Bignan

Bignan (Begnen in Breton) is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in northwestern France.

Bignan

Begnen
Commune
The Allée couverte de Kergonfalz
Coat of arms
Location of Bignan
Bignan
Bignan
Coordinates: 47°52′48″N 2°46′23″W
CountryFrance
RegionBrittany
DepartmentMorbihan
ArrondissementPontivy
CantonMoréac
IntercommunalitySaint-Jean-Brévelay
Government
 • Mayor (2020–2026) Chantal Bihoes[1]
Area
1
45.84 km2 (17.70 sq mi)
Population
 (2017-01-01)[2]
2,791
 • Density61/km2 (160/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
56017 /56500
Elevation53–181 m (174–594 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Location

The town is based on the Landes de Lanvaux. Bignan is located between the townships of Locminé and Saint-Jean-Brévelay. Bignan is only half an hour from the main cities of Morbihan: Vannes, Lorient and Pontivy.

History
Bignan main Street latter 19th century.

In the 5th century Saint Noyale was said to be martyred in or near the town.[3][4]

In 1252, Guillaume de Bignan founded the nearby abbaye de prières.

The earliest mention of Bingnen is in 1421, Buignen in 1428,[5] and Bignen in 1461. Bignen was formerly part of the deanery of Porhoët , of the fief of the lords of Rohan.

The town church was constructed between 1787 and 1801 with construction interrupted by the French revolution.

Bignan was a very active center of chouannerie from 1794 by the action of Pierre Guillemot, called "the king of Bignan", lieutenant of Georges Cadoudal.[6][7]

After the revolution Castle Kerguéhennec, sometimes nicknamed the " Versailles breton", served as a warehouse for the Chouans to remove crops to the law of requisition of grain applied by the Republican administration.[8][9]

In 1906, traces of an Iron Age settlements and in particular of the Acheulean period were found near the town.[10]

At the start of the 2016 academic year , 49 students were enrolled in the Catholic bilingual stream (22% of children in the commune enrolled in primary school)[11]

Name

The meaning of the towns toponym is obscure. Several hypotheses exist:[12]

  • A Beg (either Beg-Hent - Beg-nein : end of the road or Naizin) but the nasalisation of Breton seems to oppose it.
  • A similar origin ("little Bethany ")[13]
  • A Breton origin via the term Bedun meaning birch which is called beg beu today, there is actually a locality, the Bézo, which could confirm (bezo = birches)
  • An idea of height based on the Celtic radicals benn (Benian) and penn = height (approximation with pign: pignein (to rise). The village is indeed located on a height.

In Breton the city is named Begnen. The municipality signed the charter Ya d'ar brezhoneg the November 20, 2009.

Population
Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1968 2,067—    
1975 2,227+1.07%
1982 2,446+1.35%
1990 2,567+0.61%
1999 2,546−0.09%
2007 2,607+0.30%
2012 2,757+1.13%
2017 2,791+0.25%
Source: INSEE[14]

Inhabitants of Bignan are called Bignanais. In 2017, the municipality had 2,791 inhabitants, an increase of 7% compared to 2007.

Landmarks

Catholic Church

The Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul church is a Catholic church located in Bignan. It is dedicated to the apostles Peter and Paul.

The building was built at the end of the 18th century on the site of a ruined Romanesque church. On the initiative of the rector of the time, Pierre Nourry, and following his plans, the construction of a new church was begun in 1787.[15]

The first stone is laid on August 19, 1787 but construction was Interrupted during the French Revolution and the exile of Abbot Nourry, refractory, work resumed in 1801. Pierre Nourry is buried there at his death in 18043. New bells are melted for the church and received in 1807. The bell tower is built between 1824 and 1857.[16] The church - with the sacristy, the furniture that is integrated and the placier - is registered as a historic monument by order of February 23, 2016.[17]

Cross of Tenuel
Croix de Treuliec

The Cross of Tenuel is located at a place called "Treuliec" in Bignan in Morbihan in the center of the town of Bignan (French department of Morbihan). The cross is of seventeenth century origin, rebuilt in 1897 and the cross has a medallion with four leaves representing the crucifixion on the front and a pietà verso. The plinth is carved. The cross is the subject of an inscription as a historical monument since April 5, 1935.[18]

Village Cross
Croix du bourg de Bignan

The cross of the village of Bignan is located in Bignan, near the south transept of the church.

