90-643: Douarnenez ( Breton pronunciation: [duarˈnẽːnɛs] , French: [dwaʁnəne] ; meaning douar (land) an enez (the island) or land of the island), is a commune in the French department of Finistère , region of Brittany , northwestern France. It is located at the mouth of the Pouldavid River , an estuary on the southern shore of Douarnenez Bay in the Atlantic Ocean, 25 kilometres (16 mi) north-west of Quimper . The population in 2008
180-421: A "realm of 100,000 steeples". Parishes lacked the municipal structures of post-Revolution communes. Usually, one contained only a building committee ( conseil de fabrique ), made up of villagers, which managed the buildings of the parish church, the churchyard, and the other numerous church estates and properties, and sometimes also provided help for the poor, or even administered parish hospitals or schools. Since
270-445: A category currently being phased out), made up of 33,327 communes (91.1 percent of all the communes of metropolitan France), and 52.86 million inhabitants, i.e., 86.7 percent of the population of metropolitan France. These impressive results however may hide a murkier reality. In rural areas, many communes have entered a community of communes only to benefit from government funds. Often the local syndicate has been turned officially into
360-530: A commune for their administration. This is unlike some other countries, such as the United States, where unincorporated areas directly governed by a county or a higher authority can be found. There are only a few exceptions: Furthermore, two regions without permanent habitation have no communes: In metropolitan France , the average area of a commune in 2004 was 14.88 square kilometres (5.75 sq mi). The median area of metropolitan France's communes at
450-537: A community of communes, the new community of communes in fact managing only the services previously managed by the syndicate, contrary to the spirit of the law which has established the new intercommunal structures to carry out a much broader range of activities than that undertaken by the old syndicates. Some say that, should government money transfers be stopped, many of these communities of communes would revert to their former status of syndicate, or simply completely disappear in places where there were no syndicates prior to
540-574: A density of communes as France, and even there an extensive merger movement has started in the last 10 years. To better grasp the staggering number of communes in France, two comparisons can be made: First, of the original 15 member states of the European Union there are approximately 75,000 communes; France alone, which comprises 16 percent of the population of the EU-15, had nearly half of its communes. Second,
630-502: A marvelous view of the Goyen river valley. The Monastery Church of Notre-Dame de Roscudon, which dates from the early 13th century, has a 67 m high spire that served as the model for the spires of Quimper Cathedral. Pont-Croix's cobbled streets ( Ruelles pavées ) and medieval houses are located around a market and a church. The market is held every Thursday morning. Other points of interest are: This Finistère geographical article
720-756: A massive merger of communes, including by such distinguished voices as the president of the Cour des Comptes (the central auditing administrative body in France). In 1971 the Marcellin law offered support and money from the government to entice the communes to merge freely with each other, but the law had only a limited effect (only about 1,300 communes agreed to merge with others). Many rural communes with few residents struggle to maintain and manage basic services such as running water, garbage collection, or properly paved communal roads. Mergers, however, are not easy to achieve. One problem
810-582: A much larger territory covering 449,964 km (173,732 sq mi) and yet is divided into only 290 municipalities ( kommuner ). Alsace has more than double the total number of municipalities of the Netherlands which, in spite of having a population nine times larger and a land area four times larger than Alsace, is divided into just 390 municipalities ( gemeenten ). Most of the communes in Alsace, along with those in other regions of France, have rejected
900-515: A short distance of the town. Since 1986, Douarnenez has organised maritime festivals every two years. These festivals attract all types of traditional sailing , with competitors from the four corners of the earth. In 2004, a record year, there were almost 2000 sailing ships, 17,000 sailors, and 30 participating countries. Douarnenez also has a full programme of annual festivals and events featuring regattas, local folklore, cinema, carnévale processions, gastronomy, and sports. Details are available from
990-699: Is 35 km (14 sq mi); and in Germany , the majority of Länder have communes ( Gemeinden ) with a median area above 15 km (5.8 sq mi). Switzerland and the Länder of Rhineland-Palatinate and Schleswig-Holstein in Germany were the only places in Europe where the communes had a smaller median area than in France. The communes of France's overseas départements such as Réunion and French Guiana are large by French standards. They usually group into
