosts headquarters for many subsidiaries like the banking group Arkéa. Research and conception is taking an increasing importance. Brest claims to be the largest European centre for sciences and techniques linked to the sea: 60% of the French research in the maritime field is based in Brest.

Administration

Mayors

*since 2001: François Cuillandre *1989–2001: Pierre Maille (2nd and 3rd terms) *1985–1989: Georges Kerbrat *1983–1985: Jacques Berthelot *1982–1983: Pierre Maille *1977–1982: Francis Le Blé *1973–1977: Eugène Berest *1959–1973: Georges Lombard *1958–1959: Auguste Kervern *1954–1958: Yves Jaouen *1954–1954: Lucien Chaix *1953–1954: Yves Jaouen *1947–1953: Alfred Pierre Marie Chupin *1945–1947: Jules Lullien *1944–1945: Jules Lullien *1942–1944: Victor Eusen *1929–1941: Victor Le Gorgeu *1921–1929: Léon Nardon *1920–1921: Hippolyte Masson *1919–1920: Louis Léon Nardon *1912–1919: Hippolyte Masson *1908–1912: Louis Arthur Delobeau *1904–1908: Victor Marie Aubert *1900–1904: Charles Berger

Breton language

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

is not commonly spoken in the city of Brest, which was the only French-speaking city in western Brittany before the 1789

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, despite the surrounding countryside being fully Breton-speaking at that time. Like other French minority languages, Breton does not have any official language status in France. The municipality launched a linguistic plan to revive Breton as a language through ''

Ya d'ar brezhoneg (french: Oui au breton, en, Yes to Breton) is a campaign started in the 21st century by the ( en, Office of the Breton language) to promote and stimulate the use of the Breton language in daily life in Brittany, northwestern France. Breton is a ...

'' on 16 June 2006. In 2008, 1.94% of primary-school children attended French-Breton bilingual Diwan schools. Besides bilingual schools, the Breton language is also taught in some schools and universities. The association ''Sked'' federates all Breton cultural activities.

Culture

The city is host to several events to celebrate its long maritime history. The largest of these is held every four years, when the town organises a tall ship meeting. The last such tall ship event was "Les Tonnerres de Brest 2016". Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

the next event is planned for 2022. Brest also hosts an annual short film festival called "

Brest European Short Film Festival The Brest European Short Film Festival ( French: Festival européen du film court de Brest) is a film festival dedicated to short films, happening every year in Brest, in the Brittany region in France. It has been organized by the Côte Ouest As ...

". The city was the setting for the 1982 art film ''

Querelle ''Querelle'' is a 1982 West German-French English-language arthouse film directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and starring Brad Davis, adapted from French author Jean Genet's 1947 novel ''Querelle of Brest''. It was Fassbinder's last film, rel ...

'', directed by

Rainer Werner Fassbinder Rainer Werner Fassbinder (; 31 May 1945 – 10 June 1982), sometimes credited as R. W. Fassbinder, was a German filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the major figures and catalysts of the New German Cinema movement. Fassbinder's main ...

, itself based on the 1947 novel '' Querelle de Brest'' by Jean Genet.

Cuisine

Brittany's most famous local delicacy, the Breton crêpe, is the main culinary feature apart from seafood. There are many crêpe restaurants (called ''crêperies''). Breton apple

cider Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and the Republic of Ireland. The UK has the world's highest per capita consumption, ...

is often featured. Traditional biscuits include '' Traou Mad'', which is a full-fat butter biscuit similar to Scottish

shortbread Shortbread or shortie is a traditional Scottish biscuit usually made from one part white sugar, two parts butter, and three to four parts plain wheat flour. Unlike many other biscuits and baked goods, shortbread does not contain any leavening, ...

Sport

Brest has held the Grands Départs of the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

on three occasions, in 1952, 1974 and 2008. The 2021 Tour de France is due to start from Brest on 26 June 2021. Stage 6 of the 2018 Tour de France departed from Brest. Since 1901 Brest has served as the midpoint for the bicycle endurance event, Paris–Brest–Paris. Brest is home to Stade Brestois 29, a football team in

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

. the top tier of the

French football league system The French football league system is a series of interconnected leagues for club football in France and Monaco, and includes one Spanish side. At the top two levels of the system is the Ligue de Football Professionnel, which consists of two pr ...

