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Quimper (Kemper in Breton) is a commune of northwestern France. Population (1999): 67,127. Its inhabitants are called quimpérois.1 Administration
Quimper is the préfecture (capital) of the Finistère département.
2 History
The name Quimper comes from the Breton kemper, which means confluent, because the city has been built on the confluence of the Steir , the Odet and the Jet rivers. The city was first named Quimper-Corentin ( Saint Corentin was its first bishop), then has been renamed Montagne sur Odet during the French Revolution and is now just Quimper. It is also known as the capital of the Cornouaille.
3 Main Monuments
Here are some points of interest:
- Saint-Corentin cathedral
- some churches (Locmaria, Saint-Mathieu, Kerfeunteun, Ergue-Armel...)
- an old downtown with fortifications and houses from middle-age
- Musée des Beaux-Arts (near the cathédrale)
- Cornouaille Festival: traditional danse (last week of July)
- Faience museum
4 Famous citizens
Quimper was the birthplace of:
- Élie Catherine Fréron (1719-1776), critic and controversialist
- René Laënnec (1781-1826), physician, inventor of the stethoscope
- Max JacobMax Jacob ( July 12, 1876 March 5, 1944) was a French poet, painter, writer and critic. Born in Quimper, Brittany, France, he enrolled in the Paris Colonial School, which he left in 1897 for an artistic career. On Boulevard Voltaire, he shared a room with (1876-1944), poet, painter, writer and critic
- Philippe Poupon , sailor
5 See also
- YsQuimper) Ys (also spelled Is in Breton) is a mythical city built in the Douarnenez bay in Brittany by Gradlon, King of Cornouaille for his daughter, Dahut. According to the legend, Ys was built below sea level, protected by a dam from being engulfed.
6 External Link
Cities, towns and villages of France