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#17328591916791080-524: Is linked to the legend of Tristan and Iseult from the times of King Arthur . The legendary city of Ys , of Breton folklore, is believed to lie beneath Douarnenez Bay. The port is also associated with the Arthurian medieval story of Tristan , lover of Iseult , for whom Tristan Island is named. The island was originally named St Tutuarn Island after the priory founded there in the 12th century. Douarnenez has several 16th and 17th-century churches, including
1170-526: Is located at the top of a peninsula, with the Port of Rosmeur on the eastern side and Port Rhu to the west. The steep, narrow cobbled streets which climb up to the town from the harbors have changed little over the past century. They reveal a wide range of places of interest, including old chapels, the Halles or covered market at the town square, and traditional houses once inhabited by local fishermen. The main square has
1260-480: Is possible to walk across to Tristan Island which is now increasingly open to the public. The island has a harbour, a lighthouse, a walled garden, an orchard and an art gallery. The coast, stretching westwards to the Pointe du Raz and northwards to Crozon , is best visited on foot. Signposted footpaths lead visitors to all the rocky inlets and headlands, providing sea views. A number of long, sandy beaches are located to
1350-402: Is that mergers reduce the number of available elected positions, and thus are not popular with local politicians. Moreover, citizens from one village may be unwilling to have their local services run by an executive located in another village, whom they may consider unaware of or inattentive to their local needs. In December 2010 the law n° 2010-1563 regarding reform of territorial collectivities
1440-520: Is the best served destination for air and rail connections to the region. From Quimper, there are high-speed trains to Paris (4 hours) and to other parts of France. Quimper airport, about 20 minutes by taxi from Douarnenez, has flights to Paris. Brest airport connects to Paris and Lyon , as well as to Birmingham and Southampton , England, and other destinations. Douarnenez may be reached by sea although there are no regular passenger services. A ferry service operates between Plymouth and Roscoff ,
1530-509: Is the only administrative unit below the commune in the French Republic but exists only in these three communes. These municipal arrondissements are not to be confused with the arrondissements that are subdivisions of French départements : French communes are considered legal entities , whereas municipal arrondissements, by contrast, have no official capacity and no budget of their own. The rights and obligations of communes are governed by
1620-702: Is the smallest and oldest administrative division in France . " Commune " in English has a historical association with socialist and collectivist political movements and philosophies. This association arises in part from the rising of the Paris Commune (1871) which could have more felicitously been called, in English, "the rising of the City of Paris". There is nothing intrinsically different between "town" in English and commune in French. The French word commune appeared in
1710-561: The Atlantic occasionally reach gale force. Details, including past averages, are available from Météo France. Adhesion to the Ya d'ar brezhoneg charter was voted by the City Council on 22 December 2004. On 8 February 2008 the municipality received the label of "level 2" of the charter. At the start of the 2017 school year , 134 pupils were enrolled in the public bilingual stream (11.4% of children in
1800-548: The Code général des collectivités territoriales (CGCT) which replaced the Code des communes (except for personnel matters) with the passage of the law of 21 February 1996 for legislation and decree number 2000-318 of 7 April 2000 for regulations. From 1794 to 1977 — except for a few months in 1848 and 1870-1871 — Paris had no mayor and was thus directly controlled by the departmental prefect. This meant that Paris had less autonomy than certain towns or villages. Even after Paris regained
1890-549: The National Assembly ( Assemblée Nationale ) passed a law creating the commune, designed to be the lowest level of administrative division in France, thus endorsing these independently created communes, but also creating communes of its own. In this area as in many others, the work of the National Assembly was, properly speaking, revolutionary: not content with transforming all the chartered cities and towns into communes,
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#17328591916791980-477: The Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts of 1539 by Francis I , the priest in charge of the parish was also required to record baptisms, marriages, and burials. Except for these tasks, villages were left to handle other issues as they pleased. Typically, villagers would gather to decide over a special issue regarding the community, such as agricultural land usage, but there existed no permanent municipal body. In many places,
