alt=Aerial view of beaches near Roscoff with the town visible in the distance|thumb|320x320px|Beaches near Roscoff from the air

alt=Aerial photograph showing shallow turquoise waters and scattered rocky islets near Roscoff on the Brittany coast of France.|thumb|320x320px|Aerial view of tidal islets off the coast of Roscoff, Brittany

Roscoff ( ; ; ) is a commune in the Finistère département of Brittany in northwestern France.

Roscoff is renowned for its picturesque architecture, labelled (small town of character) since 2009. Roscoff is also a traditional departure point for Onion Johnnies.

After lobbying by local economic leaders headed by Alexis Gourvennec, the French government agreed in 1968 to provide a deep-water port at Roscoff. Existing ferry operators were reluctant to take on the relatively long Plymouth–Roscoff crossing so Gourvennec and colleagues founded Brittany Ferries. Since the early 1970s Roscoff has been developed as a ferry port for the transport of Breton agricultural produce and for motor tourism. Brittany Ferries link Roscoff with both Ireland and the United Kingdom.

alt=Aerial photograph of the Perharidy medical complex in Roscoff, located beside wide tidal flats along the Brittany coastline.|thumb|317x317px|Aerial view of the Perharidy medical complex in Roscoff

Owing to the richness of iodine in the surrounding waters and the mild climate maintained by a sea current that varies only between , Roscoff is also a centre of post-cure, which gave rise to the concept of thalassotherapy in the latter half of the 19th century. A French doctor, Louis-Eugène Bagot, opened the Institut Marin in Roscoff in 1899, the first centre for thalassotherapy in Europe. Since then many important centres of thalassotherapy such as the Institut de Rockroum (originally Institut marin), the clinic Kerléna and a heliomarin hospital founded in 1900, the Perharidy Centre, can be found by the sea at Roscoff.

The nearby Île de Batz, called in Breton, is a small island that can be reached by launch from the harbour.

Sights

  • Roscoff parish church Our Lady of Croaz Batz (Notre Dame de Croaz Batz): Renaissance and Gothic church from the 16th century
  • The house known as "that of Mary, Queen of Scots"
  • The Station Biologique de Roscoff, a research laboratory in oceanography and marine biology
  • The Jardin Exotique de Roscoff

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  • The Onion Johnny museum

Population

Inhabitants of Roscoff are called in French Roscovites.

Breton language

The municipality launched a language plan through Ya d'ar brezhoneg on 14 November 2008.

In 2008 18.44% of primary-school children attended bilingual schools.

Ferries

thumb|A ferry departs Roscoff port

Brittany Ferries operate ferry services from Roscoff to Plymouth daily from February to November with occasional Christmas sailings, to Cork twice a week (Friday and Tuesday service).

alt=A large Brittany Ferries vessel, the Armorique, docked at a quiet harbor under an overcast sky, with a smaller red service boat positioned near its bow.|thumb|Brittany Ferries Armorique at the Harbor

Irish Ferries used to operate a ferry service from Roscoff to Rosslare from May to September but now sail to Cherbourg instead.

Historic events

  • In 1375 the harbour was destroyed by English forces under the Earl of Arundel. It would later be rebuilt at its current location, Kroas Batz.
  • From 1522 to 1545–1550 the construction the Church of Our Lady of Kroas Batz (see Monuments above).
  • In 1548 the six-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots, having been betrothed to the Dauphin François, disembarked at Roscoff en route from Scotland.
  • In 1790 Roscoff was raised to independent commune. Until then the town had effectively depended on Saint-Pol-de-Léon.
  • The illustrator Henry Gerbault and his wife moved to Roscoff in 1919 and lived there for the rest of their lives.

International relations

Roscoff is twinned with:

  • Great Torrington, United Kingdom
  • Auxerre, France

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File:Roscoff during high tide.jpg|Roscoff from the pier [http://www.theparisfeast.com/2016/12/roscoff-small-town-of-character-of.html]

File:Iledebatzblicknachroscoff.jpg|View of Roscoff from Île-de-Batz

File:Low tide in Brittany.jpg|Boats at low tide in Roscoff

File:Roscoff Harbour.JPG|Roscoff Harbour at low tide

File:Roscoff from Bridge.JPG|Roscoff from Bridge to the ferry to Île-de-Batz at low tide

File:Notre-Dame de Croaz Batz - 201.jpg|The Renaissance spire (1576) of Roscoff parish church Our Lady of Croaz Batz

File:PSroscoff-4157 tonemapped.jpg|The lighthouse

File:PSroscoff-4201tonemapped.jpg|Sainte Barbe chapel

File:PSroscoff-4215tonemapped.jpg

File:Roscoff 2008 PD 74.JPG|Ar Vil from the sea

File:Promenade dans Roscoff-001.JPG

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File:Maison Dumas à Roscoff.JPG|Alexandre Dumas's house during the summer 1869.

File:Plage du Pouldu.jpg

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See also

  • Communes of the Finistère department

References

  • The commune's website
  • Tourism office
  • Daily life in Roscoff
  • Cultural Heritage
  • Tripping diary
  • Station Biologique de Roscoff
  • Port of Roscoff
  • Brittany Ferries Roscoff to Plymouth