Paimpont forest

Paimpont Forest (French: Forêt de Paimpont, Breton: Koad Pempont), also known as Brocéliande Forest (French: Forêt de Brocéliande), is a temperate forest located around the village of Paimpont in the department of Ille-et-Vilaine in Brittany, France. Covering an area of 9,000 hectares, it is part of a larger forest area that covers the neighboring departments of Morbihan and Côtes-d'Armor. It contains the castles Château de Comper and Château de Trécesson as well as the Forges of Paimpont, a national historical site. It has been associated with the forest of Brocéliande and many locations from Arthurian legend, including the , the tomb of Merlin, and the fountain of Barenton.

Geography and ecosystem

The forest is located in the northwestern French region of Brittany, about 30 km southwest of the city of Rennes. It occupies mainly the territory of the commune of Paimpont but extends to bordering communes in the department of Ille-et-Vilaine, mainly Guer and Beignon in the south, Saint-Péran in the northeast, and Concoret in the north.

The woodland surrounding Paimpont is the remains of a denser and much larger forest. It is mainly a broadleaved forest, mostly oaks and beech, with areas of conifers either inside after clear-felling or on the periphery as a transition to moorland, for example towards the west in the area of Tréhorenteuc and the . The relative altitude of the forested massif helps produce a climate close to the oceanic climate of the Finistère coast. This, in addition to west and southwest winds that carry clouds and rain, supports ample vegetation. The surplus of water feeds the many brooks at the bottoms of small valleys before flowing into the river Aff, then into the Vilaine, and on to the area around Redon in the south of Ille-et-Vilaine.

The road from Forges to Concoret, which goes north through Paimpont, separates the western "high forest" (haute forêt) and the eastern "low forest", both of comparable size. In the high forest, the altitude decreases regularly from the highest point to 258 m, regularly offering views southwest towards the department of Morbihan; similarly, to the north are views towards the commune of Mauron on the edge of Côtes-d'Armor.

History

Paimpont Forest was known as Brocélien in the 15th century. In Breton, it was called Brec'Helean. It has been repeatedly logged for construction needs of the city of Rennes, in particular in the 15th century. Because of its importance, the forest was put under royal jurisdiction.

The Forges of Paimpont were the most important wood-fueled forges of Brittany, operating from the 16th century until the end of the 19th century. Their location was enabled by the proximity of an open-cast deposit of iron ore at Gelée (a site near the village of Paimpont), the existence of a major river system, and the easy supply of locally produced charcoal. The forest was overexploited for the needs of the forges.

During the French Revolution, the abolition of protection triggered massive clear-cutting of the forest as the wood was excessively exploited to power charcoal the blast furnaces of local industry. In 1804, the prefect of the department wrote that the forest at Paimpont was in a state of degradation and threatened by complete destruction.

In 1875, the forest was bought from Prince Philippe, Count of Paris by shipowner and industrialist Louis Levesque, for rest and pleasure. The new owner created the Domaine de Paimpont and organized hunts of wild boars and deer. Exploitation of the forest by the local population was limited to be only under licenses and the supervision of private forest rangers. Between the two World Wars, the forest was part of the hunting grounds of the Duke of Westminster.

During World War I, the forest, deprived of most of its guards, was affected by major fires of unknown origin. In World War II, paratroopers of the SAS of Free France were dropped to join the partisans of the FFI in the forest with the mission of delaying German reinforcements as part of the Normandy landings in 1944. In the 1990s, a dam project on the Aff for the water supply of the Rennes region caused controversy and protests before being abandoned.

The forest has experienced many fires since the start of the 20th century. In September 1990, a large wildfire devastated 450 hectares of the forest of Paimpont, especially the area of the Val sans retour, raging for five days. Afterward, from 1991 to 1992, thousands of volunteers planted more than a half-million new trees. Other major fires have occurred in 1955, 1984, 2003, and in particular in 1976, when a fire ravaged a thousand hectares. Another massive blaze (preceded by a lesser one started by a man illegally burning garden waste two months earlier) occurred during three days in August 2022 as part of the 2022 European wildfires, which completely destroyed nearly 400 hectares of woodlands and moors and damaged some 230 more.

Today

Forest management

The forest is an area of ZNIEFF and Natura 2000. It is mostly privately owned by landowners who maintain and exploit it for timber and for hunting; only a small part in the northeast (10%) is state-owned and managed by the National Forest Office. This situation prevents free movement in the forest, even on the outskirts of the village and its lake. However, landowners have signed an agreement authorizing hiking, although some forest paths are closed during the hunting season. Forest guards watch for behaviors that threaten the forest and its flora and fauna.