2070-613: The United States , with a territory fourteen times larger than that of the French Republic, and nearly five times its population, had 35,937 incorporated municipalities and townships at the 2002 Census of Governments, fewer than that of the French Republic. The number of barangays in the Philippines, villages of Indonesia, and muban in Thailand also have a higher number than the French communes. There have long been calls in France for
2160-444: The mairies . These abrupt changes profoundly alienated devout Catholics, and France soon was plunged into the throes of civil war , with the fervently religious regions of western France at its center. It would take Napoleon I to re-establish peace in France, stabilize the new administrative system, and make it generally accepted by the population. Napoleon also abolished the election of the municipal councils, which now were chosen by
2250-702: The prefect , the local representative of the central government. Today, French communes are still very much the same in their general principles as those that were established at the beginning of the Revolution. The biggest changes occurred in 1831, when the French Parliament re-established the principle of the election of municipal councils, and in 1837 when French communes were given legal "personality", being now considered legal entities with legal capacity. The Jacobin revolutionaries were afraid of independent local powers, which they saw as conservative and opposed to
2340-547: The 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia , for a large gathering of people sharing a common life; from Latin communis , 'things held in common'. As of January 2021, there were 35,083 communes in France , of which 34,836 were in metropolitan France , 129 in the overseas departments , and 83 in the overseas collectivities and New Caledonia . This is a considerably higher total than that of any other European country , because French communes still largely reflect
2430-427: The 14th century, the island became known as Tristan. The hamlet which grew up at today's Port of Rosmeur was originally part of the parish of Ploaré. It did not become a commune in its own right until 1790. In 1945, Douarnenez was expanded to include Ploaré, Pouldavid and Tréboul. The fishing history of Douarnenez goes back at least to Gallo-Roman times when, as archeological finds demonstrate, fish were salted along
2520-503: The 1999 census was even smaller, at 10.73 square kilometres (4.14 sq mi). The median area gives a better sense of the size of a typical mainland France commune than the average area since the average includes some very large communes. In Italy , the median area of communes ( comuni ) is 22 km (8.5 sq mi); in Belgium it is 40 km (15 sq mi); in Spain it
2610-401: The 36,683 communes have fewer than 500 inhabitants and, with 4,638,000 inhabitants, these smaller communes constitute just 7.7 percent of the total population. In other words, just 8 percent of the French population live in 57 percent of its communes, whilst 92 percent are concentrated in the remaining 43 percent. Alsace , with an area of 8,280 km (3,200 sq mi), and now part of
2700-498: The 4th to 6th centuries, bringing their language and culture. Breton , a Brythonic language, bears great similarities to the Cornish and to Welsh languages of southwest England and Wales. Many of the traditional stories and myths also share a Breton-Cornish heritage. In the early 21st century, there are few, if any, native speakers of Breton who are not fully bilingual in French, although there were still several hundreds of thousands at
2790-557: The Church of Ploaré, which has a Gothic steeple (1548–86), and the chapels of Sainte-Croix, Sainte-Hélène, and Saint-Michel. The written history of Douarnenez begins around 1118 when, according to a charter dated 1126, Robert de Locuvan , Bishop of Cornouaille , donated the Island of St Tutuarn and the lands belonging to it to the Abbey of Marmoutier . As a result, a priory was built on the island. In
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2880-558: The National Assembly also decided to turn all the village parishes into full-status communes. The Revolutionaries were inspired by Cartesian ideas as well as by the philosophy of the Enlightenment . They wanted to do away with all the peculiarities of the past and establish a perfect society, in which all and everything should be equal and set up according to reason, rather than by tradition or conservatism. Thus, they set out to establish administrative divisions that would be uniform across
2970-494: The Région Grand Est, used to be the smallest of the regions of metropolitan France , and still has no fewer than 904 communes. This high number is typical of metropolitan France but is atypical when compared with other European countries. It shows the distinctive nature of the French commune as a geo-political or administrative entity. With its 904 communes, Alsace has three times as many municipalities as Sweden , which has
3060-570: The beginning of the 20th century. With increasing interest in minorities and their languages in the later 20th century, several Breton-language schools have been established in Finistère. In addition, Breton-language radio and TV stations, bookshops, local theatre and music have been founded. It is estimated that more than 500,000 people are now fluent in Breton. One of the main attractions in Douarnenez are
