Landerneau

Landerneau Landerne
Commune
Houses with a slate facade, on theRohan Bridge
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Landerneau
Landerneau Landerneau
Coordinates:48°27′06″N4°14′53″W
Country	France
Region	Brittany
Department	Finistère
Arrondissement	Brest
Canton	Landerneau
Intercommunality	CA Pays de Landerneau-Daoulas
Government
• Mayor(2020–2026)	Patrick Leclerc
Area 1	13.19 km2(5.09 sq mi)
Population (2021)	16,206
• Density	1,200/km2(3,200/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00(CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00(CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	29103/29800
Elevation	1–175 m (3.3–574.1 ft)
1French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2(0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Landerneau(French pronunciation:[lɑ̃dɛʁno];Breton:Landerne,pronounced[lãnˈdɛrne]) is acommunein theFinistèredepartmentofBrittanyin north-westernFrance.

It lies at the mouth of theElorn Riverwhich divides the Breton provinces ofCornouailleandLéon,22 km (14 mi) east ofBrest.The name is from Lan Terneo and can mean "(religious) enclosure of St Ténénan (Welsh:Tyrnog) ": allegedly a Welshman who also hadllansin the Vale ofClwydin NorthWalesand inSomerset,and who moved to Brittany in the 7th century. Lann means a religious sacred place. The town has been founded by Saint Arnoc, some times called Ternoc and confusion can occur with Saint Ténénan. Some sources point Saint Arnoc and Saint Ténénan as the same person. It was an important centre of theflaxandlinenindustries in the 16th and 17th centuries. Landerneau is also the hometown ofÉdouard Leclerc,a businessman and entrepreneur who founded the French supermarket chain E.Leclerc in 1948. His first store applies a hard competition with other supermarket chains with local made products and lower prices. Leclerc's new methods of sales are still applied in all supermarkets and hypermarkets and marks an evolution in the market's history. The town is actually the heart of theagriculturalmarket in northwest Brittany with severalagribusinesscompanies headquarters located in the town.

The town is also known for its moon, La Lune de Landerneau (the Moon of Landerneau). This nickname is supposed from a noble visiting Versailles court and was not impressed by the luxury of theChâteau de Versailles.He was contemplating the moon with others in the Versailles gardens when he said "the Landerneau's moon is bigger", that made the assembly laugh. The Breton noble made reference to a big silver metal disc on top of the Saint Houardon Church, well known in the surroundings as "the moon of Landerneau".

Pont de Rohan

A picturesque feature of the town centre is the sixteenth-century house-lined bridge (the Pont de Rohan) across the Elorn. The Pont de Rohan was the most downstream crossing of the Elorn River until 1930 and the construction of thePont Albert LouppenearBrest.

International relations

Landerneau istwinnedwith the towns ofCaernarfoninGwyneddinWalesandHünfeldinGermany.

Music festival

Each year in August a music festival called "Fête du bruit dans Landerneau" takes place in Landerneau. "Fête du bruit dans Landerneau" means "festival of noise in Landerneau". When spoken it sounds identical to "faites du bruit dans Landerneau" which means "make some noise in Landerneau". This is a play on words based on thehomophones"fête" and "faites". It also a play on words based on a French expression "Cela va faire du bruit dans Landerneau" meaning "That gonna make some noise in Landerneau". The origins of the expression is not clear. The first theory is from a 1796 theater drama, "Alexandre Duval's Les Héritiers", after a famous sailor declared dead is back to his hometown, Landerneau. "His death will make some noise in Landerneau" text said. The second theory is from the "Bagne de Brest" (Brest's Prison between 1749 and 1848). When a prisoner escapes, the prison's cannons were fired to alarm the area of the evasion. The noise of the canons could be heard from Landeneau, 22 kilometers (14 miles) away.

Population

Inhabitants of Landerneau are called inFrenchLandernéens.It the 4th most populous commune of Finistère Departement.

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 4,012 — 1800 3,669 −1.27% 1806 3,896 +1.01% 1821 4,317 +0.69% 1831 4,933 +1.34% 1836 4,963 +0.12% 1841 4,906 −0.23% 1846 4,934 +0.11% 1851 5,113 +0.72% 1856 6,518 +4.98% 1861 6,959 +1.32% 1866 7,853 +2.45% 1872 7,717 −0.29% 1876 8,195 +1.51% 1881 9,078 +2.07% 1886 8,927 −0.33% 1891 8,497 −0.98% 1896 8,038 −1.10%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 7,080 −2.51% 1906 7,737 +1.79% 1911 8,252 +1.30% 1921 7,735 −0.64% 1926 7,424 −0.82% 1931 8,004 +1.52% 1936 8,855 +2.04% 1946 10,975 +2.17% 1954 10,950 −0.03% 1962 11,834 +0.98% 1968 12,781 +1.29% 1975 14,541 +1.86% 1982 14,482 −0.06% 1990 14,269 −0.19% 1999 14,281 +0.01% 2007 14,902 +0.53% 2012 15,265 +0.48% 2017 15,781 +0.67%
Source: EHESSand INSEE (1968-2017)

Breton language

Landerneau has manybilingual signs(French andBreton), and is the first town where the indications in the local station were made bilingual, as a result of theYa d'ar brezhonegcharter of theOfis ar Brezhoneg.

The municipality launched a linguistic plan throughYa d'ar brezhonegon 12 December 2004. In 2008, 12.46% of primary-school children attended bilingual schools.

Schools

There are eight (private and public) preschools and primary schools in the town, including aDiwanschool, and two high schools.

Transport

• The town has its own bus transportation system named "Ar Bus" (The bus) and includes 6 lines. Buses are free of charge on Saturdays.
• Landerneau stationis a stop on theParis–Brest railwayand the branch toQuimper.Near the Train Station, all local bus lines and departement bus lines connect at the "Gare Routière" (central bus station).
• The Town was the first in France to build a Square shaped roundabout in front of its Train Station, onMatthieu DonnartPlace.
• The town is connected toRN 12;a trunk road connecting Landerneau toBrestandParisvia Departmental Road (D)770 that also links to the town ofDaoulasat south, where the trunk road to Quimper is. The D770 can be a bypass from/to Quimper to the north coast (N165 <> N12) avoiding Brest surroundings.

See also

• Communes of the Finistère department
• Landerneau Parish close
• List of the works of Bastien and Henry Prigent
• List of the works of the Maître de Plougastel
• St Thomas' Church

External links

• (in French)Official website
• Base Mérimée:Search for heritage in the commune,Ministère français de la Culture.(in French)