Page 151 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Brittany

brit t an y region b y region  149

SOUTHERN

FINISTÈRE

this part of brittany has a wild and rugged coastline but also
some very sheltered beaches, and is swept by strong winds while
also enjoying a temperate climate. the outstanding cultural heritage of
southern Finistère is amply evident in Quimper, the capital city, and during
the Festival de Cornouaille that is held here.

Corresponding to the historic kingdom of southern Finistère is an area of unspoiled
Cornouaille, southern Finistère is bordered countryside, with lush woods and narrow
to the north by the Monts d’Arrée and the rivers running through deep valleys where
Presqu’île de Crozon, and to the east by the unexpectedly splendid chapels, many
Montagnes Noires. Like northern Finistère, with splendid altarpieces and calvaries,
to the north, and the Morbihan, to the can be discovered.
southeast, the region has an indented It is also in southern Finistère, together
coastline with impressive promontories, with the Morbihan, that the spirit of
wide bays and sheltered coves. ancient, mythical, pre-Christian Brittany
The Pointe du Van and Pointe du Raz, most tangibly lives on. The Breton spirit is
two promontories at the western suffused with the otherworldy, with
extremity of southern Finistère, are among ancient pagan ideas and rituals that have
the region’s wildest and most beautiful given birth to legends surrounding
places. It is here, on the edge of the countless saints. Armorica is also the land
Atlantic, that the four of the largest inshore of the Knights of the Round Table and the
and deep-sea fishing ports in Brittany – companions of King Arthur, whose
Concarneau, Douarnenez, Le Guilvinec legends enliven a part of this region’s
and Camaret – have developed. Inland, enthralling and romantic history.

Spectacular beach view at Pointe du Raz with Phare de la Vieille, the lighthouse, at a distance
Old timber-framed buidling in Quimper

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