3150-452: The benefit of poorer suburbs. Moreover, intercommunal structures in many urban areas are still new, and fragile: Tensions exist between communes; the city at the center of the urban area often is suspected of wishing to dominate the suburban communes; communes from opposing political sides also may be suspicious of each other. Two famous examples of this are Toulouse and Paris. In Toulouse, on top of there being six intercommunal structures,
3240-523: The central government's calls for mergers and rationalization. By way of contrast, in the German states bordering Alsace, the geo-political and administrative areas have been subject to various re-organizations from the 1960s onward. In the state of Baden-Württemberg , the number of Gemeinden or communities was reduced from 3,378 in 1968 to 1,108 in September 2007. In comparison, the number of communes in Alsace
3330-410: The chartered cities) suddenly became legal entities for the first time in their history. This is still the case today. During the revolution, approximately 41,000 communes were created, on territory corresponding to the limits of modern-day France (the 41,000 figure includes the communes of the departments of Savoie , Haute-Savoie and Alpes-Maritimes which were annexed in 1795, but does not include
3420-527: The city of Toulouse chartered by the counts of Toulouse). These cities were made up of several parishes (up to c. 50 parishes in the case of Paris), and they were usually enclosed by a defensive wall . They had been emancipated from the power of feudal lords in the 12th and 13th centuries, had municipal bodies which administered the city, and bore some resemblance with the communes that the French Revolution would establish except for two key points: In
3510-489: The cliffs of Plomarc'h. In the late 18th century and the years before the French Revolution , sardines became the driving force for the local economy; the fishing industry was based on their harvest and, later, processing. By the beginning of the 20th century, there were huge fishing and canning activities at the port. The strikes in the 1920s in favour of better working conditions for the factory women or Penn Sardin were
3600-544: The country: the whole of France would be divided into départements , themselves divided into arrondissements, themselves divided into cantons, themselves divided into communes, no exceptions. All of these communes would have equal status, they would all have a mayor at their head and a municipal council elected by the inhabitants of the commune. This was a real revolution for the thousands of villages that never had experienced organized municipal life before. A communal house had to be built in each of these villages, which would house
3690-460: The covered market or les Halles, open every morning, a wide variety of fresh fish and seafood are sold. In addition, a selection of crêpes or thin pancakes are prepared, which can be ordered with either sweet or savory fillings. The local canning factories continue to produce an ever more extensive range of sardines, which are on sale everywhere. Douarnenez is about five and a half hours' drive from Paris via Rennes , Lorient and Quimper . Quimper
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3780-460: The departments of modern-day Belgium and Germany west of the Rhine , which were part of France between 1795 and 1815). This was fewer than the 60,000 parishes that existed before the revolution (in cities and towns, parishes were merged into one single commune; in the countryside, some very small parishes were merged with bigger ones), but 41,000 was still a considerable number, without any comparison in
3870-412: The difference residing in the lack of administrative powers. Except for the municipal arrondissements of its largest cities, the communes are the lowest level of administrative division in France and are governed by elected officials including a mayor ( maire ) and a municipal council ( conseil municipal ). They have extensive autonomous powers to implement national policy. A commune
3960-526: The division of France into villages or parishes at the time of the French Revolution . (1) Within the current limits of metropolitan France, which existed between 1860 and 1871 and from 1919 to today. (2) Within the current extent of overseas France, which has remained unchanged since the independence of the New Hebrides in 1980. The whole territory of the French Republic is divided into communes; even uninhabited mountains or rain forests are dependent on
4050-470: The east of Douarnenez. A particularly popular spot is Locronan , a few kilometres from Douarnenez, which is a well preserved Breton village with a number of monuments. In addition, the historic city of Quimper has historic buildings, narrow streets, porcelain factories, and the bustle of the city centre. Douarnenez enjoys a mild, if rather wet climate. The prevailing winds are from the south west, bringing fairly frequent periods of light rain, particularly in
4140-532: The end of the afternoon, following the storming of the Bastille , the provost of the merchants of Paris, Jacques de Flesselles was shot by the crowd on the steps of Paris City Hall. Although in the Middle Ages the provosts of the merchants symbolized the independence of Paris and even had openly rebelled against King Charles V , their office had been suppressed by the king, then reinstated but with strict control from
