Quimper

Quimper is the prefecture (capital) of the Finistère department.

The city was built on the confluence of the Steir, Odet and Jet rivers. Route National 165, D785, D765 and D783 were constructed to intersect here, 62 km (39 miles) northwest of Lorient, 181 km (112 mi) west of Rennes, and 486 km (302 mi) west-southwest of Paris.

Quimper has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb). The average annual temperature in Quimper is 11.9 °C (53.4 °F). The average annual rainfall is 1,250.2 mm (49.22 in) with December as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 17.8 °C (64.0 °F), and lowest in February, at around 6.7 °C (44.1 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Quimper was 35.9 °C (96.6 °F) on 30 June 1976; the coldest temperature ever recorded was −10.1 °C (13.8 °F) on 13 January 1987.

Comparison of local Meteorological data with other cities in France^[4]

Town	Sunshine   (hours/yr)	Rain   (mm/yr)	Snow   (days/yr)	Storm   (days/yr)	Fog   (days/yr)
National average	1,973	770	14	22	40
Quimper	1,684	1,249.2	6.3	14.0	60.4[5]
Paris	1,661	637	12	18	10
Nice	2,724	767	1	29	1
Strasbourg	1,693	665	29	29	56
Brest	1,605	1,211	7	12	75

The name Quimper comes from the Breton kemper, meaning "confluent".

 

Quimper is the ancient capital of Cornouaille, Brittany's most traditional region, and has a distinctive Breton Celtic character. Its name is the Breton word kemper (cognate to Welsh cymer), meaning "confluence". The town developed at the confluence of the rivers Le Steir and L'Odet. Shops and flags celebrate the region's Celtic heritage.

Quimper was originally settled during Roman times. By AD 495, the town had become a Bishopric. It subsequently became the capital of the counts of Cornouailles. In the eleventh century, it was united with the Duchy of Brittany. During the War of the Breton Succession (1341–1364), the town suffered considerable ruin. In 1364, the duchy passed to the House of Montfort.

The town has a rustic atmosphere, with footbridges spanning the rivers that flow through it. The Church of Locmaria, a Romanesque structure, dates from the eleventh century. The Cathedral of Saint-Corentin, with its Gothic-style façade, was constructed between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. It is the oldest Gothic structure in lower Brittany. Its two towers are 76 m (250 feet); its spires were added in the nineteenth century. The fifteenth-century stained glass windows are exceptional. The cathedral is dedicated to Quimper's first bishop, Corentin.

To the cathedral's west are the pedestrianised streets of Vieux Quimper (Old Quimper), which have a wide array of crêperies, half-timbered houses, and shops. Near the Episcopal palace, which now holds the Musée départemental Breton (devoted to regional history, archaeology, ethnology and economy) are the ruins of the town's fifteenth-century walls. Nearby is the Musée des beaux-arts de Quimper. The museum has a nineteenth-century façade and an entirely rebuilt interior. It houses a collection of fourteenth to twenty-first century paintings that includes works by François Boucher, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Jean-Baptiste Oudry and Peter Paul Rubens, along with canvases by such Pont-Aven School painters as Émile Bernard, Maurice Denis, Georges Lacombe, Maxime Maufra and Paul Sérusier.

The town's best known product is Quimper faience, tin-glazed pottery. It has been made here since 1690, using bold provincial designs of Jean-Baptiste Bousquet. Quimper has a museum devoted to faience. The town has also been known for copper and bronze work, food items, galvanised ironware, hosiery, leather, paper and woollen goods.

Adolphe Harré was a French sailor from Quimper who died during World War I along with the 31 crew members of the SS Longwy, a French merchant vessel that was torpedoed off the coast of Scotland in 1917. Harré’s body washed ashore in Scotland and was buried in Doune Cemetery in Girvan, Ayrshire.

