Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem (; ) is a commune in the

Côtes-d'Armor The Côtes-d'Armor ( , ; ; , ), formerly known as Côtes-du-Nord until 1990 (, ), is a department in the north of Brittany, in northwestern France. In 2019, it had a population of 600,582.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 northwestern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Population

Inhabitants of Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem are called ''pélemois'' in French.

History

Prehistory

The

cairn A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistory, t ...

of Croaz Dom Herry, discovered in 2005, dates to the middle of the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

, but has largely been quarried for its stones, particularly during the late

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

; it has 4 circular funeral chambers, each about 3 meters in diameter, at the end of a long corridor.

Roman period

The town that later became Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem was built 500 meters from the Roman road linking Vorgium (capital of the

Osismii The Osismii, Ossismii, or Ostimii (also Ossismi, Osismi) were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the western part of the Armorican Peninsula (modern Brittany) during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Etymology They are mentioned as ''Osismos'' and ...

) with

Corseul Corseul (; ; Gallo: ''Corsoeut'') is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department of Brittany in northwestern France. The town was a major Roman town and contains Roman ruins. The town hall contains a small archaeological museum. History Cors ...

and Aleth (capital of the

Coriosolites The Coriosolites or Curiosolitae were a Gallic people dwelling on the northern coast of present-day Brittany during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are mentioned as ''Coriosolitas'' (var. ''coriosolitos'', ''curiosolitas'', ''cur ...

). A large plateau surrounded by an artificial moat near Pélinec pond is sometimes considered to be the remains of a pre-Roman fortification of the Gauls,Guide des lieux insolites et secrets de Bretagne, par Alain Dag’Naud, éditions Gisserot
/ref> or of a Roman camp, and sometimes as the remains of a medieval camp (Frotier de la Messelière reports having seen foundations for a circular stone tower).

Second World War

A monument to the deceased of Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem lists 32 individuals who perished 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 ...

.Memorialgenweb.org
- Saint-Nicolas-du- Pélem : monument aux morts 1939-1945.

Le maquis Tito

During the

German occupation German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...

, the a group of maquis of the

FTP The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard communication protocol used for the transfer of computer files from a server to a client on a computer network. FTP is built on a client–server model architecture using separate control and dat ...

operating in the Côtes-du-Nord, was organized during the spring of 1943 in the rectangular area of Trémargat, Lanrivain, Peumerit-Quintin, and Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem, led by Louis Pichouron, whose nom de guerre was "Commandant Alain". In January 1944 they took the name of the "Tito Company", after

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslavia, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 unti ...

, leader of the communist resistance movement in

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, with a team in Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem led by Théodore Le Nénan. On 11 November 1943 Théodore Le Nénan killed a member of the

Feldgendarmerie The term ''Feldgendarmerie'' (; ) refers to military police units of the armies of the Kingdom of Saxony (from 1810), the German Empire and Nazi Germany up to the end of World War II in Europe. Early history (1810-1918) From 1810 to 1812 King ...

Plouaret Plouaret (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department of Brittany in northwestern France. Plouaret-Trégor station has rail connections to Brest, Rennes, Lannion, Guingamp and Paris. Population Inhabitants of Plouaret are called ''plouar ...

; on 23 December Georges Ollitrault attacked a German officer at

Loudéac Loudéac (; ; Gallo: ''Loudia'') is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department, Brittany, northwestern France. Geography Climate Loudéac has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification ''Cfb''). The average annual temperature in Lou ...

. An attack on the town hall of

Saint-Nicodème Saint-Nicodème (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department of Brittany in northwestern France. Population Inhabitants of Saint-Nicodème are called ''nicodémois'' in French. See also *Communes of the Côtes-d'Armor department ...

resulted in the arrest of many members of the group at Trébrivan, and four were shot on 6 May 1944 at

Ploufragan Ploufragan (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department of Brittany in northwestern France. Ploufragan lies adjacent to the southwest of Saint-Brieuc Saint-Brieuc (, Breton language, Breton: ''Sant-Brieg'' , Gallo language, Gallo: ' ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saintnicolasdupelem Communes of Côtes-d'Armor