4230-480: The fact that there are pronounced differences in size between French communes. As mentioned in the introduction, a commune can be a city of 2 million inhabitants such as Paris, a town of 10,000 inhabitants, or just a hamlet of 10 inhabitants. What the median population tells us is that the vast majority of the French communes only have a few hundred inhabitants, but there are also a small number of communes with much higher populations. In metropolitan France 57 percent of
4320-558: The form of a law on 22 March 1890, which provided for the establishment of single-purpose intercommunal associations. French lawmakers having long been aware of the inadequacy of the communal structure inherited from the French Revolution for dealing with a number of practical matters, the so-called Chevènement law of 12 July 1999 is the most recent and most thoroughgoing measure aimed at strengthening and simplifying this principle. In recent years it has become increasingly common for communes to band together in intercommunal consortia for
4410-548: The king, and so they had ended up being viewed by the people as yet another representative of the king, no longer the embodiment of a free municipality. Following that event, a "commune" of Paris was immediately set up to replace the old medieval chartered city of Paris, and a municipal guard was established to protect Paris against any attempt made by King Louis XVI to quell the ongoing revolution. Several other cities of France quickly followed suit, and communes arose everywhere, each with their municipal guard. On 14 December 1789,
4500-437: The kingdom. A parish was essentially a church, the houses around it (known as the village), and the cultivated land around the village. France was the most populous country in Europe at this time, with a population of approximately 25 million inhabitants in the late 18th century ( England in contrast had only 6 million inhabitants), which accounts for the large number of parishes. French kings often prided themselves on ruling over
4590-456: The latter less than two hours from Douarnenez by road. Visitors arriving by pleasure boat will find berthing facilities in Douarnenez. Regular coach service is available between Quimper and Douarnenez, taking about 35 minutes. Douarnenez has a number of municipal bus routes. One way to visit Douarnenez is to follow the Sardine Route or Chemin de la Sardine. The latter is a guided walk through
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#17328591916794680-653: The law. In urban areas, the new intercommunal structures are much more a reality, being created by local decision-makers out of genuine belief in the worth of working together. However, in many places, local feuds have arisen, and it was not possible to set up an intercommunal structure for the whole of the urban area: some communes refusing to take part in it, or even creating their own structure. In some urban areas like Marseille there exist four distinct intercommunal structures! In many areas, rich communes have joined with other rich communes and have refused to let in poorer communes, for fear that their citizens would be overtaxed to
4770-552: The least money per inhabitant, whereas urban communities are given the most money per inhabitant, thus pushing communes to form more integrated communities where they have fewer powers, which they might otherwise have been loath to do if it were not for government money. The Chevènement law has been extremely successful in the sense that a majority of French communes now have joined the new intercommunal structures. On 1 January 2007, there were 2,573 such communities in metropolitan France (including five syndicats d'agglomération nouvelle ,
4860-414: The local feudal lord ( seigneur ) still had a major influence in the village's affairs, collecting taxes from tenant-villagers and ordering them to work the corvée , controlling which fields were to be used and when, and how much of the harvest should be given to him. Additionally, some cities had obtained charters during the Middle Ages, either from the king himself or from local counts or dukes (such as
4950-404: The local market and is the center of other retail shopping, banking, and the local economy. A number of hotels and restaurants are located here as well as the post office and the tourist office. The road along the sea front at the Port of Rosmeur is lined with cafés and restaurants specialising in seafood. The commercial harbour, including some of the fish processing and canning facilities, is at
5040-515: The local tourist office. Tourism continues to prosper in Douarnenez. The 91,400 visitors in 2009 represented an increase of 2.87% since 2005. Since the late 20th century, there has been a revival of Breton culture. The Bagad de Douarnenez is a Breton music association that performs with bagpipes and other local instruments. The Douarnenez film festival is partially inspired by the Breton revival, and specialises in films from minorities. The Breton people migrated to this area from south-west Britain in
