Douarnenez is a fishing-port of western France, in the department of Finistère, at the mouth of the Pouldavid Estuary on the southern shore of Douarnenez Bay of the Atlantic Ocean, 15 mi. N.W. of Quimper by rail. Pop. (in 1999) 15,827. It has a large sardine fishery. Mackerel fishing, boat-building and rope and net making also occupy the inhabitants. There is a lighthouse on the small island of Tristan off Douarnenez. Finistère (Penn-ar-Bed in Breton) is a département of France, located in Brittany (Bretagne in French). ... Location within France Quimper (Kemper in Breton, Corspotium in Latin) is a commune of Brittany in northwestern France. ... Sardines or pilchards are a group of several types of small oily fish related to herrings, family Clupeidae. ... Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of fish, mostly, but not exclusively, from the family Scombridae. ... Lobster boat A boat is a watercraft, usually smaller than most ships. ... Coils of rope used for long-line fishing A rope is a length of fibers, twisted or braided together to improve strength, for pulling and connecting. ... NET may stand for: N-ethyltryptamine National Educational Television Net Serviços de Comunicação S/A Nottingham Express Transit New Hellenic Television Noise equivalent target NET may also be: NET Television See also net . ... Tristan (Latin/Brythonic: Drustanus; Welsh: Drystan; also known as Tristran, Tristram etc), was a Cornish hero from folklore, and one of the Knights of the Round Table whose story is told in the Matter of Britain. ...

History

The legendary city of Ys, of Breton folklore, is believed to lie beneath Douarnenez Bay. The port is also associated with the medieval story of Tristan, lover of Iseult, for whom Tristan Island is named. The island was originally named Saint-Tutuarn Island for the priory founded there in 1118. Douarnenez has several 16th and 17 century churches, including the Church of Ploaré, which has a Gothic steeple (1548–86), and the chapels of Sainte-Croix, Sainte-Hélène, and Saint-Michel. Flight of King Gradlon, by E. V. Luminais, 1884 (Musée des Beaux-Arts, Quimper) Ys (also spelled Is in Breton) is a mythical city built in the Douarnenez bay in Brittany by Gradlon, King of Cornouaille for his daughter, Dahut. ... Breton can refer to: The Breton language A person from Brittany Author André Breton This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Tristan (Latin/Brythonic: Drustanus; Welsh: Drystan; also known as Tristran, Tristram etc), was a Cornish hero from folklore, and one of the Knights of the Round Table whose story is told in the Matter of Britain. ... In the Arthurian Legend of Tristan and Iseult (alternatively Isolde, Isode, Isotta, etc. ... Besides its original meaning, of or relating to the Goths (Gothos, Getas), a Germanic tribe and thus the Gothic language and the Gothic alphabet, the word Gothic has been used to refer to distinctly different things: From a Renaissance perspective (originally Italian, gotico, with connotations of rough, barbarous), it conveyed...

Events

Since 1986, Douarnenez has accommodated a maritime festival that joins together all types of traditional sailing, with ships coming from the four corners of the world. In 2004, one could count less than 2000 sailing ships, 17,000 sailors and 30 nations represented. With each demonstration, the culture and the know-how of a country are honored. Wooden sailing boat Sailing is the skillful art of controlling the motion of a sailing ship or smaller boat, across a body of water using wind as the source of power. ...

Births

• Ronan Pensec, cyclist
• Yvon Le Bot, sociologist

Deaths

• René Laennec (1781-1826), doctor and inventor of the stethoscope
• Georges Perros (1923-1978), writer

Stethoscope The stethoscope (Greek: stethos, chest and skopeein, to examine) is an acoustic medical device for auscultation, i. ...

References

• This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, which is in the public domain.