Huelgoat
Encyclopedia
Huelgoat is a commune
in the Finistère
department of Brittany in northwestern France
.
The village lies on a lake created between the 16th and 18th centuries to supply water to local silver-lead mines by means of a 3 km (1.9 mi) leat
or canal.
A number of geological and prehistoric curiosities can be found by following trails in and around the village and forest. Among these are:
The Poërop Arboretum is a local arboretum
with a nationally recognized collection of maple
trees, among other substantial collections.
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the Finistère
Finistère
Finistère is a département of France, in the extreme west of Brittany.-History:The name Finistère derives from the Latin Finis Terræ, meaning end of the earth, and may be compared with Land's End on the opposite side of the English Channel...
department of Brittany in northwestern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Population
Inhabitants of Huelgoat are called in French Huelgoatains.Geography
Huelgoat is popular with tourists and holidaymakers due to its impressive natural setting among the vestiges of the ancient forest that once covered inland Brittany. Once part of royal and ducal lands, the forest is now overseen by the French forestry commission, the National Forests Office. It has an area of 10 square kilometres. A large replanting scheme has repaired much of the damage sustained by the forest in storms on the 15–16 October 1987, when 3.1 square kilometres of trees were levelled or damaged.The village lies on a lake created between the 16th and 18th centuries to supply water to local silver-lead mines by means of a 3 km (1.9 mi) leat
Leat
A leat is the name, common in the south and west of England and in Wales, for an artificial watercourse or aqueduct dug into the ground, especially one supplying water to a watermill or its mill pond...
or canal.
Sights
- Le Chaos de Rochers, the Chaos of Rocks, is a jumble of hundreds of large boulders below the dammed lake, into which the river vanishes. A 10 m descent down ladders is required to see it again, running rapidly below a dark cave called the Devil's Grotto.
- La Roche Tremblante or Trembling Rock, is a 137-tonne boulder nearby, pivoted so it can be made to rock by a person pushing against one point.
- Le Champignon, or The Mushroom, is a large rock balanced on a smaller one to give the eponymous appearance.
- La Mare aux Fées, the fairies' pool.
- La Mare aux Sangliers, the wild boarBoarWild boar, also wild pig, is a species of the pig genus Sus, part of the biological family Suidae. The species includes many subspecies. It is the wild ancestor of the domestic pig, an animal with which it freely hybridises...
pool. - Le Camp d'Artus, Arthur's Camp, a sea promontoryPromontory fortA promontory fort is a defensive structure located above a steep cliff, often only connected to the mainland by a small neck of land, thus utilizing the topography to reduce the ramparts needed. Although their dating is problematic, most seem to date to the Iron Age...
hillfort based on a Gaulish oppidumOppidumOppidum is a Latin word meaning the main settlement in any administrative area of ancient Rome. The word is derived from the earlier Latin ob-pedum, "enclosed space," possibly from the Proto-Indo-European *pedóm-, "occupied space" or "footprint."Julius Caesar described the larger Celtic Iron Age...
, with a linear murus gallicusMurus GallicusMurus Gallicus or Gallic Wall is a method of construction of defensive walls used to protect Iron Age hillforts and oppida of the La Tene period in Western Europe.The distinctive features are:* earth or rubble fill...
rampartDefensive wallA defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements...
. It was used as refuge by the Osisme Gauls against the RomanAncient RomeAncient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
invasion in 57 BC and later acquired a nickname referring to Arthurian legendLegendA legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
. The site was excavated by Sir Mortimer WheelerMortimer WheelerBrigadier Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler CH, CIE, MC, FBA, FSA , was one of the best-known British archaeologists of the twentieth century.-Education and career:...
. - La Grotte d'Artus, or Arthur's Cave, is a natural shelter formed under a roof of jammed rocks.
The Poërop Arboretum is a local arboretum
Arboretum
An arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...
with a nationally recognized collection of maple
Maple
Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...
trees, among other substantial collections.