View source for Pointe Saint-Mathieu

The '''Pointe Saint-Mathieu''' ([[French language|French]]) or '''St Matthew Point''' ({{langx|br|Lok Mazé}}) is a [[headland]] located in the [[communes of France|commune]] of [[Plougonvelin]] in [[Finistere Department]] in western [[Brittany (region)|Brittany]], [[France]]. Flanked by {{convert|20|m|sp=us}} high cliffs, it was the sight of major Anglo-French naval battles [[Battle of St Matthew (1293)|in 1293]] and [[Battle of St Matthew|in 1512]].

==Village==
[[Image:PharepointeSaintMathieu.jpg|thumb|left|The Pointe Saint Mathieu with its ''[[sémaphore]]'', lighthouse, and the abbey ruins]]
At present, there are only a few houses on the point, grouped around the abbey ruins. However, in the past, the settlement was not limited to the abbey and its dependents. Very soon a village was established along the coast for commercial potential and the possibilities for [[Marine salvage|salvaging wrecks]].

==Abbey==
[[Image:PHA stm.jpg|thumb]]
{{Main|Abbaye Saint-Mathieu de Fine-Terre}}
The abbey held many privileges - right to rushes, right to furnaces, rights to a twelfth of [[Jet (lignite)|jet]], right to markets, right to fairs ([[Henry IV of France]] had instituted, in 1602, 5 annual fairs and a weekly market), right to measure wheat and wine, etc...

In 1157 Hervé de Léon accorded the abbey the right of [[flotsam and jetsam]] on wrecks in all his fiefdoms; in 1390 the abbey received the right to take 10% of the hull, cargo and rigging of wrecked ships. To this right were added the right of remains, confirmed in 1602 by royal letters patent. He accorded this right to the monks for "all those who perish in the sea, and on the coasts at Saint Mathieu, [[Plougonvelin]] and [[le Conquet]]".

Today abandoned, the [[Abbaye Saint-Mathieu de Fine-Terre]], was said to have held the skull of the apostle [[Matthew (apostle)|Matthew]], now lost in the ocean off the point. Its ruins served as a set for the summer TV saga ''[[Dolmen (TV miniseries)|Dolmen]]''.

==Lighthouse==
{{Main|Saint-Mathieu Lighthouse}}
The point also has a 56m high [[lighthouse]], built in 1835.
[[Image:Pointe Saint-Mathieu (1).jpg|thumb|left|The Pointe Saint Mathieu with its ''sémaphore'', lighthouse, and the abbey ruins]]

==Signal station==
The first signal station near the point was built in 1806, but the present one was built nearer the point in 1906, to give a view of the [[chenal du Four]] as the entrance to [[Brest, France|Brest]]. Progressively expanded in the 20th century, its top is now 39m above sea level, with lodging for spotters.

==The cenotaph (Memorial to sailors who have died for France)==

Commissioned by [[Émile Guépratte]] and [[Georges Leygues]] after the [[First World War]], it was built following the law of 26 July 1923. The stela (representing a sailor's wife) was designed by [[René Quillivic]] and inaugurated on 12 June 1927.

Since 2005, it has been open to the public and accompanied by a permanent exhibition of photos of disappeared sailors.

== Quotations ==
<!---
{{Citation bloc|Rien de sinistre et formidable comme cette côte de Brest; c'est la limite extrême, la pointe, la proue de l'ancien monde. Là, les deux ennemis sont en face : la terre et la mer, l'homme et la nature. Il faut la voir quand elle s'émeut, la furieuse, quelles monstrueuses vagues elle entasse à la pointe Saint Mathieu, à cinquante, à soixante, à quatre-vingts pieds ; l'écume vole jusqu'à l'église ou les mères et les sœurs sont en prières. Et même dans les moments de trêve, quand l'océan se tait, qui a parcouru cette côte funèbre sans dire ou sentir en soi : ''Tristis usque ad mortem'' !|[[Jules Michelet]], ''[[Histoire de France]]'', 1861, Chamerot, Paris. (tome II, pages 10-11)}}
--->

{{Empty section|date=July 2010}}

== External links ==
*{{in lang|fr}} [http://breton.coatmeal.free.fr/textes_stmathieu/saintmathieu_index.htm Personal page, with pages on Saint-Mathieu]
*{{in lang|fr}} [http://www.auxmarins.com/ Mémorial national des Marins morts pour la France de la Pointe Saint Mathieu]

{{coord|48|19|48|N|4|46|24|W|type:landmark_region:FR|display=title}}
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[[Category:Headlands of Brittany]]
[[Category:Landforms of Finistère]]


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