Tristan Island - History

History

Tristan bears traces of civilization dating back to the Bronze Age. The written history of the island begins around 1118 when, according to a charter dated 1126, Robert de Locuvan, bishop of Cornouaille, donated the Island of St Tutuarn and the lands belonging to it to the Abbey of Marmoutier. As a result, a priory was built on the island. It is interesting to note that Douarnenez is Breton for the land of the island as it was indeed the priory which owned the site on which the town was later built. In the 14th century, the island became known as Tristan. One of the most colourful figures associated with Tristan was Guy Éder de la Fontenelle, a rebel-bandit who took possession of the island in 1595, stationed his garrison of some 700 soldiers there, and proceeded to plunder most of the surrounding towns and villages.

After the island was acquired by Gustave le Guillou de Penanros in 1854, Vauban constructed several defensive buildings. In the southern part of the island, La Planche built a sardine press. Le Guillou de Penanros went on to develop the harbour and the sardine processing plant on the island, the first of the kind in what was to become Douarnenez' principal area of activity in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1911, the island was purchased by Jacques Richepin, an author and playwright, who built the rotunda and the Chapelle des Aviateurs commemorating the first transatlantic flight from Europe to the United States by Dieudonné Costes and Maurice Bellonte in September 1930. In 1995, the island was bought by Conservatoire du Littoral which has carried out restoration work on the buildings and maintained the paths and gardens.