﻿MS 



MORBIHAK 



MOREA. 



see 



to France. Carenloir, on the eastern boundary of the department, is 

 a large market-town, with above 5000 iuhabitanta. Elven, 10 miles 

 N.E. from Vannes, has a population of 3320, and is famous for its 

 feudal castle, one of the best preserved monuments of the middle 

 ages in Bretagne. The church of St.-Alban, and the ossuary or 

 reliquary, situated in the adjacent cemetery, are deserving of notice. 

 Orand-Champ, W. of Elven, is built on a height, and possesses a 

 church with a very high tower, which formed the vertex of one of 

 Caasini'a triangles. The town was the scene of two severe actions 

 between the Republicans and the Chouans in 1795 and 1800: popu- 

 lation 4833. Quealembert, E. of Vannes, is an old ill-built town, with 

 3590 inhabitants, who manufacture leather, and ti-ade largely in butter. 

 Roche-Bernard, a small town and port, with 1300 inhabitants, near 

 the mouth of the Vilaine, requires mention on accoimt of the fine 

 iron-wire suspension-bridge which here spans the river. This bridge, 

 649 feet in span, and 108 feet above high-water mark, is approached 

 by three lofty arches, and supported on two piers of granite masonry. 

 Sarzeau, the birthplace of Le-Sage, is situated on the peninsula of 

 Ruis, on the south side of the Morbihan, and has 6901 inhabitants, 

 mostly sailors. 



2. In the second arrondissement the chief town, Pontivy, is situated 

 on the left bank and on the canal of the Blavet, in 48° 4' 6" N. lat, 

 2° 57' 52" E. long., at an elevation of 183 feet above the level of the 

 sea ; 30 miles N. by W. from Vannes, and has a tribunal of first in- 

 stance, a college, and 6930 inhabitants in the commune. The remains 

 of old walls, pierced by four principal gates, show that this town was 

 once strongly fortified. The new part of the town lies without the 

 line of the old fortifications ; it is laid out in straight broad streets, 

 and contains a prison and cavalry barracks, with a fine manceuvring 

 ground. In the old town the most remarkable building is the old 

 castle of the dukes of liohan, which was rebuilt in 1485. Pontivy is 

 a place of considerable commercial activity : com, linen, thread, hides, 

 butter, horses, cattle, and leather, are the principal items of its trade. 

 This town took the name of NapoI(k>nvilIe during the first French 

 empirei Baud, a market-town, with 4737 inhabitants, stands in a 

 valley at the intersection of three great roads, 12 miles S. from Pon- 

 tivy. The chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Ia-Clarette, built close to a 

