Tristan Island

Tristan Island or the Île Tristan is located at the mouth of the Pouldavid Estuary off the French port of Douarnenez in south-western Brittany. It is only about 450 m long and 250 m wide but despite its small size, it has a rich history. It is closely associated with Breton legends and the lost island of Ys. In the Middle Ages a priory was built there and the island was inhabited through much of the 20th century. In the 19th century, it became famous as the site of the first canning factory for sardines fished in the Bay of Douarnenez, the beginning of the sardine industry which was important for this region.

Now uninhabited, the island has become part of the national Parc naturel marin d'Iroise (Marine Park) established in 2007. It is accessible to tourists only once or twice a year, or by special arrangement with the local tourist office. At low tide, the island is connected to the mainland on the Douarnenez (or eastern) side of the estuary.

Tristan bears traces of civilization dating back to the Bronze Age. The written history of the island 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. Douarnenez is Breton for the land of the island, as the priory that owned the site on which the town was later built. In the 14th century, the island became known as Tristan, after the Breton legend of Tristan and Iseult.

One of the most colourful figures associated with Tristan was Guy Éder de la Fontenelle, a rebel-bandit who took possession of the island in 1595. He stationed his garrison of some 700 soldiers there, and proceeded to plunder most of the surrounding towns and villages.

After the island was acquired by Gustave le Guillou de Penanros in 1854, Vauban constructed several defensive buildings. In the southern part of the island, La Planche built a sardine press. Le Guillou de Penanros developed the harbour and the sardine processing plant on the island, the first of its kind. The sardine industry developed as Douarnenez' principal economic activity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1911, the island was purchased by Jacques Richepin, an author and playwright. He built the rotunda and the Chapelle des Aviateurs commemorating the first transatlantic flight from Europe to the United States by Dieudonné Costes and Maurice Bellonte in September 1930.

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Wikipedia