Vannes

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Commune of Vannes In the old town centre
Location
Coordinates	47°39′21″N, 02°45′37″W
Administration
Country	France
Region	Bretagne
Department	Morbihan (préfecture)
Arrondissement	Vannes
Canton	Chief town of 3 cantons
Intercommunality	Communauté d'Agglomération du Pays de Vannes
Mayor	François Goulard (2001-2008)
Statistics
Altitude	0 m–56 m (avg. 22 m)
Land area¹	32.3 km²
Population² (1999)	51,759 (Vannetais)
- Density (1999)	1,602/km²
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	56260/ 56000
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).

Harbour to cathedral

The cathedral of Vannes.

Vannes (Breton: Gwened) is a town and commune located in the Morbihan département, in Brittany, in the west of France. It was founded more than 2000 years ago.

[edit] Geography

Vannes is located along the Gulf of Morbihan, at the confluence of the Vannes River. It is a market town and often linked to the sea.

[edit] History

In ancient times, the people of Vannes resisted the Roman invasion under Julius Caesar quite successfully. In fact, these Armoricans were a model for the fractious tribe of the Astérix comic book series. They were great sailors, and whenever they were threatened, they took to the sea.

Caesar saw that he would have to dominate the water if he was ever to subdue them. He allied himself with the neighboring Namnete tribe (which gives its name to the city of Nantes) in order to gain the advantage. Under Roman rule, Vannes was known as Darioritum.

The diocese of Vannes was erected in the 5th century. The Council of Vannes was held here in 461.

The first historical ruler of Vannes was Waroch.

[edit] In fiction

In the novels of Alexandre Dumas, the musketeer Aramis appears at one point as bishop of Vannes.

[edit] Miscellaneous

[edit] Births

Vannes was the birthplace of:

• Francis I (1414-1450), duke of Brittany
• Paul César Helleu (1859-1927), artist
• Yves Rocard (1903-1992), physicist
• Alain Resnais (born 1922), film director
• Yves Coppens (born 1934), anthropologist
• Bernard Poignant (born 1945), French politician
• Mathieu Berson (born 1980), footballer

[edit] Sister cities

Vannes is paired with:

• Mons, Belgium since 1952
• Cuxhaven, Germany since 1963
• Fareham, United Kingdom since 1967

It has partnerships (partenariats) with:

• Barouéli, Mali
• Wałbrzych, Poland

[edit] See also

• Veneti (Gaul)
• Saint Meriasek
• Operation Dingson

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Vannes

• Official web site of the city
• Vannes travel guide from Wikitravel
• Visiting Vannes - in English
• Photos of Vannes in 3d (Anaglyphs)
• Diocese of Vannes
• Animal Refuge of Vannes

Préfectures of Départements of France

Bourg-en-Bresse (Ain) • Laon (Aisne) • Moulins (Allier) • Digne-les-Bains (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) • Gap (Hautes-Alpes) • Nice (Alpes-Maritimes) • Privas (Ardeche) • Charleville-Mézières (Ardennes) • Foix (Ariège) • Troyes (Aube) • Carcassonne (Aude) • Rodez (Aveyron) • Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône) • Caen (Calvados) • Aurillac (Cantal) • Angoulême (Charente) • La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime) • Bourges (Cher) • Tulle (Corrèze) • Ajaccio (corse-du-Sud) • Bastia (Haute-Corse) • Dijon (Côte-d'Or) • Saint-Brieuc (Côtes-d'Armor) • Guéret (Creuse) • Périgueux (Dordogne) • Besançon (Doubs) • Valence (Drôme) • Évreux (Eure) • Chartres (Eure-et-Loir) • Quimper (Finistère) • Nîmes (Gard) • Toulouse (Haute-Garonne) • Auch (Gers) • Bordeaux (Gironde) • Montpellier (Hérault) • Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine) • Châteauroux (Indre) • Tours (Indre-et-Loire) • Grenoble (Isère) • Lons-le-Saunier (Jura) • Mont-de-Marsan (Landes) • Blois (Loir-et-Cher) • Saint-Étienne (Loire) • Le Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire) • Nantes (Loire-Atlantique) - Orléans (Loiret) • Cahors (Lot) • Agen (Lot-et-Garonne) • Mende (Lozère) • Angers (Maine-et-Loire) • Saint-Lô (Manche) • Châlons-en-Champagne (Marne) • Chaumont (Haute-Marne) - Laval (Mayenne) • Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle) • Bar-le-Duc (Meuse) • Vannes (Morbihan) • Metz (Moselle) • Nevers (Nièvre) • Lille (Nord) • Beauvais (Oise) • Alençon (Orne) • Calais (Pas-de-Calais) • Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme) • Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) • Tarbes (Hautes-Pyrénées) • Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales) • Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin) • Colmar (Haut-Rhin) • Lyon (Rhône) • Vesoul (Haute-Saône) • Mâcon (Saône-et-Loire) • Le Mans (Sarthe) • Chambéry (Savoie) • Annecy (Haute-Savoie) • Paris (Paris) • Rouen (Seine-Maritime) • Melun (Seine-et-Marne) • Versailles (Yvelines) • Niort (Deux-Sèvres) • Amiens (Somme) • Albi (Tarn) • Montauban (Tarn-et-Garonne) • Toulon (Var) • Avignon (Vaucluse) • La Roche-sur-Yon (Vendée) • Poitiers (Vienne) • Limoges (Haute-Vienne) • Épinal (Vosges) • Auxerre (Yonne) • Belfort (Territoire de Belfort) - Évry (Essonne) - Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine) • Bobigny (Seine-Saint-Denis) • Créteil (Val-de-Marne) • Cergy (Val-d'Oise)

Overseas departments
Cayenne (French Guiana) • Basse-Terre (Guadeloupe) • Fort-de-France (Martinique) • Saint-Denis (Réunion)