The cross has been registered as a historical monument since March 29, 1935.[19] The basement is an altar which is accessed by two steps. It is surmounted by a patted cross.

Fontaine Saint-Éloi

The fountain has been listed as a historic monument since October 18, 1944.[20] The niche is surmounted by a shell. Access to the pool is via two steps.

Château de Kerguéhennec
Château de Kerguéhennec

Château de Kerguéhennec, nicknamed the Versailles of Breton, is an 18th century castle located in Bignan. Today it houses a contemporary art center and a cultural meeting center. This castle has been classified and registered as a historical monument since October 1988.[21]

Allée couverte de Kergonfalz

The Allée couverte de Kergonfalz is a stone structure near the town.[22][23] The building is located at the crossroads of the Moustoir-Ac road and the road to the hamlet of Kergonfalz. It is located approximately 470 m as the crow flies to the north of the latter and 200 m southwest of the hamlet of Kergal1. About 50 m to the west, on the other side of the Moustoir-Ac road, stands the Kergonfalz dolmen.

The covered alley dates from the Neolithic,[24] around 3000 to 2700 BC.[25] The structure is classified as historical monuments by order of January 10, 1970.[24]

Breton language

In 2008, 17.36% of primary-school children attended bilingual schools.[26]

See also

References
  1. "Maires du Morbihan" (PDF). Préfecture du Morbihan. 7 July 2020.
  2. "Populations légales 2017". INSEE. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  3. Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould (M.A.). "S. NOYALA, V.M. (DATE UNCERTAIN.)." In: The Lives of the Saints. Volume the Seventh: July - Part I. London: John C. Nimmo, 1898. pp. 137-140.
  4. St. Noyala of Brittany, Virgin Martyr.
  5. Kerdel's Margarite Admission - September 30, 1428 (parchment)
  6. Patrick Huchet , Georges Cadoudal and the Chouans , p. 156.
  7. In 1788-1795: Quevenois at the time of the French Revolution , p. 57 of the Historic Committee of Quebec
  8. Memoirs of the Society of History and Archeology of Brittany , 1911, Volumes 21 to 23, p. 210 of the Society of History and Archeology of Brittany.
  9. Roger Grand. , The Chouannerie of 1815: The Hundred Days in the West , p. 210.
  10. Revue morbihannaise - Volume 15 - 1911 - p. 48 of Max Nicol, Father Jerome Buléon and Paul Aveneau de la Granciére
  11. Kelenn.
  12. Les formes les plus anciennes de BIGNAN.
  13. to Beignon and Bignac Gallo and Charentais countries which would give it a Gallo-Roman origin.
  14. Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
  15. Egleise de Bignan.
  16. Bignan, sur Infobretagne.
  17. Base Mérimée: Eglise Saint-Pierre Saint-Paul, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
  18. Base Mérimée: Croix de Treuliec, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
  19. Base Mérimée: Croix du bourg, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
  20. Base Mérimée: Fontaine Saint-Eloi, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
  21. Base Mérimée: Château de Kerguéhennec et ses dépendances, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
  22. Allée couverte de Kergonflaz, commune de Bignan.
  23. France - Allée couverte de Kergonfalz [ALKER7].
  24. Base Mérimée: Allée couverte de Kergonfalz, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
  25. « Kergonfalz allée couverte .
  26. (in French) Ofis ar Brezhoneg: Enseignement bilingue
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