Roscoff

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title: "Roscoff" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["communes-of-finistère", "port-cities-and-towns-on-the-french-atlantic-coast", "ports-and-harbours-of-the-english-channel"] topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roscoff" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox French commune"]

FieldValue
nameRoscoff
native namebr
commune statusCommune
imageRoscoff vue Chapelle St-Barbe.jpg
captionCenter of Roscoff from Sainte Barbe chapel
coordinates
image flagLogo-Roscoff.png
image coat of armsCoA fr Roscoff.svg
arrondissementMorlaix
cantonSaint-Pol-de-Léon
INSEE29239
postal code29680
mayorOdile Thubert Montagne
term2020–2026
intercommunalityHaut-Léon Communauté
elevation m6
elevation min m0
elevation max m58
area km26.19
population
population date
population footnotes
::

|name = Roscoff |native name = br |commune status = Commune |image = Roscoff vue Chapelle St-Barbe.jpg |caption = Center of Roscoff from Sainte Barbe chapel |coordinates = |image flag = Logo-Roscoff.png |image coat of arms = CoA fr Roscoff.svg |arrondissement = Morlaix |canton = Saint-Pol-de-Léon |INSEE = 29239 |postal code = 29680 |mayor = Odile Thubert Montagne |term = 2020–2026 |intercommunality = Haut-Léon Communauté |elevation m = 6 |elevation min m = 0 |elevation max m = 58 |area km2 = 6.19 |population = |population date = |population footnotes = ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Beaches_near_Roscoff_with_the_town_in_the_distance_from_the_air.jpg" caption="Beaches near Roscoff from the air" alt="Aerial view of beaches near Roscoff with the town visible in the distance"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Islets_off_of_Roscoff_France.jpg" caption="Aerial view of tidal islets off the coast of Roscoff, Brittany" alt="Aerial photograph showing shallow turquoise waters and scattered rocky islets near Roscoff on the Brittany coast of France."] ::

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

Roscoff is renowned for its picturesque architecture, labelled petite cité de caractère de Bretagne (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. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Fondation_ILDYS_Site_de_Perharidy_-_a_hospital_in_Roscoff_France.jpg" caption="Aerial view of the Perharidy medical complex in Roscoff" alt="Aerial photograph of the Perharidy medical complex in Roscoff, located beside wide tidal flats along the Brittany coastline."] ::

Owing to the richness of iodine in the surrounding waters and the mild climate maintained by a sea current that varies only between 8 and, 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 Enez Vaz 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 Image:France Bretagne 29 Roscoff 02.jpg Image:France Bretagne 29 Roscoff 03.jpg Image:France Bretagne 29 Roscoff 04.jpg Image:France Bretagne 29 Roscoff 05.jpg Image:France Bretagne 29 Roscoff 06.jpg Image:France Bretagne 29 Roscoff 07.jpg Image:France Bretagne 29 Roscoff 08.jpg Image:France Bretagne 29 Roscoff 09.jpg Image:France Bretagne 29 Roscoff 10.jpg
  • The Onion Johnny museum

Population

Inhabitants of Roscoff are called in French Roscovites. |source = INSEE |percentages = pagr |align = none |1968 |3339 |1975 |3404 |1982 |3581 |1990 |3711 |1999 |3550 |2007 |3675 |2012 |3515 |2017 |3404

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

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Port_of_Roscoff_-_departure_on_the_car_ferry_to_Plymouth.jpg" caption="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). ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Britanny_Ferries_Armoruque_ferry.jpg" caption="Brittany Ferries Armorique at the Harbor" 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."] ::

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:

Image gallery

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 File:France Bretagne 29 Roscoff 01.jpg File:Promenade dans Roscoff-005.JPG File:Maison Dumas à Roscoff.JPG|Alexandre Dumas's house during the summer 1869. File:Plage du Pouldu.jpg

References

References

  1. (13 September 2022). "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises.
  2. [http://www.roscoff.fr/-Les-labels-de-la-commune-.html City of Roscoff: Roscoff awarded "Petite cité de caractère de Bretagne" (small town of character) (in French)]
  3. [https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/4515315?geo=COM-29239#ancre-POP_T1 Population en historique depuis 1968], INSEE
  4. {{in lang
  5. "British towns twinned with French towns". Archant Community Media Ltd.

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communes-of-finistèreport-cities-and-towns-on-the-french-atlantic-coastports-and-harbours-of-the-english-channel