5130-564: The lowest communes' median population of all the European countries (communes in Switzerland or Rhineland-Palatinate may cover a smaller area, as mentioned above, but they are more populated). This small median population of French communes can be compared with Italy, where the median population of communes in 2001 was 2,343 inhabitants, Belgium (11,265 inhabitants), or even Spain (564 inhabitants). The median population given here should not hide
5220-480: The main community of Toulouse and its suburbs is only a community of agglomeration, although Toulouse is large enough to create an Urban Community according to the law. This is because the suburban communes refused an urban community for fear of losing too much power, and opted for a community of agglomeration, despite the fact that a community of agglomeration receives less government funds than an urban community. As for Paris, no intercommunal structure has emerged there,
5310-428: The main reason why Douarnenez became one of the first communist municipalities in France. Today, the canning trade continues, although most of the fish are brought in from other ports. Douarnenez is still a centre of boat building and repair work. Douarnenez owes much of its prosperity and expansion to the construction of railways at the end of the 19th century, which provided services for passengers and goods, connecting
5400-461: The maximum allowable pay of the mayor and deputy mayors, and municipal campaign finance limits (among other features) all depend on the population echelon into which a particular commune falls. Since the PLM Law of 1982, three French communes also have a special status in that they are further divided into municipal arrondissements : these are Paris, Marseille , and Lyon . The municipal arrondissement
5490-486: The mayors. Civil marriages were established and started to be performed in the mairie with a ceremony not unlike the traditional one, with the mayor replacing the priest, and the name of the law replacing the name of God (" Au nom de la loi, je vous déclare unis par les liens du mariage. " – "In the name of the law, I declare you united by the bonds of marriage."). Priests were forced to surrender their centuries-old baptism, marriage, and burial books, which were deposited in
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#17328591916795580-425: The meetings of the municipal council as well as the administration of the commune. Some in the National Assembly were opposed to such a fragmentation of France into thousands of communes, but eventually Mirabeau and his ideas of one commune for each parish prevailed. On 20 September 1792, the recording of births, marriages, and deaths also was withdrawn as a responsibility of the priests of the parishes and handed to
5670-739: The municipality enrolled in primary school). Communes of France The commune ( French pronunciation: [kɔmyn] ) is a level of administrative division in the French Republic . French communes are analogous to civil townships and incorporated municipalities in the United States and Canada, Gemeinden in Germany, comuni in Italy, or municipios in Spain. The UK equivalent are civil parishes . Communes are based on historical geographic communities or villages and are vested with significant powers to manage
5760-521: The north, cities tended to be administered by échevins (from an old Germanic word meaning judge), while in the south, cities tended to be administered by consuls (in a clear reference to Roman antiquity), but Bordeaux was administered by jurats (etymologically meaning "sworn men") and Toulouse by capitouls ("men of the chapter"). Usually, there was no mayor in the modern sense; all the échevins or consuls were on equal footing, and rendered decisions collegially. However, for certain purposes, there
5850-459: The northern end of the peninsula. Tristan Island is located off the peninsula but can be reached by foot at low tide. The Plage des Dames, a quiet sandy beach surrounded by rocky cliffs, is also in this area. Port Rhu is noted for its boat cemetery and for its Port-Musée or Museum Port, an open-air museum where visitors may go on a number of fishing vessels dating to the early 20th century. It includes an innovative indoor museum with exhibits on
5940-518: The number of communes in the process – the Gemeinden of West Germany were decreased from 24,400 to 8,400 in the space of a few years – France only carried out mergers at the margin, and those were mostly carried out during the 19th century. From 41,000 communes at the time of the French Revolution, the number decreased to 37,963 in 1921, to 36,569 in 2008 (in metropolitan France). Thus, in Europe, only Switzerland has as high
6030-404: The number of municipalities compared to the large and populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia (396 Gemeinden in September 2007). Despite differences in population, each of the communes of the French Republic possesses a mayor ( maire ) and a municipal council ( conseil municipal ), which jointly manage the commune from the municipal hall ( mairie ), with exactly the same powers no matter
6120-432: The numerous independent small restaurants and crêperies around the town. Most specialise in seafood, usually offering fish soup, shellfish, crab, lobster, prawns, sardines, mussels, and the catch of the day. Douarnenez's traditional buttery cake, kouign amann , has become famous throughout France and beyond. Breton cider can be drunk either alone or in a kir breton , a cocktail consisting of cider and cassis . At