On 12 October 2024, a memorial stele was inaugurated at Doune Cemetery to honour Adolphe Harré and the crew of the SS Longwy. The ceremony was attended by local authorities, including the First Minister of Scotland, members of the French Navy, and dignitaries from both Scotland and France. A wreath was laid on behalf of the mayoress of Quimper and the city, symbolizing the historic ties between the French and Scottish communities and commemorating the sacrifice of the sailors.^[9]

The population data in the table and graph below refer to the commune of Quimper proper, in its geography at the given years. The commune of Quimper absorbed the former communes of Ergué-Armel, Kerfunteun and Penhars in 1959.^[10] Its inhabitants are called Quimpérois.

The municipality launched a linguistic plan through Ya d'ar brezhoneg on 6 February 2008, to revive the teaching and use of Breton, the historic Celtic language of the region. In 2008, 4.61% of primary-school children attended bilingual schools.^[12]

Quimper has several schools. These include two Diwan pre-schools, two Diwan primary schools and one Diwan collège (all specialise in use of Breton). In total, 287 students here attended a Diwan school in 2003–2004.^[13]

While many French festivals are held in the summer season, Quimper has a winter festival: Les Hivernautes.

In the summer, concerts are held on street corners, with pipers and accordion players.^[14]

The Festival de Cornouaille, a cultural festival, is typically held in the last week of July.^{[citation needed]}

 

 

Points of interest in Quimper include:^{[citation needed]}

• Quimper Cathedral and the nearby statue of Gradlon (looking in the direction of Ys)
• Musée des Beaux-Arts (near the cathedral)
• Several churches, including Locmaria, Saint-Mathieu, Kerfeunteun and Ergue-Armel.
• The old town centre with mediaeval fortifications and houses
• Faience museum

Public transport in Quimper is provided by QUB. The network consists of seven urban bus routes and 16 suburban bus routes. During the summer months of July and August, an additional "beach" bus route is open to service.

The Gare de Quimper is the terminus of a TGV high-speed train line from Paris, which passes through Le Mans, Rennes and Vannes. Journey duration is approximately 3 hours 40 minutes. In addition, the following destinations are served by the TER Bretagne (the regional train network):

• Quimper – Brest (1 hour 9 minutes)
• Quimper – Rennes (2 hours 15 minutes)

Commercial service at Quimper–Bretagne Airport has been terminated since November 2023.

Quimper is the birthplace of:

 

• Guillaume Hyacinthe Bougeant (1690–1743), Jesuit author
• Louis Billouart, Chevalier de Kerlérec (1704–1770), last French governor of Louisiana^[15]
• René Cardaliaguet (1875–1950), priest and writer
• Élie Catherine Fréron (1718–1776), critic and controversialist
• Franciscus Lé Livec de Trésurin (1726–1792), French Jesuit
• Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Trémarec (1734–1797), explorer, admiral, discoverer of the Kerguelen archipelago
• Rene-Marie Madec (1736–1784), adventurer, Nawab of India. See also René Madec
• Guillaume François Laennec (1748–1822), French physician
• René Laennec (1781–1826), physician, inventor of the stethoscope
• Max Jacob (1876–1944), poet, painter, writer and critic
• Corentin Louis Kervran (1901–1983), scientist
• Philippe Poupon (born 1954), sailor
• William Stanger (born 1985), footballer
• Jacques Villeglé (1926–2022), mixed-media artist
• Jean-Claude Andro (1937–2000), novelist
• Jessica Cérival (born 1982), athlete
• Dan Ar Braz (b. 1949), guitarist
• Anne Quemere (b. 1966), sailor and sportswoman
• Clémence Quélennec (b.1991) singer and composer

Quimper is twinned with:^[16]

• Communes of the Finistère department
• François Bazin (sculptor)
• Henri Alphonse Barnoin
• Henri Guinier
• Lionel Floch
• List of the works of Charles Cottet depicting scenes of Brittany
• List of works of the two Folgoët ateliers

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Quimper.

• Official city council's website