Morlaix

History

The Battle of Morlaix, part of the Hundred Years' War, was fought near the town on 30 September 1342 between the English under William de Bohun, Earl of Northampton and the French under Charles, Duke of Brittany. The result was an English victory and has been viewed by historians as presaging the battle tactics of the Battle of Crécy four years later.

Leisure and tourism

The old quarter of the town has winding streets of cobbled stones and overhanging houses constructed of stone and timber. Many have religious and secular sculptures on their façades.

One of these houses is "la Maison dite de la duchesse Anne", or the "so-called Duchess Anne’s house", which is now a museum, open to the public. This house is said to be one of the oldest in the town. Local legend has it that it derives its name from the fact that the Duchesse Anne of Brittany visited the house during her Tro Breizh pilgrimage. This seems unlikely, though, as construction on the house started in the 1520s and Anne of Brittany died in 1514.

The Museum of the Jacobins in Morlaix, housed in a former convent, traces the history of Finistère.

Morlaix is a popular location for sea sports enthusiasts with a diverse array of activities on offer including surfing, sand buggying and kite flying. Visitors can also find beautiful coastal paths for walks. Inland activities include bowling, golf, horse-riding and many more. There are also a cinema and a swimming pool.

Marina

A tidal river that almost completely dries out at low tide reaches the town of Morlaix where there is a lock into a marina.

Transport

Morlaix Railway Station is served by TGV on the Paris–Brest railway. Immediately adjacent to the station is the Morlaix Viaduct, built in 1861–1863, and a national historic monument.

Morlaix is served by the Morlaix Ploujean Airport.

Breton language

The municipality launched a linguistic plan concerning the Breton language through Ya d'ar brezhoneg on 27 June 2008.

In 2008, 6.45% of primary-school children attended bilingual schools.

The Diwan school in Morlaix, founded around 1988, was originally located in very old apartments. In January 2008, the mayor offered the Diwan school a move to a more suitable location, an empty school. In June 2008, the new mayor decided that the Diwan school should move location once again. The town council wanted to use their building to open a new public school. However, the replacement building chosen for the Diwan school was in a very bad shape.

Population

Inhabitants of Morlaix are called in French Morlaisiens.

Economy

Brit Air, a regional airline and Air France subsidiary, is at Morlaix Airport in Morlaix. In 2013 the airline merged with HOP!

Education

Morlaix has six public primary schools, four private primary schools, three public junior high schools, two public senior high schools/sixth-form colleges, two private junior high schools, and one public senior high/sixth-form.

Public schools:

Preschools and elementary schools: Corentin-Caer, Emlie-Cloarec, Gambetta (separate preschool and elementary schools), Jean-Jaures (separate preschool and elementary schools), Jean-Piaget, and Poan Ben (separate preschool and elementary schools)

Junior high schools: Collège du Château, College Mendes-France, College Tanguy-Prient

Senior high schools: Lycée Agricole de Suscinio and Lycée Tristan-Corbière

Private schools:

Preschools and elementary schools: Diwan, Notre Dame de Loures, Notre Dame de Ploujean, and Saint-Joseph

Junior high schools: College Saint-Augustin, College Saint-Joseph

Senior high school: Ensemble Scolaire Le Porsmeur – Notre Dame du Mur

Climate

Morlaix has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb). The average annual temperature in Morlaix is 11.4 °C (52.5 °F). The average annual rainfall is 976.3 mm (38.44 in) with December as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 17.0 °C (62.6 °F), and lowest in January, at around 6.7 °C (44.1 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Morlaix was 36.6 °C (97.9 °F) on 18 July 2006; the coldest temperature ever recorded was −9.5 °C (14.9 °F) on 19 February 1985.

Personalities

born in the 15th century

Jean Coatanlem (circa 1455–1492), corsair and admiral of Portugal.

Nicolas Coetanlem (1460–1519), merchant and sailor, nephew of the former.

born in the 16th century

Albert Le Grand (1599-1641), hagiographer

born in the 18th century

Lannux de la Chaume family, merchants, shipowners, financiers, mayor of Morlaix, consulates of Spain in France before the Revolution.

Nicolas Anthon (1714–v.1753), corsair of the port of Morlaix born in Roscoff, captain of the Comtesse de La Marck and the Comte de Saint Pern.

Charles Cornic (1731–1809), corsair.

Michel Behic (1736–1827), merchant, financier, revolutionary, mayor of Morlaix.

Joseph Gueguen (1741–1825), domestic, secretary, interpreter, translator, merchant and justice, born in Morlaix, died in Cocagne (New-Brunswick).

Armand Joseph Dubernad (1743–1799), merchant, financier, revolutionary.

Louis-Alexandre Expilly de la Poipe (1743–1794), French first constitutional bishop, bishop of Cornwall, guillotined on 22 May 1794 in Brest with 26 administrators of Finistère.

Jean Nicolas Anthon (1747–1790), privateer corsair, captain of the Count of Guichen (1781, shipowner Jean Diot), captured by the English, imprisoned in Falmouth, escaped, resumed activity as captain of the Éclipse based in Dunkirk and in the merchant navy.

Twin towns – sister cities

Morlaix is twinned with:

Truro, England, United Kingdom (1979)

Würselen, Germany (1976)

In addition, Morlaix cooperates with Réo, Burkina Faso.