 fountain in the environs of the town, and the statue of the Armorican 

 Venus, called Venus de Quinipili, which stands on a pedestal on a hill 

 near the town, are worthy of notice. CUguirtc, 5 miles N.W. from 

 Pontivy, has a population of 3434 in thecommnne. Le-Fatnut, situated 

 in the north-west of the department, stands on the top of a hill at the 

 intersection of four high roads, which abut on a square in the centre 

 of the town. The inhabitants, who number 3000, manufacture 

 Prussian-blue and paper, and trade in agricultural produce. Qourin, 

 N. by W. of Le-Faouet, also stands on a hill, and has 3783 inhabitants. 



3. Of the third arrondissement the chief town, LorienI, forms the 

 subject of a separate article. [Lobient.] Anray, situated on a hill 

 at the mouth of the river Auray, 16 miles E. from Lorient, has a 

 harbour for moderate-sized vessels, a handsome quay, several ship- 

 building yards, and 3815 inhabitants, who are engaged in the coasting- 

 trade, the fisheries, and the mannfacture of lace, cotton-twist, tiles, 

 bricks, Ac. ffennebont, famous for its defence by Jeanne de Montfort 

 against Charles of Blois in 1341, and built on the slope of two hills, 

 ■epamted by the Blavet, which is here crossed by a bridge, consists of 

 three parts — the old town, the new town, and the walled town. The 

 old and the new town, which make np three-fourths of the city, consist 

 of narrow stsep streets, remarkable only for some old houses of gothic 

 architecture, and for the dirt-heaps that poison the air in front of 

 every door. The walled town stiU retains the greater part of the 

 fine ramparts with which it was girt; it was formerly defended 

 by a strong castle, of which only a single gate now remains. The 

 Blavet forms a port, to which vessels of small size ascend. The town 

 has 4552 inhabitants in the commune, who trade in com, wine, honey, 

 cider, hemp, hides, iron, Ac. Ship-building is carried on. Hennebont 

 has an important corn-market. Plouay, a considerable market-town 

 N. of Lorient, has a population of 4047. Pluvigner, 16 miles E. from 

 Lorient, has iron smelting-fumaces and forges ; foundries for bullets, 

 bombs, and other projectileB ; and 4695 inhabitants. Port-LouU, a 

 small ill-built town, with narrow winding streets, stands at the en- 

 trance of the roadstead of Lorient, and has a population of 3139. It 

 it ■urrounded by ramparts and defended by a strong citadel, which 

 commands the entrance of the roadstead. The harbour is large and 

 deep enough for men-of-war; the holding ground is good, but the 

 entrance is rather difficult. The parish church and the barracks are 

 the most remarkable structures. Quiberon, a large village with 3013 

 inhabitants, stands at the extremity of the peninsula of Quiberon, 

 famous for the nnfortunate expedition of the Count of Artois in 1795. 



4. In the fourth arrondissement the chief town, Ploirmcl, situated 

 in 47° 65' 68' N. lat, 2° 28' 47 " W. long., at an elevation of 252 feet 

 above the level of the sea, near the lake and river Due, which flows 

 into the Oust, in the east of the department, has a tribunal of first 

 instance, a college, and 5195 inhabitants, who trade in woollen-cloth, 

 hempen-yam, linen, flax, honey, iron, and cattle. The town is well 

 built, with wjde clean streets ; it has two squares, a large fair-green, 

 and an hospital. The court-house, the parish-church (a remarkable 

 structure of the 12th century), and the church of the former Ursuline 

 convent, are the moat striking of the public btiildiDgs. Joudin, 



OEOO. DIV. TOU ui. 



C miles W. by N. from Ploermel, has 2756 inhabitants. It is famous 

 for its ancient castle, in which Olivier de Clisson, Constable of Franco, 

 died (April 20, 1407), and which has been recently repaired by the 

 Duke de Rohan. The parish church contains the tombs of De Clisson , 

 and his wife Marguerite de Rohan, which were destroyed in 1793 and 

 rebuilt in 1830. Between Ploermel and Josselin is the heath of 

 Mi-voie, famous for the combat between 30 Bretons and 30 English, 

 on the 27th of March 1351, when the latter were defeated ; the spot 

 is now marked by a granite obelisk, erected in 1819, and inscribed 

 with the names of the 30 Bretons. Otier, a ma^ket-to^vn of 3773 

 inhabitants, 12 miles E. from Ploermel, owes its origin to a hermitage 

 frequented by St Malo, about the year 541, and over which the parish 

 church is now built. 



The department forms the see of the bishop of Vannes ; is included 

 in the jurisdiction of the High Court and within the limits of the 

 University -Academy of Rennes; and belongs to the 16th Military 

 Division, of which Rennes is head-quarters. It returns 3 members 

 to the Legislative Body of the French empire. 



(Dictionnaire de la Prance ; Annuaire pour CAn 1853 ; Official 

 Papers.) 



MORDELLES. [Ille-et-Vilaine.] 



