Priziac

Priziac (French pronunciation: [pʁizjak]; Breton: Prizieg) is a commune in the Morbihan department of Brittany in north-western France.

Priziac Prizieg
Commune
The Church of Saint-Beheau in Priziac
Coat of arms
Location of Priziac
Priziac Priziac
Coordinates: 48°03′43″N 3°24′29″W
Country	France
Region	Brittany
Department	Morbihan
Arrondissement	Pontivy
Canton	Gourin
Intercommunality	Roi Morvan Communauté
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Dominique Le Niniven
Area 1	44.63 km2 (17.23 sq mi)
Population  (2021)	1,011
• Density	23/km2 (59/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	56182 /56320
Elevation	56–230 m (184–755 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Population

Inhabitants of Priziac are called in French Priziacois. The commune's population has been divided by three within a century because of rural exodus.

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 2,079 —     1800 2,071 −0.06% 1806 1,830 −2.04% 1821 2,089 +0.89% 1831 2,021 −0.33% 1836 2,062 +0.40% 1841 2,068 +0.06% 1846 2,252 +1.72% 1851 2,257 +0.04% 1856 2,206 −0.46% 1861 2,214 +0.07% 1866 2,213 −0.01% 1872 2,415 +1.47% 1876 2,636 +2.21% 1881 2,425 −1.65% 1886 2,255 −1.44% 1891 2,519 +2.24% 1896 2,532 +0.10%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 2,578 +0.36% 1906 2,830 +1.88% 1911 3,007 +1.22% 1921 2,995 −0.04% 1926 2,957 −0.26% 1931 2,872 −0.58% 1936 2,853 −0.13% 1946 2,722 −0.47% 1954 2,389 −1.62% 1962 1,862 −3.07% 1968 1,640 −2.09% 1975 1,367 −2.57% 1982 1,210 −1.73% 1990 1,074 −1.48% 1999 986 −0.95% 2009 1,046 +0.59% 2014 995 −0.99% 2020 965 −0.51%
Source: EHESS and INSEE (1968-2020)

Geography

Priziac is located in the northwestern part of the Morbihan, 33 km (21 mi) west of Pontivy and 35 km (22 mi) north of Lorient. Historically, it belongs to Vannetais. Near the village centre is the Bel Air lake, with an area of 54 hectares. Apart from the village centre, there are about one hundred hamlets. Most of the hamlets consist in two or three houses but others are larger. In the past, the hamlet of Botquenven had more inhabitants than the village of Priziac.

Neighbouring communes

Priziac is border by Le Faouët and Langonnet to the west, by Plouray to he north, by Meslan to the south, Saint-Tugdual and Le Croisty to the east.

Map

Topographic map

History

Middle Ages

The fortified castle of La Roche Piriou stood on the top of a hill near the confluence of the river Ellé and the river Aër. It was besieged unsuccessfully by the troops of Walter of Mauny during the War of the Breton Succession

Guy Éder de La Fontenelle, a nobleman at the head of a band of 400 riders, seized the fortified castle of Cremenec, in Priziac, on 10 February 1595.

French Revolution

The first mayor of Priziac, Jean Le Roux, was murdered by a band of chouans in his house in the village of Kerveno, on 23 December 1794.

Gallery

Chapels

• 
  Chapel Saint Yves.
• 
  Chapel Saint-Nicolas.
• 
  Chapel La Madeleine.
• 
  Chapel de Notre-Dame de Poulran.
• 
  Chapel Notre-Dame de Lotavy.
• 
  Chapel Saint-Guénolé.

Civil heritage

• 
  Gallery grave of Botquenven.
• 
  Manor of the Bourg.
• 
  Manor of Plascaër.

Landscapes

• 
  River Ellé
• 
  Lake Bel Air
• 
  Lake Bel Air

See also

• Communes of the Morbihan department
• Gaston-Auguste Schweitzer Sculptor of Priziac war memorial

External links

• Official website (in French)
• Base Mérimée: Search for heritage in the commune, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
• Mayors of Morbihan Association (in French)