Penmarch: Information from Answers.com

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Administration
Penmarch Penmarc'h

Lighthouses on the Pointe de Penmarc'h
Penmarch
Location within Brittany region Penmarch
Country	France
Region	Brittany
Department	Finistère
Arrondissement	Quimper
Canton	Le Guilvinec
Intercommunality	Pays Bigouden Sud
Mayor	Jacqueline Lazard (2008–2014)
Statistics
Elevation	-1–23 m (−3.3–75 ft)
Land area¹	16.39 km² (6.33 sq mi)
Population²	5,633 (2008)
- Density	344 /km² (890 /sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	29158/ 29760
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Coordinates: 47°48′46″N 4°20′12″W / 47.8127°N 4.3366°W / 47.8127; -4.3366

Penmarc'h or Penmarch is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. It lies 18 km south-west of Quimper by road.

Contents

1 History
2 Population
3 Sights
4 Literary references
5 See also
6 References
7 Further reading
8 External links

History

On the extremity of the peninsula on which it is situated are fortified remains of a town which was of considerable importance from the 14th to the 16th centuries and included, besides Penmarc'h, Saint-Guénolé and Kerity. It owed its prosperity to its cod-banks, the disappearance of which together with the discovery of the Newfoundland cod-banks and the pillage of the place by the bandit La Fontenelle in 1595 contributed to its decline.

The church of Saint Nouna, a Gothic building of the early 16th century at Penmarc'h, and the church of St. Guénolé, an unfinished tower, and the church of Kerity are of interest. The coast is very dangerous. On the Pointe de Penmarc'h stands the Phare d'Eckmühl, with a light visible for 60 miles. There are numerous megalithic monuments in the vicinity.

Population

Inhabitants of Penmarc'h are called in French Penmarchais. The commune has a greater population than Guilvinec.

Historical populations
Year	Pop.	±%
1793	1,134	—
1800	1,166	+2.8%
1806	885	−24.1%
1821	1,462	+65.2%
1831	1,727	+18.1%
1836	1,781	+3.1%
1841	1,783	+0.1%
1846	1,867	+4.7%
1851	1,964	+5.2%
1856	1,987	+1.2%
1861	2,029	+2.1%
1866	2,227	+9.8%
1872	2,431	+9.2%
1876	2,641	+8.6%
1881	2,871	+8.7%
1886	3,238	+12.8%
1891	3,600	+11.2%
1896	4,298	+19.4%
1901	5,068	+17.9%
1906	5,702	+12.5%
1911	6,051	+6.1%
1921	6,735	+11.3%
1926	6,877	+2.1%
1931	7,037	+2.3%
1936	6,956	−1.2%
1946	7,077	+1.7%
1954	7,204	+1.8%
1962	7,652	+6.2%
1968	7,320	−4.3%
1975	6,921	−5.5%
1982	6,463	−6.6%
1990	6,272	−3.0%
1999	5,889	−6.1%
2008	5,633	−4.3%

Sights

Penmarch is also home to the 'Droguen' rock.

Literary references

Dorigen, the female protagonist in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Franklin's Tale, has a name similar to this, which may symbolise her obduracy.^{[citation needed]}.

References

INSEE

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.