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LORIENT , a maritime See also: town of western See also: France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of See also: Morbihan, on the right See also: bank of the Scorff at its confluence with the Blavet, 34 M
.
W. by N. of See also: Vannes by See also: rail
.
Pop
.
(1oo6) 40,848
.
The town is See also: modern and regularly built
.
Its chief See also: objects of See also: interest are the See also: church of St
See also: Louis (1709) and a statue by A
.
See also: Mercie of Victor Masse, the composer, See also: born at Lorient in 1822
.
It is one of the five maritime prefectures in France and the first See also: port for See also: naval construction in the. country
.
The naval port to the See also: east of the town is formed by the channel of the Scorff, on the right bank of which the chief naval establishments are situated
.
These include magazines, foundries, forges, fitting-shops, rope-See also: works and other workshops on the most extensive See also: scale, as well as a graving See also: dock, a covered slip and other slips
.
A floating See also: bridge connects the right bank with the peninsula of Caudan formed by the union of the Scorff and Blavet
.
Here are the See also: shipbuilding yards covering some 38 acres, and comprising nine slips for large vessels and two others for smaller vessels, besides forges and workshops for iron See also: ship-See also: building
.
The commercial port to the See also: south of the town consists of an See also: outer tidal port protected by a See also: jetty and of an inner dock, both lined by See also: fine quays planted with trees
.
It separates the older See also: part of the town, which is hemmed in by fortifications from a newer quarter
.
In 1905, 121 vessels of 28,785 tons entered with cargo and 145 vessels of 38,207 tons cleared
.
The chief export is pit-See also: timber, the chief import is See also: coal
.
Fishing is actively carried on
.
Lorient is the seat of a sub-See also: prefect, of commercial and maritime tribunals and of a tribunal of first instance, and has a chamber of commerce, a See also: board of See also: trade-arbitrators, a lycee, See also: schools of navigation, and naval artillery
.
Private industry is also engaged in iron-working and See also: engine making
.
The trade in fresh See also: fish, sardines, oysters (which are reared near Lorient) and tinned vegetables is important and the manufacture of See also: basket-See also: work, tin-boxes and passementerie, and the preparation of preserved sardines and vegetables are carried on
.
The road-See also: stead, formed by the estuary of the Blavet, is accessible to vessels of the largest See also: size; the entrance, 3 or 4 M. south from Lorient, which is defended by numerous forts, is marked on the east by the peninsula of Gavres (an artillery practising ground) and the fortified town of Port Louis; on the west are the fort of Loqueltas and, higher up, the battery of Kernevel
.
In the See also: middle of the channel is the granite See also: rock of St Michel, occupied by a powder See also: magazine
.
Opposite it, on the right bank of the Blavet, is the mouth of the See also: river Ter, with fish and See also: oyster breeding establishments from which 10 millions of oysters are annually obtained
.
The roadstead is provided with six lighthouses
.
Above Lorient on the Scorff, here spanned by a suspension bridge, is Kerentrech, a See also: pretty See also: village surrounded by numerous country houses
.
Lorient took the place of
.
Port.Louis:as!.tit ;port of the Blavet
.
The latter stands. on the..site;.of.an;See also: ancient See also: hamlet which was fortified during. the See also: wars of the See also: League and handed over by See also: Philip
See also: Emmanuel, duke of Morcoeur, to the Spaniards
.
After the treaty of Vervins it was restored to France, and it received its name of Port Louis under See also: Richelieu
.
Some See also: Breton merchants trading with the Indies had established themselves first at Port Louis, but in 1628 they built their warehouses on the other bank
.
The Compagnie See also: des Indes Orientales, created in 1664, took possession of these, giving them the name of 1'Orient
.
In 1745 the Compagnie des Indes, then at the See also: acme of its prosperity, owned See also: thirty-five See also: ships of the largest class and many others of considerable size
.
Its decadence See also: dates from the See also: English See also: conquest of See also: India, and in 1770 its See also: property was ceded to the See also: state
.
In 1782 the town was See also: purchased by Louis XVI.. from its owners, the Rohan-Guemene See also: family
.
In 1746 the English under See also: Admiral See also: Richard Lestock made an unsuccessful attack on Lorient
.
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