1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
Brest (French pronunciation:[bʁɛst]ⓘ;[3]Breton:[bʀest]ⓘ[4]) is aport city in theFinistère department,Brittany. Located in a sheltered bay not far from the western tip of apeninsula and the western extremity ofmetropolitan France,[5] Brest is an important harbour and the second largest French military port afterToulon. The city is located on the western edge of continental France. With 139,456 inhabitants (2020),[6] Brest formsWestern Brittany's largestmetropolitan area (with a population of 370,000 in total), ranking third behind onlyNantes andRennes in the whole of historic Brittany, and the25th most populous city in France (2019); moreover, Brest provides services to the one million inhabitants of Western Brittany.[7] Although Brest is by far the largest city in Finistère, thepréfecture (administrative seat) of the department is in the much smaller town ofQuimper.
During theMiddle Ages, the history of Brest was the history of itscastle. ThenRichelieu made it amilitary harbour in 1631.[8] Brest grew around itsarsenal 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.[9] 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 theservice sector. Nowadays, Brest is an importantuniversity town with 23,000 students.[10] Besides a multidisciplinary university, theUniversity of Western Brittany, Brest and its surrounding area possess several prestigious French elite schools such asÉcole Navale (the French Naval Academy),Télécom Bretagne and theSuperior 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 largestIfremer (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: theAcadémie de Marine (Naval Academy) was founded in 1752 in this city. The aircraft carrierCharles de Gaulle was built there. Every four years, Brest hosts the international festival of the sea, boats and sailors: it is a meeting of oldriggings from around the world (Les Tonnerres de Brest).
The name of the town is first recorded asBresta; it may derive from *brigs, aCeltic word for "hill".[9][11]
Nothing definite is known of Brest before about 1240,[dubious –discuss] whenHarvey V, Lord of Léon ceded it toJohn I, Duke of Brittany. In 1342John IV, Duke of Brittany surrendered Brest to the English, in whose possession it was to remain until 1397.[8] This was strategically important to the English as it helped protect their communication withGascony.[12]: 102 The importance of Brest inmedieval 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 ofFrancis I of France toClaude, the daughter ofAnne of Brittany, the definitive overlordship of Brest – together with the rest of the duchy – passed to theFrench crown in 1491.[8]
Starting in 1534 Brest and the rest of Brittany become fully part of France as theProvince of Brittany. The advantages of Brest's situation as a seaport town were first recognized byCardinal Richelieu, who in 1631 constructed a harbour with woodenwharves. This soon became a base for theFrench Navy.Jean-Baptiste Colbert, finance minister underLouis XIV, rebuilt the wharves in masonry and otherwise improved the harbour. Fortifications byVauban (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 1917, during theFirst World War, 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. TheUnited States Navy established anaval air station on 13 February 1918 to operateseaplanes. This port also became a hot spot where the U.S. Navy and the French Navy engaged in underwater combat with German submarines. The base closed shortly after theArmistice of 11 November 1918.[16][17]
German soldiers entering aSoldatenbordell in Brest, France (1940). The building is a formersynagogue.
In theSecond World War, theGermans maintained a largeU-boatsubmarine 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,Scharnhorst,Gneisenau andPrinz Eugen 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.[a][18]
In 1944, after the Alliedinvasion of Normandy, the city was almost totally destroyed during theBattle for Brest, with only a tiny number of buildings left standing. After the war, theWest German government paid several billionDeutschmarks inreparations 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 utilitariangranite and concrete buildings. The French naval base now houses theBrest Naval Training Centre.
During the postwarNuremberg Trials, a memorandum of German admiral andSeekriegsleitung chief of staffKurt Fricke from 1940 was given in evidence which suggested that the town should serve as a German enclave after the war.[19]
In 1972, the French Navy opened itsnuclear weapon-submarine (deterrence) base atÎle Longue in theRade de Brest (Brestroadstead). This continues to be an important base for the French nuclear-armedballistic missile submarines.
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 thesubmarine base the Germans had built in the harbour. In the 1950s, the town was hastily rebuilt using a large amount of concrete. InRecouvrance, 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 togrottos to tallgranite cliffs.Sunbathing,windsurfing,yachting and fishing are enjoyed in the area. Brest was an important warship-producing port during theNapoleonic wars. The naval port, which is in great part excavated in the rock, extends along both banks of thePenfeld river.
Monumental perspective from thePlace de la Liberté opening to therue de Siam (Siam Street), with therade de Brest (Brestroadstead) in the background, and on the right, the steeple of Saint-Louis church dominating the rebuilt centre of Brest
Brest is located amidst a dramatic landscape near the entrance of the naturalrade de Brest (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 asRecouvrance. 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.