MORDIFORD. [Herefobd3hire.J 



MORE'A (the ancient Peloponnesus), a large peninsula forming the 

 southern part of Greece, and united to the mainland by the isthmus 

 of Corinth. Its coast, deeply indented by numerous gulfs and inlets, 

 forms a multitude of small peninsulas and promoutorits. It is bounded 

 N. by the gulfs of Lepanto and Patras, W. by the Ionian Sea, S. by 

 the Messenian and Laconian gulfs, and E. by the gulfs of Nauplia and 

 .<£gina, which latter divides Morea from Attica. The greatest length 

 of Morea from the point of Drepanum on the strait of Lepanto, to 

 Cape Matapan, its most southern promontory, is 140 rhiles; and its 

 greatest breadth, from the coast opposite Zante to the easternmost 

 coast of AiTgolis, near Poros, is about 123 miles, but the breadth is 

 much less in other parts. Its area is officially estimated at 10,125 

 square miles. The population, according to the census of 1852, 

 amounted to 608,427. 



The centre of Morea forms an elevated table-land traversed by 

 numerous ridges of hills, which inclose spacious basins, some of them 

 like craters, being so surrounded by mountains that the water at tho 

 bottom, being unable to find a visible outlet, forms marshes and small 

 lakes, some of which have however a subterraneous outlet. [Abcidia.] 

 On the eastern part of the table-land the slope is short and abrupt; 

 but on the opposite aide the valleys have a long slope westward, fol- 

 lowing the course of the Alpheus and its tributaries, until they merge 

 into the low maritime plains of Eli.s. Towards the south the long 

 valley of the Eurotas slopes down to the coast between two ranges of 

 mountains, which detach themselves from the central highland, and, 

 projecting into the sea, form the promontories of Malea and Trenarum. 

 Westward of the valley of the Eurotas is the valley of the I'amisus, 

 in Messenia, rtmning likewise from north to south between the ridges 

 of the Taygetus on tho east and Mount .^galeon on tho west. 



On the north side the table-land of Morea is separated from the 

 maritime district of Acha» by a range of mountains known to tho 

 ancients by the names of Erymanthus, Lampe, and Cyllene. North- 

 east of these the land slopes down to the level part of the isthmus of 

 Corinth, where the town of that name was built. To the eastward a 

 chain of mountains, detaching itself from the central high land, runs 

 through the peninsula of Argolis, which stretches far into the sea 

 between the Saronic and Argolic gulfs. South of this range is the 

 plain of Argos, watered by the Inachus, Farther south a narrow 

 strip of land extends between the central high land and the sea, along 

 the western coast of the Aigolic Qulf. The slope of the table-land is 

 much more abrupt on the eastern than on tho western side of Morea. 



The highest summits of Morea, Taygetus in the south and Cyllene 

 in the north, are reckoned to be somewhat above 5000 feek : snow 

 remains on the highest points of the Taygetus till tho month of June. 

 The table-land of Arcadia is often covered with snow in March, whilo 

 the maritime districts enjoy warm and genial weather. The peren- 

 nial rivers of Morea are the Alpheus, Eurotas, Pnmisus, and Pencus ; 

 the other numerous streams along the northern and eastern coasts are 

 dry, or nearly so, in summer, but form rapid torrents in tho winter. 

 The atmosphere of Morea is generally pure, the landscape beautiful, 

 and the ground in the valleys and low plains fertile. The mountains 

 afford good pasture, and althouj;h the forests have been sadly wasted, 

 still many parts of the mountains are covered with fine pines and oak- 

 treea. The country, imperfectly cultivated as it is, produces com of 

 various kinds, wine, oil, flax, currants, and most other fruits, and feeds 

 numerous flocks of sheep. There are no roads, properly speaking, 

 through the peninsula, but only tracks for horses, and some narrow 

 causeways through the low grounds. The Morea is now divided into 

 five nomes, namely, Argolis and Corinth, Achaia and Klis, Arcadia, 

 Laconia, and Messenia. Under these heads more minute notices of 

 the surface are given ; and in the article Qbeece some statistical details 

 will bo found. 



The ancient history of Peloponnesus forms part of the history of 

 Greece. After the destruction of the Achccan [Aciiaia] league by the 

 Romans, B.C'. 146, the peninsula formed part of the Roman province 

 of Achaia. It remained subject to Romo till the division of tho empire. 



3 K 