Tourism and legends

The Paimpont forest benefits from its association, since the 13th century, with the legendary forest of Brocéliande, which has become the site of many stories of Arthurian legend in the French romance tradition. The identification with Brocéliande became institutionalized with the creation of the , which was itself regrouped within a supra-intercommunal structure named the .

The area has been a tourist destination site since the 19th century, especially after 1945. Since 1951, followers of Neo-Druidism also meet there periodically, including in organized ceremonies. The Paimpont sites are implemented through signs and pedestrian trails designed to introduce visitors to Arthurian locations, with explanatory panels linking each place to a legendary tale.

Locations and legends

Building sites

Abbey of Notre-Dame

The Abbey Notre-Dame de Paimpont is a tourist and cultural location at the edge of Lake Paimpont. It is built in medieval Gothic style (walls, openings, baptistery and the Blessed Sacrament chapel, vault) with an interior (pulpit, statues, altars, altarpieces) in the Baroque style of the 17th century.

The abbey was built in the 13th century on the site of a priory founded in 645 by Judicaël, king of Domnonée. It was originally a Benedictine monastery but was inhabited by canons from the 13th century until the Revolution, when the abbey was nationalized and sold as biens nationaux in 1790.

Forges of Paimpont

This historical industrial site has been listed as a historic monument since 2001, and was restored before it was opened to the public. Located in Ille-et-Vilaine, it is actually closer to Plélan-le-Grand than to Paimpont.

Château de Comper

The Château de Comper is a former castle and mansion located in northern part of the forest, two kilometers east of the village of Concoret. From the 13th century, Comper has been one of the strongest positions of Upper Brittany. The castle has been the scene of much fighting—including being badly damaged by fire in out-of-control riots in the forest during the Revolution in 1790—and has passed into the hands of several families. The mansion at the site now houses the exhibitions of the Centre de l'Imaginaire Arthurien (Center of the Arthurian Imagination). Adjoining it is a pond where, according to a local legend, the Lady of the Lake Viviane lived in her underwater crystal palace.

Château de Trécesson

Located outside the village and the forest, immediately in its extension to the southwest, this castle was rebuilt in its current state in the 15th century. The most famous of the legends associated with it is the one of the (of "white lady" type), which, unusual for the region, has no Arthurian connections but instead seems to be inspired by a true story.

Biological station

The biological station of Paimpont, under the University of Rennes, was built in 1966–1967; its buildings accommodate about 70 people. The forest and its varied environments provide a framework for university biology courses as well as student and foreign researchers. Although the first researchers extensively studied moor ecology, soils, and hydrology, other works concern subjects far removed from the local biotope, such as the behavior of primates.

Megalithic sites

Hotié de Viviane

The Hotié de Viviane, also called the or the , it is a funeral circle of stones dating from about 4,500 ago. It is located near the Val sans retour and has been known under this name since 1843.

Tombeau de Merlin

In the northern part of the forest is the "Tomb of Merlin", a remnant of a Neolithic covered dolmen structure. The site was largely destroyed with dynamite by treasure hunters after it became associated with the Arthurian figure of Merlin in 1889.

According to the legend, having seduced Merlin, Viviane imprisoned him in an invisible prison, and then locked him in a tomb: Merlin, having lain down in a pit, had two enormous stones cast down on him. Today, it is an important site of Neopagan pilgrimages. Visitors to the site might leave flowers and a note to Merlin, often with a wish, or some kind of devotional object.

The is a water hole near the Tomb of Merlin. Also nearby there is an old tree known as the .

Tombeau du Géant

This tumulus consists of four Neolitihic menhirs originally erected some 5,000–4,500 years ago, each over four meters long and one meter wide. Three menhirs were reused in the Bronze Age around 2,000–1,500 BC as a funerary vault; the fourth is on the ground about ten meters away. …

Text taken from Wikipedia - Paimpont forest under the CC-BY-SA-3.0 on April 13, 2023
We do not have results related to Paimpont forest
We suggest you to extend your selection:

Looking for places related to Paimpont forest?

  • Tuesday
    61°F45°F
    11mph
    Wednesday
    64°F47°F
    9mph
    Thursday
    64°F45°F
    7mph
    Friday
    55°F44°F
    10mph
    Weather Paimpont forest