6210-625: The only partially successful statute enacted in 1966 and enabling urban communes to form urban communities or the more marked failure of the Marcellin law of 1971, the Chevènement law met with a large measure of success, so that a majority of French communes are now involved in intercommunal structures. There are two types of these structures: In exchange for the creation of a community, the government allocates money to them based on their population, thus providing an incentive for communes to team up and form communities. Communities of communes are given
6300-403: The place of the former communes, which are represented by a delegated mayor and a delegated council. Between 2012 and 2021, about 820 communes nouvelles have been established, replacing about 2,550 old communes. The expression "intercommunality" ( intercommunalité ) denotes several forms of cooperation between communes. Such cooperation first made its appearance at the end of the 19th century in
6390-541: The populations and land of the geographic area covered. The communes are the fourth-level administrative divisions of France. Communes vary widely in size and area, from large sprawling cities with millions of inhabitants like Paris , to small hamlets with only a handful of inhabitants. Communes typically are based on pre-existing villages and facilitate local governance. All communes have names, but not all named geographic areas or groups of people residing together are communes ( "lieu dit" or "bourg" ),
6480-596: The port to other markets. from the end of the nineteenth century. From the railway station at the centre of Tréboul, the SNCF operated a service to Quimper. The route began operations in 1884. In the mid-20th century, many former passengers had shifted to privately owned vehicles and passenger trains were discontinued in 1972. Goods traffic and shipping by rail continued until the railway was closed in 1988. The old line has been converted into an 18 km (11 mi) cycling and walking track, providing an excellent means of discovering
6570-495: The provision of such services as refuse collection and water supply. Suburban communes often team up with the city at the core of their urban area to form a community charged with managing public transport or even administering the collection of local taxes. The Chevènement law tidied up all these practices, abolishing some structures and creating new ones. In addition, it offered central government finance aimed at encouraging further communes to join in intercommunal structures. Unlike
6660-489: The revolution, and so they favored a powerful central state. Therefore, when they created the communes, they deprived them of any legal "personality" (as they did with the départements ), with only the central state having legal "personality." By 1837 that situation was judged impractical, as mayors and municipal councils could not be parties in courts. The consequence of the change, however, was that tens of thousands of villages which had never had legal "personality" (contrary to
6750-465: The right to elect its own mayor in 1977, the central government retained control of the Paris police. In all other French communes, the municipal police are under the mayor's supervision. French communes were created at the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789–1790. Before the revolution, France's lowest level of administrative division was the parish ( paroisse ), and there were up to 60,000 of them in
6840-574: The road to Douarnenez and is connected to Plouhinec by a small, scenic road that passes through the Goyen valley. It is twinned with the civil Parish of Constantine in Kerrier, Cornwall . Inhabitants of Pont-Croix are called in French Pontécruciens . From Pont-Croix, short trips can be made to Pointe du Raz , Pointe du Van , and Baie des Trépassés . On the road to Audierne , one can enjoy
6930-406: The same as those designed at the time of the French Revolution more than 200 years ago, with the same limits. Countless rural communes that had hundreds of inhabitants at the time of the French Revolution now have only a hundred inhabitants or fewer. On the other hand, cities and towns have grown so much that their urbanized area is now extending far beyond the limits of their commune which were set at
7020-403: The same commune several villages or towns, often with sizeable distances among them. In Réunion, demographic expansion and sprawling urbanization have resulted in the administrative splitting of some communes . The median population of metropolitan France's communes at the 1999 census was 380 inhabitants. Again this is a very small number, and here France stands absolutely apart in Europe, with
7110-412: The sea, its history and challenges. Tréboul, situated on the other side of the estuary, also has a harbour for pleasure boats. The shore is lined with cafés and creperies . Les Sables blancs, a wide, sandy beach, is one of the main attractions. Douarnenez is a haven for water sports enthusiasts. In addition, there are facilities for horse-riding, tennis, walking, cycling, petanque and golf, all within
