|
The Île de Sein is a French island in the Atlantic Ocean, off Finistère, eight kilometres from the ''Pointe du Raz'' (''raz'' meaning "water current"), from which it is separated by the Raz de Sein. Its Breton name is ''Enez Sun''. The island, with its neighbouring islets, forms the commune of Île-de-Sein in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. Lying on the sea routes going south from the English Channel, Sein is well known for the dangers of its waters, the ''Chaussée de Sein'', a vast zone of reefs stretching more than 30 miles from east to west, requiring numerous lighthouses, beacons, and buoys. In the past, it was also known for its wreckers == History == There are two megalithic menhirs on the island, which is treeless. It is mentioned by the Roman geographer Pomponius Mela.〔 It was the last place in Europe to be christianised (by Jesuits in the 17th century). The island women once wore the highest headdresses in Brittany, and had a reputation for enticing sailors onto the rocks by witchcraft. Robert Graves says that the island was once home to a conclave of nine virgin priestesses believed to hold magical powers, who might be approached by those who sailed to consult them.〔 After hearing General de Gaulle's call to resistance during World War II in his appeal to the French on 18 June 1940, every male inhabitant aged between 14 and 54 (or 60, according to the island's official website〔(【引用サイトリンク】 url=http://www.mairie-iledesein.com/ )〕) (variously totalled as 114 to 128) set sail in their fishing boats for Britain to join the Free French forces. On 1 January 1946, the commune was for that awarded the high honour of the Order of the Liberation, and its residents exempted from paying income tax; a privilege they enjoy to this day. During the 1960s, French artists Maurice Boitel and Jean Rigaud painted on the Île de Sein. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Île de Sein」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|