Brest, France

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Brest.

Administration
Commune of Brest View of Brest from the castle
Location
Coordinates	48°23′27″N, 4°29′8″W
Country	France
Region	Bretagne
Department	Finistère (sous-préfecture)
Arrondissement	Brest
Canton	Chief town of 10 cantons
Intercommunality	Brest Métropole Océane
Mayor	François Cuillandre (2001–2008)
Statistics
Altitude	0 m–103 m (avg. 34 m)
Land area¹	49.51 km²
Population² (1999)	149,634
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	29019/ 29200
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 mi² or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel).

Brest is a city in Brittany, or the Bretagne région, north-west France, sous-préfecture of the Finistère département. Located on the western tip of Brittany, the city is an important port and naval base. The population of the city was estimated at 146,000 as of 2004; the population of the metropolitan area was recorded as 303,484 inhabitants in the 1999 census.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Economy
4 Tourist attractions
5 Administration
- 5.1 Mayors of Brest
6 Culture-Regional language
7 Food in Brest
8 Sport
9 Education
10 Births
11 Twin towns
- 11.1 Friendly relationship
12 See also
13 References
14 External links

[edit] History

The military harbor was fortified by Vauban (1633–1707). During World War II, the Germans held a large submarine base in Brest. Destroyed at the Battle for Brest, the city has since been rebuilt. (There were about three buildings left standing.) After the end of the war, the West German government had to pay several billion dollars of reparations as compensation to the homeless and destitute civilians in the city for any of their homes or property which were damaged or destroyed in the war. The rebuilt city consists primarily of utilitarian gray granite and concrete buildings.

[edit] Geography

Brest is located amidst dramatic landscape near the entrance of the natural Rade de Brest, at the west end of Brittany.

[edit] Economy

Due to its location, Brest is regarded as the first French port that can be accessed from the Americas, and hence shipping is big business, although Nantes and Saint-Nazaire offer much larger docks and attract more of the larger vessels. Its protected location means that it is ideal to receive any type of ship, from the smallest dinghy to the biggest airplane carrier (the USS Nimitz has visited a few times).

The Charles De Gaulle aircraft carrier was built by DCN in Brest.

[edit] Tourist attractions

The Musée de la Tour Tanguy houses a collection of dioramas that depict the city of Brest on the eve of World War II. The Musée de la Marine de Brest contains exhibits which outline Brest's maritime tradition. There is also an aquarium, the Océanopolis marine centre.

The city of Brest has been cut of its historical architecture, apart from a few select monuments such as the Castle and the Tour Tanguy. This is due to the British and American pilots who bombed the town during World War II, in an attempt to destroy the submarine base the Germans had built in the harbour. The town was hastily rebuilt in the 1950s using a large amount of concrete.

A few kilometres out of town, there are more impressive landscapes, from sandy beaches to grottos to tall granite cliffs. Sunbathing, windsurfing, yachting and fishing are practiced in the area. Brest, was an important warship producing port in the Napoleonic wars.

[edit] Administration

[edit] Mayors of Brest

1959-1973: Georges Lombard
1973-1977: Eugène Berest
1977-1982: Francis Le Blé
1982-1983: Pierre Maille
1983-1985: Jacques Berthelot
1985-1989: Georges Kerbrat
1989-2001: Pierre Maille (2nd term)
since 2001: François Cuillandre

[edit] Culture-Regional language

Breton is not commonly spoken in the city of Brest and is not an official language (in the same vein as other French minority languages). It is being taught in some schools and universities. The association Sked [1] federates all Breton cultural activities.

Brest was the only "French-speaking" city in western Brittany before the 1789 revolution.

The city is host to several events to celebrate its long maritime history, the largest of which happens every four years, when the town organises a tall ship meeting. The last occurrence of that event was "Brest 2004".

Brest also hosts a yearly Short Film Festival called "Festival Européen du Film Court de Brest"

The city was also the setting for the 1982 art film Querelle.

[edit] Food in Brest

Restaurants in Brest have a wide variety of seafood. Fresh fish is featured on practically every menu and you can even find a few fish only restaurants. Local markets and supermarkets also offer lots of seafood.

Brittany's most famous local delicacy, the Breton crêpe, is another culinary feature. There are many crêpe restaurants (called crêperies) and Breton cider may also be drunk.

Traditional biscuits include Traou Mad which is a full fat butter biscuit, somewhat similar to Scottish shortbreads.

[edit] Sport

Since 1901 Brest has served as the midpoint for the epic 1200 km bicycle endurance event, Paris-Brest-Paris. Brest is home to Stade Brestois 29, a football team in Ligue 2, the second-highest league in French football.

[edit] Education

Brest has a university: Université de Bretagne Occidentale (UBO) [2]
Brest has several grandes écoles:
- École nationale d'ingénieurs de Brest (ENIB) [3]
- École nationale supérieure des télécommunications de Bretagne (ENST Bretagne) [4]
- École nationale supérieure des ingénieurs des études et techniques d'armement (ENSIETA) [5]
- Institut supérieur de l'électronique et du numérique de Brest (ISEN Brest) [6]
- École supérieure de commerce de Bretagne [7]
- École Navale [8]