7200-414: The size of the commune. This uniformity of status is a legacy of the French Revolution, which wanted to do away with the local idiosyncrasies and tremendous differences in status that existed in the kingdom of France. French law makes allowances for the vast differences in commune size in a number of areas of administrative law. The size of the municipal council, the method of electing the municipal council,
7290-535: The suburbs of Paris fearing the concept of a "Greater Paris", and so disunity still is the rule in the metropolitan area, with the suburbs of Paris creating many different intercommunal structures all without the city. Pont-Croix Pont-Croix ( French pronunciation: [pɔ̃ kʁwa] ; Breton : Pontekroaz ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France . The town lies about 5 km (3.1 mi) from Audierne on
7380-592: The surrounding countryside. The so-called Youtar was a small-gauge railway out of Dounarnenez to Audierne via Pont-Croix . Inaugurated in 1894, it was shut down in 1936 during the Great Depression. It was reopened during the Second World War and was finally closed after the war in 1946. The old track between Audierne and Pont-Croix has been converted into a footpath along the River Goyen . The town centre
7470-609: The time of the revolution. The most extreme example of this is Paris, where the urbanized area sprawls over 396 communes. Paris in fact was one of the very few communes of France whose limits were extended to take into account the expansion of the urbanized area. The new, larger, commune of Paris was set up under the oversight of Emperor Napoléon III in 1859, but after 1859 the limits of Paris rigidified. Unlike most other European countries, which stringently merged their communes to better reflect modern-day densities of population (such as Germany and Italy around 1970), dramatically decreasing
7560-400: The town, where 19 panels (in French, English and Breton) at key points along the route explain its history and special connection with the sardine trade. In the summer, boat trips from Douarnenez travel around the bay with views of the sea caves on the north coast. Visitors to the caves can take one of the trips from Crozon by small boats that take tourists inside the caves. At low tide, it
7650-430: The winter months. The summer months are much drier, with temperatures averaging about 20 °C (68 °F) and sometimes climbing above 30 °C (86 °F). It rarely freezes in winter and there is practically no snow. As a result, palm trees have been cultivated in parks and gardens. In February and March, mimosa trees are in full bloom. There are strong tides , particularly in the spring. Winds blowing in from
7740-571: The world at the time, except in the empire of China (but there, only county level and above had any permanent administration). Since then, tremendous changes have affected France, as they have the rest of Europe: the Industrial Revolution , two world wars , and the rural exodus have all depopulated the countryside and increased the size of cities. French administrative divisions, however, have remained extremely rigid and unchanged. Today about 90 percent of communes and departments are exactly
7830-557: Was 15,066. It has declined since the mid-20th century because of jobs lost from declines in the fishing industry. But it still has fish canning facilities (sardines and mackerel) although sardine fishing, for which the town became famous, has fallen off in recent years. Douarnenez has a growing tourist industry, with numerous visitors attracted annually to its pleasant location and warm climate, and also because of its marinas, maritime museum, regattas and sandy beaches. The island of Tristan off Douarnenez can be reached by foot at low tide. It
7920-428: Was adopted, which created the legal framework for the communes nouvelles (lit. "new communes"). A commune nouvelle can be created by merger of a number of communes at the request of the municipal councils of all the communes or at the initiative of the state representative in the department (the prefect ). The municipal council of the new commune can decide to create communes déléguées (lit. "delegated communes") in
8010-1013: Was one échevin or consul ranking above the others, a sort of mayor, although not with the same authority and executive powers as a modern mayor. This "mayor" was called provost of the merchants ( prévôt des marchands ) in Paris and Lyon; maire in Marseille, Bordeaux, Rouen , Orléans , Bayonne and many other cities and towns; mayeur in Lille ; premier capitoul in Toulouse; viguier in Montpellier ; premier consul in many towns of southern France; prêteur royal in Strasbourg ; maître échevin in Metz ; maire royal in Nancy ; or prévôt in Valenciennes . On 14 July 1789, at
8100-545: Was only reduced from 946 in 1971 (just before the Marcellin law aimed at encouraging French communes to merge with each other was passed, see Current debate section below) to 904 in January 2007. Consequently, the Alsace region—despite having a land area only one-fifth the size and a total population only one-sixth of that of its neighbor Baden-Württemberg—has almost as many municipalities. The small Alsace region has more than double
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