Brittany (2)

In my preceding post I showed the coastline of the Golfe-de-Morbihan (Gulf of Morbihan), the “little sea”, by photos taken from the shore side.  Here are now some pictures taken during a boat tour.

The exact number of islands in the gulf can be discussed – some of the smaller ones disappear during the ebb tide -, but you may count around 40. Except the two larger ones, Île-aux-Moines and Île-d’Arz, most of the islands are privately owned and / or uninhabited. Île-aux-Moines and Île-d’Arz have a few hundred inhabitants during the colder months, a few thousand during the warmer months.

There are a large number of beautiful homes to be found on the shore side as well on some of the islands – many owned by well-known personalities in France.

The whole region has been inhabited “since forever” and different megalithic monuments can also be found in the gulf.  One example is the burial mound or cairn from around 3500 BC to be found on the little island of Gavrinis. Just in front of it there is another little island, Er Lannic, with a stone circle. A second circle is today submerged. This proves how the water level has risen over 5000 or 6000 years – this was then all mainland.  

In the northern end of the gulf you find the city of Vannes with its some 50.000 inhabitants. The city is named Gwened in the local Breton language. This refers in its turn to Veneti, a Celtic seafaring people, defeated by Julius Caesar in 51 BC.

Here are some pictures from the port, the city walls, the Cathedral of St. Peter and a number of timber-framed houses.

(For further understanding you may also refer to maps in the preceding post.)