Monts d'Arrée– the mountainous area in Finistère, a very preserved place with a lot of natural paths in preserved and diverse countryside The year was 1491 and the wars in the region had barely ended, when there was a highly eligible 14-year-old bride entered the royal marriage mart.

Homo sapiens settled in Brittany around 35,000 years ago. They replaced or absorbed the Neanderthals and developed local industries, similar to the Châtelperronian or to the Magdalenian. After the last glacial period, the warmer climate allowed the area to become heavily wooded. At that time, Brittany was populated by relatively large communities who started to change their lifestyles from a life of hunting and gathering, to become settled farmers. Agriculture was introduced during the 5th millennium BC by migrants from the south and east. However, the Neolithic Revolution in Brittany did not happen due to a radical change of population, but by slow immigration and exchange of skills. [19]

Brittany

The region became part of the Roman Republic in 51 BC. It was included in the province of Gallia Lugdunensis in 13 BC. Gallic towns and villages were redeveloped according to Roman standards, and several cities were created. These cities are Condate ( Rennes), Vorgium ( Carhaix), Darioritum ( Vannes) and Condevincum or Condevicnum ( Nantes). Together with Fanum Martis ( Corseul), they were the capitals of the local civitates. They all had a grid plan and a forum, and sometimes a temple, a basilica, thermae or an aqueduct, like Carhaix. Gouren, a style of folk wrestling, is the most popular Breton sport. The Boule bretonne is related to pétanque. The Palets, common in Upper Brittany and in other French regions, is also related to pétanque, but players use iron disks instead of balls and they have to throw them on a wooden board. Nantes is linked to Paris by the A11 autoroute, and Rennes is both on the A81 autoroute to Paris and the A84 autoroute to Caen. These highways are standard French toll roads. [ This paragraph needs citation(s)] Air [ edit ] The Morlaix railway viaduct is one of the highest in France. Gallo is also threatened by the Breton language revival, because Breton is gaining ground in territories that were not previously part of the main Breton-speaking area, and most of all because Breton appears as the national language of Brittany, thus leaving no place for Gallo. [73]

When the region of Brittany was created, several local politicians opposed the exclusion of Loire-Atlantique, and the question still remains. The Breton anthem, although not official, is Bro Gozh ma Zadoù – ("Old Land of My Fathers"). It re-employs both the Welsh anthem's music and that of "Bro Goth agan Tasow" (the national anthem of Cornwall; its lyrics were written at the end of the 19th century). A photo, published in 1970 in the local newspaper Le Télégramme de Brest, shows the flag hanging on the wall of a gym in the town of Lannion where members of the FALSAB (Fédération Autonome de Lutte et Sports Athlétiques Bretons, Autonomous Federation of Breton Wrestling and Athletic Sports) are training.

Bretagne, Breizh

Breton American History". Archived from the original on 26 February 2015 . Retrieved 26 February 2015. Nathalie Molines and Jean-Laurent Monnier (1993). Le " Colombanien ": un faciès régional du Paléolithique inférieur sur le littoral armoricano-atlantique. Vol.90. Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française. p.284. The Romans also built three major roads through the region. However, most of the population remained rural. The free peasants lived in small huts, whereas the landowners and their employees lived in proper villae rusticae. The Gallic deities continued to be worshiped, and were often assimilated to the Roman gods. Only a small number of statues depicting Roman gods were found in Brittany, and most of the time they combine Celtic elements. [24] This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( June 2021) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)

The Gallo community is estimated at between 28,300 [74] and 200,000 [73] speakers. The language is taught on a non-compulsory basis in some schools, high-schools and universities, particularly in Ille-et-Vilaine. [73] Religion [ edit ] Sculpted " calvaries" can be found in many villages in Lower Brittany. Brittany is that enchanting corner of France where the weather can’t seem to make up its mind. Not to mention the fact that the locals speak a 2nd language that is closer to Welsh than it is to French. Thomas, Julian (1 December 2004). "Current debates on the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in Britain and Ireland". Documenta Praehistorica. 31. p. 117. doi: 10.4312/dp.31.8. ISSN 1854-2492. Until the 1970s, the Breton road network was poor because maritime and rail transport prevailed. The French president Charles de Gaulle implemented a major road construction plan in the 1970 and Brittany received over 10billion francs of investments during 25 years. [82] More than 10,000km of motorways were built, permitting Breton road transport to multiply by four. The Breton motorways are not toll roads, contrarily to the usual French highways. [83] [84]Brittany's wildlife is typical of France with several distinctions. On one hand, the region, due to its long coastline, has a rich oceanic fauna, and some birds cannot be seen in other French regions. On the other hand, the species found in the inland are usually common for France, and because Brittany is a peninsula, the number of species is lower in its western extremity than in the eastern part. The main regional train lines are from Rennes to Brest, Quimper, Lannion and Saint-Malo. There is also some regional services from Rennes to Nantes, and from Brest to Quimper, Quimper to Nantes, Saint-Brieuc to Dinan, Dinan to Dol-de-Bretagne. Depending on the hour, some trains have few stops, some others stop everywhere.