, Brest is also home to

Brest Albatros Hockey Brest Albatros Hockey is an ice hockey team in Brest, France. They were founded in 1991, and currently play in the FFHG Division 1, the top level of ice hockey in France. Albatros won the league championship in 1996 and 1997. The team also previo ...

, an ice hockey team in

Ligue Magnus The Ligue Magnus, currently known as Synerglace Ligue Magnus for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's division of the French ice hockey pyramid, established in 1906. The league operated under a variety of names before taking that of its champio ...

, and won the league title in the 1996 and 1997. In 2002 the Brest throwball team Brest LC reached the 1st division of French throwball but were subsequently relegated due to financial difficulty. The club has recently adopted an Irish influenced infrastructure.

Research and education

Primarily the research centre of western Brittany, Brest and its surrounding area is the home of several research and elite educational establishments: * a multidisciplinary university, ''

Université de Bretagne Occidentale The University of Western Brittany (french: Université de Bretagne-Occidentale; UBO) is a French university, located in Brest, in the Academy of Rennes. On a national scale, in terms of graduate employability, the university oscillates between 1 ...

'' (UBO

* Brest has also several ''

grandes écoles Grandes may refer to: * Agustín Muñoz Grandes, Spanish general and politician *Banksia ser. Grandes, a series of plant species native to Australia * Grandes y San Martín, a municipality located in the province of Ávila, Castile and León, Spain ...

'' and other undergraduate or graduate schools: ** ''

École nationale d'ingénieurs de Brest The École nationale d'ingénieurs de Brest (ENIB) is a French grande école leading to the French “Diplôme d’Ingénieur” under the authority of the French Ministry of Education and Research. Introduction ENIB is located on the Technopo ...

'' (ENIB) (in

Plouzané Plouzané () is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. History The shores south of Plouzané are in a strategic location for the defense of the Goulet de Brest strait and were fortified by Sébastien Le Pr ...

next to Brest

** '' Télécom Bretagne'' (ENST Bretagne) (in

next to Brest

** ''

École nationale supérieure de techniques avancées de Bretagne École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scal ...

'' (ENSTA Bretagne, formerly ENSIETA

** '' ISEN, Institut supérieur de l'électronique et du numérique de Brest'' (ISEN Brest

** ESC Bretagne Brest, Brest Business School (ESC Bretagne Brest

** ''

'' (French Naval Academy) (in

Lanvéoc Lanvéoc (; br, Lañveog) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. The École Navale, the French naval academy, is located here. Climate Lanvéoc has a oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification ''C ...

next to Brest

** To be noted that Brest is one of the hosts for the Indiana University Honors Foreign Language Program * Brest has several research organisations: ** the largest

(French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea) centre (in Plouzané next to Brest); about 1000 people work there. ** ''Le Cedre'' (Centre of Documentation, Research and Experimentation on Accidental Water Pollution) ** the French Polar Institute (in Plouzané next to Brest) ** The

Naval Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service The Naval Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service (french: Service hydrographique et océanographique de la Marine or SHOM) is a French public establishment of an administrative nature (french: établissement public à caractère administratif) admi ...

(SHOM)

Notable people

Brest was the birthplace of: *

Jean-Michel Huon de Kermadec Jean-Michel Huon de Kermadec (12 September 1748 – 6 May 1793) was a French Navy officer. He took part in voyages of exploration in the Pacific Ocean under Bruni d'Entrecasteaux, looking for the lost expedition of Jean-François de La Pérouse ...

(1748–1792),

navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's primar ...

Charles-Alexandre Léon Durand Linois Charles-Alexandre Léon Durand, Comte de Linois (27 January 1761 – 2 December 1848) was a French admiral who served in the French Navy during the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte. He commanded the combined Franco-Spanish fleet during the Algeci ...

(1761–1848),

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

during the time of

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

Antoinette Lemonnier Thérèse Louise Antoinette Regnault, known under the name Antoinette Lemonnier, (23 August 1787 – 4 April 1866) was a French opera singer, member of the Opéra-Comique. Life Born in Brest, Regnault is the daughter of Jacques Louis Regna ...

(1787–1866), operatic soprano * Prosper Garnot (1794–1838), surgeon and naturalist * Léon Moreau (1870–1946), composer *

Victor Segalen Victor Segalen (14 January 1878 – 21 May 1919) was a French naval doctor, ethnographer, archeologist, writer, poet, explorer, art-theorist, linguist and literary critic. He was born in Brest. He studied medicine and graduated at the Navy ...