Brest experiences anoceanic climate (Köppen:Cfb). As a result of maritime moderation, Brest has cool summers by French standards, July afternoons are cooler than the norm in Western 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 39.3 °C (102.7 °F) was recorded on18 July 2022.
Climate data for Brest(Bretagne Airport, altitude 94m, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1855–present)
In 1945 Brest absorbed three neighbouring communes.[26] The population data for 1936 and earlier in the table and graph below refer to the pre-1945 borders.
The railway station of Brest,Gare de Brest, is linked toRennes andParis and provides services to other stations in Brittany as well.TGV trains to Paris take approximately three hours and forty minutes to reach the capital.
A new 28-stop, 14.3 km (9 mi)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.[27]
Brest international airport,Brest Bretagne Airport, is mainly linked to Paris, London,Nice,Lyon, Dublin. The primary operator isAir France (via its subsidiaryHOP!). Brest international airport is the main airport of theregion of Brittany in terms of passenger traffic with 45% of this traffic of the region, representing 919,404 passengers in 2010.[28] A new terminal has been in service since 12 December 2007 and can accommodate up to 1.8 million passengers annually.[29]
The harbour of Brest is mainly dedicated tobulk, hydrocarbon andfreight containers. The harbour's facilities can accommodate the largest modern ships. A cruise ship port is also located in Brest, near the city centre.[30]
ThePenfeld river, historic centre of the arsenal of Brest
Due to its location, Brest is regarded as the first French port that can be accessed from the Americas. Shipping is big business, althoughNantes andSaint-Nazaire 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 smallestdinghy to the biggestaircraft carrier (USS Nimitz has visited a few times). Naval construction is also an important activity: for example, theFrench aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle was built byDirection des Constructions Navales (DCN) in Brest.
Despite its image of an industrialised city whose activity depends mainly on military order, theservice 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.[31]
Brest has a vast program, combining a restructuring of the city, up to 2025.[32]
Breton is not commonly spoken in the city of Brest, which was the only French-speaking city in western Brittany before the 1789French Revolution, despite the surrounding countryside being fully Breton-speaking at that time. Like otherFrench minority languages, Breton does not have any official language status in France.
The municipality launched a linguistic plan to revive Breton as a language throughYa d'ar brezhoneg on 16 June 2006. In 2008, 1.94% of primary-school children attended French-Breton bilingualDiwan schools.[34] Besides bilingual schools, the Breton language is also taught in some schools and universities.
The associationSked federates all Breton cultural activities.[35]
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 atall ship meeting. The last such tall ship event was "Les Tonnerres de Brest 2016". Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic the next event is planned for 2022.
View of theRade de Brest from the Place des Machines in the Capucins workshops
Brittany's most famous local delicacy, theBreton crêpe, is the main culinary feature apart from seafood. There are many crêpe restaurants (calledcrêperies). Breton applecider is often featured.
Traditional biscuits includeTraou Mad, which is a full-fat butter biscuit similar to Scottishshortbread.
In 2002 the Brestthrowball 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.[clarification needed]
Primarily the research centre of western Brittany, Brest and its surrounding area is the home of several research and elite educational establishments:
^For example, by February 1941 only 470 German shipyard workers had arrived at Brest, whilst the Naval Arsenal had 6,349 French workers. Though work on capital ships was generally done by Germans, French employees worked extensively on submarines and the smaller military vessels in the surface fleet. German Navy reports indicate that this was a willing workforce and that there were no incidences of sabotage. As well as working on ship repairs, the French provided a significant fire-fighting force to help negate the effect of Allied air raids. This story is balanced by Resistance activity, such as that of Jean Philippon, a French Naval Lieutenant Commander who provided important ship movement intelligence to the Allies for more than a year. This espionage was a key component in the effectiveness of Allied air raids which ultimately led to theremoval of German capital ships to safer bases.
^Hellwinkel, Lars (2014).Hitler's Gateway to the Atlantic: German Naval Bases in France 1940–1945 (Kindle ed.). Seaforth Publishing. pp. Kindle location 1151–1369.
^"Brest–Guipavas (29)"(PDF).Fiche Climatologique: Statistiques 1981–2010 et records (in French). Meteo France. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 10 March 2018. Retrieved10 March 2018.
![Saint-Sauveur church in Recouvrance, designed by Amédée-François Frézier, the oldest church of Brest, built in 1750[20]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aSaint-Sauveur-clocher.jpg)
