Bénodet

Bénodet Benoded
Commune
Bénodet harbour
Coat of arms
Location of Bénodet
Bénodet Bénodet
Coordinates: 47°52′30″N 4°06′13″W
Country	France
Region	Brittany
Department	Finistère
Arrondissement	Quimper
Canton	Fouesnant
Intercommunality	Pays Fouesnantais
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Christian Pennanech
Area 1	10.53 km2 (4.07 sq mi)
Population  (2021)	3,790
• Density	360/km2 (930/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	29006 /29950
Elevation	0–59 m (0–194 ft)
Website	www.mairie-benodet.fr
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Bénodet (French pronunciation: [benɔdɛ]; Breton: Benoded) is a commune in the Finistère department and administrative region of Brittany in north-western France. It lies about 16 kilometres south of Quimper. The Breton name Benoded means "mouth of the Odet".

Bénodet has a casino, a thalassotherapy centre, a cinema, a marina, a number of hotels, and several beaches. As with many coastal towns in Brittany, there are many second homes and the population increases sixfold over the summer period. Bénodet is also the site of menhirs and a church, dedicated to the 5th-century Irish saint Brigid of Kildare, which was built at the end of the 11th century and was classed as a historic monument in 1916.

Population

In French the inhabitants of Bénodet are known as Bénodetois.

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 429 —     1800 529 +3.04% 1806 565 +1.10% 1821 579 +0.16% 1831 667 +1.42% 1836 710 +1.26% 1841 643 −1.96% 1846 712 +2.06% 1851 680 −0.92% 1856 676 −0.12% 1861 657 −0.57% 1866 705 +1.42% 1872 622 −2.07% 1876 704 +3.14% 1881 741 +1.03% 1886 781 +1.06% 1891 875 +2.30% 1896 1,035 +3.42%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 1,094 +1.11% 1906 1,234 +2.44% 1911 1,362 +1.99% 1921 1,312 −0.37% 1926 1,346 +0.51% 1931 1,421 +1.09% 1936 1,549 +1.74% 1946 1,675 +0.79% 1954 1,674 −0.01% 1962 1,882 +1.47% 1968 1,922 +0.35% 1975 2,087 +1.18% 1982 2,285 +1.30% 1990 2,436 +0.80% 1999 2,750 +1.36% 2007 3,168 +1.78% 2012 3,453 +1.74% 2017 3,568 +0.66%
Source: EHESS and INSEE (1968–2017)

Events

Most events in the town take place in the summer months, as part of the town's bustling summer season. In May, the Odet yacht club organizes the Obelix Trophy, a sailing race with about 100 boats taking part over four days. Every year the commune mounts a series of Friday-evening music concerts – French pop rock group Superbus played there in 2005. A market is held in the town centre each Monday.

International relations

Bénodet is twinned with

• Torpoint, Cornwall, UK
• Antony, Cornwall, UK

See also

• Communes of the Finistère department

External links

• www.mairie-benodet.fr, Official site (in French)
• www.benodet.fr, Office Municipal de Tourisme de Bénodet
• Base Mérimée: Search for heritage in the commune, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
• Mayors of Finistère Association Archived 2021-03-18 at the Wayback Machine (in French);