(1878–1919), naval doctor,

ethnographer Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...

archeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

, writer and poet *

Jean Cras Jean Émile Paul Cras (; 22 May 1879 – 14 September 1932) was a 20th-century French composer and career naval officer. His musical compositions were inspired by his native Brittany, his travels to Africa, and most of all, by his sea v ...

(1879–1932), French composer and career naval officer *

Georges Thierry d'Argenlieu Georges Thierry d'Argenlieu, in religion Father Louis of the Trinity, O.C.D. (7 August 1889 – 7 September 1964), was a Discalced Carmelite friar and priest, who was also a diplomat and French Navy officer and admiral; he became one of the m ...

(1889–1964), priest, diplomat and

officer and admiral * Jean Loysel (1889–1962), composer and lyricist *

Alain Robbe-Grillet Alain Robbe-Grillet (; 18 August 1922 – 18 February 2008) was a French writer and filmmaker. He was one of the figures most associated with the '' Nouveau Roman'' (new novel) trend of the 1960s, along with Nathalie Sarraute, Michel Butor and ...

(1922–2008), writer and filmmaker *

Pierre Brice Pierre-Louis Le Bris (6 February 1929 – 6 June 2015), known as Pierre Brice, was a French actor, best known as portraying fictional Apache-chief Winnetou in German films based on Karl May novels. Life and films Brice was born in Brest, Brit ...

(1929–2015), actor * Béatrice Dalle (born 1964), actress *

Christophe Miossec Christophe Miossec is a French singer and songwriter born in Brest, Brittany, France on December 24, 1964. Beginnings Christophe Miossec was not new to the world of music when he met his first great success. Between 14 and 17, he was in a teen ...

(born 1964), singer *

Benoît Hamon Benoît Hamon (; born 26 June 1967) is a French politician known for his former role within the Socialist Party (PS) and Party of European Socialists (PES) and his political party Génération.s. Hamon joined the Socialist Party in 1988 and ...

(born 1967), MEP and French presidential candidate, Parti Socialiste, 2017 *

Yann Tiersen Yann Tiersen (born 23 June 1970) is a French Breton musician and composer. His musical career is split between studio recordings, music collaborations and film soundtracks songwriting. His music incorporates a large variety of classical and co ...

(born 1970), minimalist multi instrumentalist/musician *

Sébastien Flute Sébastien Flute (born 25 March 1972 in Brest, Brittany) is a gold medal winning French archer. He currently has the 25th best ranking in the world among archers. He won the gold medal in the Men's Individual competition in the 1992 Su ...

(born 1972), Olympic gold medalist * Benoît Menut (born 1977), composer * Yohann Boulic (born 1978), footballer * Larsen Touré (born 1984), footballer (naturalized Guinean) *

Gonzalo Higuaín Gonzalo Gerardo Higuaín (; born 10 December 1987) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. Nicknamed ''El Pipita'' or ''Pipa'', Higuaín was a prolific striker, known for his eye for goal, strong physique, and o ...

(born 1987), footballer (naturalized Argentine) *

Laury Thilleman Laury Betty Thilleman (born 30 July 1991) is a French journalist, model, TV Host, actress and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss France 2011 on 4 December 2010. She made the top 10 at Miss Universe 2011. She graduated from ESC Bret ...

(born 1991), Miss France 2011

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Brest is twinned with:Les jumelages de Brest
*

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Colorado, United States (1948) *

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, Devon, England (1963) *

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...

, Germany (1964) *

Taranto Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label= Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an important com ...

, Italy (1964) *

Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 409,478, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city ...

Kanagawa is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kanagaw ...

, Kantō, Japan (1970) *

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built following the 1816 legislation that allowed the building of a major port to serve Dubli ...

, Republic of Ireland (1984) *

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

, Spain (1986) * Saponé, Burkina Faso (1989) * Constanța, Romania (1993) * Qingdao, China (2006) *

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 ...

, Belarus (2012)

Friendly relationship

Brest has an official friendly relationship (''protocole d'amitié'') with: * Bejaïa, Algeria (1995) 26-04-2005-015

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

Aerial photos of the whole city and urban community

Brest Airport Travel Guide

Interactive City Map of Brest

Official website of Brest town hall (with webcam)

Satellite picture by Google Maps

Brest Cultural Heritage

Brest improvisation theatre

Wiki-Brest
a community wiki containing articles about the city (in French).

{{Authority control Cities in France Communes of Finistère Populated coastal places in France Port cities and towns on the French Atlantic coast Subprefectures in France Osismii