Malestroit

Malestroit ; Malestroec
region	Brittany
Department	Morbihan
Arrondissement	Vannes
Canton	Moréac
Community association	De l'Oust à Brocéliande Communauté
Coordinates	47 ° 49 ′ N , 2 ° 23 ′ W Coordinates: 47 ° 49 ′ N , 2 ° 23 ′ W
height	10-95 m
surface	5.81 km 2
Residents	2,456 (January 1, 2017)
Population density	423 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code	56140
INSEE code	56124
Website	http://villedemalestroit.bzh/
	; Place du Bouffay in Malestroit

Malestroit ( Gallo Malestroec , Breton Malastred ) is a commune with 2,456 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) in the department of Morbihan in the region of Brittany .

geography

Malestroit is located on the right bank of the River Oust , the here a part of the Nantes-Brest canal (the channel of the commercial vessels no longer used only by sports and houseboats ) forms. The community is located around 33 kilometers northeast of Vannes in the east of the Morbihan department. Neighboring communities are Missiriac in the north and northeast, Saint-Congard in the east, Pleucadeuc in the southeast and south, and Saint-Marcel in the west.

Malestroit had a train station on the Questembert – Ploërmel railway line .

history

The foundation of Malestroit is dated to 987, when monks settled on the banks of the Oust. The place became a stage destination on the Way of St. James , one of the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela . In 1131 the place was mentioned in a document under the name Malestricum . In the Hundred Years War in 1343 in the Chapel de la Madeleine in Malestroit by the French King Philip VI. and the English King Edward III. signed a truce . At the end of the Middle Ages , Malestroit was raised to one of the nine baronies of Brittany. At the beginning of the 19th century, on behalf of Napoleon I , the construction of the Canal de Nantes à Brest began, initially for military reasons, later also with the aim of connecting inner Brittany to trade with goods.