Locronan

Locronan
Locronan; Lokorn
	The church square
	; Coat of arms
	; Coat of arms
	Locronan
	<templatestyles src="Template:Hidden begin/styles.css"/> Location within Brittany region Locronan
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Country	France
Region	Brittany
Department	Finistère
Arrondissement	Châteaulin
Canton	Châteaulin
Government
• Mayor (2014–2020)	Antoine Gabrièle
Area1	8.08 km2 (3.12 sq mi)
Population (2008)2	800
• Density	99/km2 (260/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	29134 / 29180
Elevation	38–280 m (125–919 ft); (avg. 145 m or 476 ft)
	1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Locronan (Lokorn in Breton) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France, with a population of 800.

Locronan is a member of the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France ("The most beautiful villages of France") association.^[1]

Toponymy

The village's name means the "hermitage of Ronan", from the Breton lok which means hermitage, and after the eponymous founder Saint Ronan. It has previously been known as Saint-René-du-Bois.

Saint Ronan is greatly venerated in Brittany. He was an Irish Christian missionary of the 6th century who came to the region to teach the people. As his association with Locronan is close, some of his relics are kept in the parish church.

History

The St Ronan church at Locronan.

Locronan is a small town built at the foot of a hill. It was granted town status in 1505 by Anne of Brittany, who went there on a pilgrimage.

Since the 15th century, hemp has naturally grown in the area. It was cultivated and processed in a hemp industry in the town at the time, and it was widely used. The town was quite prosperous. Its hemp was exported internationally, as it was used for rigging the ships, both commercial and military, that operated from Brittany's many ports. The Saint Ronan church was built in this period, as well as the small chapel of Penity.

Population

Inhabitants of Locronan are called in French Locronanais.

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1793	768	—
1800	691	−10.0%
1806	691	+0.0%
1821	664	−3.9%
1831	797	+20.0%
1836	805	+1.0%
1841	773	−4.0%
1846	865	+11.9%
1851	832	−3.8%
1856	719	−13.6%
1861	700	−2.6%
1866	638	−8.9%
1872	683	+7.1%
1876	759	+11.1%
1881	783	+3.2%
1886	766	−2.2%
1891	759	−0.9%
1896	778	+2.5%
1901	733	−5.8%
1906	720	−1.8%
1911	716	−0.6%
1921	760	+6.1%
1926	749	−1.4%
1931	924	+23.4%
1936	872	−5.6%
1946	794	−8.9%
1954	777	−2.1%
1962	715	−8.0%
1968	672	−6.0%
1975	686	+2.1%
1982	704	+2.6%
1990	796	+13.1%
1999	799	+0.4%
2008	800	+0.1%

Breton language

The municipality launched a linguistic plan through Ya d'ar brezhoneg on November 23, 2007 to revive the Breton language.

Events

Troménie is a pilgrimage festival that includes a large procession, whose participants carry the banners of participating parishes. Held every six years between the second and third Sundays in July, the Grande Troménie is a pilgrimage of about 12 km., traversing the wider sacred area around Locronan.

In the intervening five years, the Petite Troménie is held on the second Sunday in July. It is based in the town and church of Locronan. These are among the major pardons or ceremonies of the traditional Breton festal calendar.

Popular culture

Locronan has been used as a setting in films:

Tess (1979), directed by Roman Polanski
A Very Long Engagement, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Chouans!, directed by Philippe de Broca

Gallery

A notable image of the Deposition of Christ in the church at Locronan.
St Ronan Banner.JPG

The banner of St Ronan.
St Ronan Relics.JPG

Reliquary holding relics of St Ronan at Locronan.
Tomb of St Ronan.
Scenes from the life of St Ronan on the polychrome pulpit at Locronan parish church.
More scenes from the life of St Ronan on the pulpit.
The banner of St Corentin of Quimper at Locronan.
Altar of the Rosary.