Locronan

Locronan (French pronunciation: [lɔkʁɔnɑ̃]; Breton: Lokorn) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.

Locronan Lokorn
Commune
The church square
Coat of arms
Location of Locronan
Locronan Show map of France Locronan Show map of Brittany
Coordinates: 48°06′00″N 4°12′24″W
Country	France
Region	Brittany
Department	Finistère
Arrondissement	Quimper
Canton	Quimper-1
Intercommunality	Quimper Bretagne Occidentale
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Antoine Gabrièle[1]
Area 1	8.08 km2 (3.12 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]	806
• Density	100/km2 (260/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
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.

Locronan is a member of the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France ("The most beautiful villages of France") association.^[3]

Toponymy

The village's name means the "hermitage of Ronan", from the Breton lok ("hermitage") of Saint Ronan. It was previously known as Saint-René-du-Bois.

Saint Ronan, greatly venerated in Brittany, was a 6th-century Irish Christian missionary 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 (see Hemp in France). 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

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1968	672	—
1975	686	+0.29%
1982	704	+0.37%
1990	796	+1.55%
1999	799	+0.04%
2009	798	−0.01%
2014	819	+0.52%
2020	790	−0.60%
Source: INSEE[4]

Inhabitants of Locronan are called in French Locronanais.

Breton language

The municipality launched a plan through Ya d'ar brezhoneg on 23 November 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

Locronan is the hometown of the character Ted's mother in Catriona Ward's novel, The Last House on Needless Street.^[5]

Gallery

• 
  A notable image of the Deposition of Christ in the church at Locronan.
• 
  The banner of St Ronan.
• 
  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.

See also

• Communes of the Finistère department
• List of works of the two Folgoët ateliers
• Locranon Parish close