City of character
Quimper
Quimper is home to the Gothic Cathedral, ramparts, major museums, lively old quarters, the buzz of a city full of shops and markets, and numerous festivals throughout the year.
Fifteen kilometers from the sea and the most beautiful beaches of Southern Finistère, thalassotherapy, golf courses, sailing, surfing, fishing, marinas…
History: Located on the Odet River, at the end of a twenty-kilometer ria, Quimper has always been a sheltered site and a crossing point. From the Roman conquest onward, a small urbanized center developed on the banks of the Odet, slightly downstream from the current city site, around a port open to the Mediterranean world. This activity would remain one of the city’s constants until the mid-twentieth century.
Learn more about the historical heritage
Heritage jewel
Saint-Corentin Cathedral
Saint-Corentin Cathedral, a jewel of Breton Gothic Art: It was in 1239 that Raynaud decided to build the current cathedral on the foundations of an old Romanesque cathedral.
From the 1850s onward, Quimper architect Joseph Bigot undertook the restoration of the building, primarily installing new furnishings, decorating the chapels, and commissioning new stained glass windows to replace those destroyed during the French Revolution.
His most spectacular achievement remains the completion of the two towers with the construction of the spires between 1854 and 1856, financed by the people of Quimper.
From 1989 onward, a restoration campaign was undertaken. Completed in December 1999, its restoration was a true revelation of what a cathedral looked like at the end of the 15th century: restoration of interior polychromy with the reappearance of ribs treated in yellow ochre and red ochre, and general whitewashing of the facings.
This was a position opposed to that of the 19th century, which had imposed on the cathedral an austere bare appearance quite far from the intentions of the original builders.
