Guingamp

Guingamp Gwengamp
Subprefecture and commune
Guingamp's Town Hall
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Guingamp
Guingamp Guingamp
Coordinates: 48°33′48″N 3°09′00″W
Country	France
Region	Brittany
Department	Côtes-d'Armor
Arrondissement	Guingamp
Canton	Guingamp
Intercommunality	Guingamp-Paimpol Agglomération
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Philippe Le Goff
Area 1	3.41 km2 (1.32 sq mi)
Population  (2021)	7,105
• Density	2,100/km2 (5,400/sq mi)
Demonym	Guingampais
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	22070 /22200
Elevation	62–126 m (203–413 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Guingamp (French pronunciation: [ɡɛ̃ɡɑ̃] ; Breton: Gwengamp pronounced [ˈɡwɛ̃ŋɡãmp]) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. With a population of 6,895 as of 2017, Guingamp is one of the smallest towns in Europe to have a top-tier professional football team: En Avant Guingamp, which played in Ligue 1 from 2013 until 2019.

History

The town has the remains of three successive castles, the last of which was razed to the ground by the order of Cardinal Richelieu. They were reduced to three towers.

Vincent de Bourbon, great-grandson of Louis XIV, was Count of Guingamp from 1750 until his death in 1752.

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 1793 5,177 —     1800 5,190 +0.3% 1806 4,973 −4.2% 1821 5,550 +11.6% 1831 6,100 +9.9% 1836 6,466 +6.0% 1841 6,796 +5.1% 1846 6,949 +2.3% 1851 6,718 −3.3% 1856 6,893 +2.6% 1861 7,350 +6.6% 1866 6,977 −5.1% 1872 7,045 +1.0% 1876 7,895 +12.1% 1881 8,404 +6.4% 1886 8,744 +4.0% 1891 9,196 +5.2% 1896 9,272 +0.8%

Year Pop. ±% 1901 9,252 −0.2% 1906 9,212 −0.4% 1911 9,385 +1.9% 1921 7,923 −15.6% 1926 8,575 +8.2% 1931 8,644 +0.8% 1936 8,663 +0.2% 1946 9,080 +4.8% 1954 8,117 −10.6% 1962 8,912 +9.8% 1968 9,232 +3.6% 1975 9,284 +0.6% 1982 8,507 −8.4% 1990 7,905 −7.1% 1999 8,008 +1.3% 2008 7,477 −6.6% 2012 7,235 −3.2%

Sports

The city is well-known for its professional football team, En Avant de Guingamp, which won the Coupe de France against Rennes in the 2008–09 season while it was still part of Ligue 2. The team returned to Ligue 1 for the 2013–14 season for the first time in 9 years. Guingamp again won the French Cup against Rennes in 2013–14 and qualified for the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League.

With 18,120 seats, the club's stadium has a higher capacity than Guingamp's total population of 6,895.

Culture

The Saint Loup festival, a national competition of Breton dances and international festival, takes place every in around mid August. It culminates in a traditional dance called la Dérobée de Guingamp. The festival features Celtic musicians from Asturias, Ireland, Galicia, Scotland, Wales, and elsewhere. Breton dance features in other cultural manifestations and the local cultural office organizes a contemporary creative dance week.

The municipality launched a plan for the Breton language through Ya d'ar brezhoneg on 8 July 2008. In 2008, 15.89% of primary school children attended bilingual schools.

The annual 'pardon' brings pilgrims to pay homage to the 'Black Virgin' in the Basilica of Notre Dame de Bon Secours.

Personalities

• Joseph Guy Ropartz, composer
• Théophile Marie Brébant, Colonel in the French Army

Twin towns – sister cities

Guingamp is twinned with:

• Shannon, Ireland, since 1991
• Aue, Germany, since 2011
• Urbino, Italy

A view from one of Trieux's bridges

See also

• Communes of the Côtes-d'Armor department
• Guingamp station
• En Avant de Guingamp
• Élie Le Goff, sculptor of Guingamp statue of Joan of Arc

External links

• Guingamp Tourist Office (in French)
• Official website (in French)
• Base Mérimée: Search for heritage in the commune, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)