Goulet de Brest

Forming part of the chain of fortifications along the goulet de Brest, the fort du Dellec was built by Vauban in the 17th century, then rebuilt several times, notably in the 19th century when casemates were added for barracks and munitions storage. A German blockhouse typical of those on the Atlantic Wall was also added here by the Germans. It is located on the coastal paths between Brest and Le Conquet in the commune of Plouzané. The fort has been open to the public for some years. Two viewing points allow views of the cliffs of the Crozon peninsula and the Goulet, and there is a marina in a nearby small creek.

La pointe de Cornouaille is a cape to the north of the hamlet of Kerviniou in France. They are both situated on the Roscanvel peninsula and, facing as it does the Fort du Mengant, a battery on the point forms part of the defences of the goulet de Brest. Known defences on the site include: Lower battery (1694) - built to plans by Vauban Tour modèle n°1 (1813) - see Tour-modèle type 1811 Batterie de rupture sous roc (1888) Batterie du plateau (1897) Batterie de DCA allemande (1943, German) Torpedo-boat battery (German)

Télécom Bretagne (formerly known as ENST Bretagne) was a French grande école of engineering, and a research centre providing training in information technologies and telecommunications. In 2017, it merged with École des mines de Nantes to form IMT Atlantique. As a member of the Institut Mines-Télécom, it had three campuses: Plouzané, in the Technopôle Brest-Iroise, near Brest (France); Campus de Beaulieu, in Rennes (France); SUPAERO campus, in Toulouse (France).Télécom Bretagne had been the source of breakthroughs in the world of telecommunications, notably the turbo codes (first published in Proc. IEEE ICC'93) used extensively in 3G mobile telephony standards.

The École nationale d'ingénieurs de Brest (ENIB) is a French grande école leading to the French “Diplôme d’Ingénieur” under the authority of the French Ministry of Education and Research.

The batteries de Kerviniou are artillery batteries built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and are made up of an upper battery (1891) and an underground magazine (1891) Located on the Roscanvel peninsula facing the Fort du Mengant, they are a late addition to the defences of the goulet de Brest (a lower battery near the site, dating to 1695, has not yet been found). Demilitarised in 1915, they are open to the public.

The fort du Mengant or fort du Léon in the commune of Plouzané is part of the defences of the roadstead of Brest. It is made up of a high battery (58m above sea-level), with a now-destroyed artillery tower, and a lower semi-circular battery at the foot of the cliff, with two small powder magazines. Built by Vauban in 1684, it faces the batterie de cornouaille on the Roscanvel peninsula, built to the same model as the lower part of the fort du Mengant. The aim was to permit these two batteries, only just over 2 km apart, to bar entry to the roadstead. The original plans foresaw the completion of the defences by adding a battery in the middle of the goulet, on the Roche Mengant, but this proved impossible due to the tides and currents in the goulet. Around 1875, the naval ministry built a dam up against the lower battery to create a small harbour in which to base motor torpedo boats, in order to adapt the fort to this evolution in warfare. The lower battery houses the annexe to the Centre Nautique des Equipages de la Marine, whilst the upper battery is now used for radar testing. An imposing ramp was built in the 1960s to link the port to the upper battery so that the largest pieces of radar equipment to be tested could be carried up to it from the port.

Îlot des Capucins (Islet of the Capuchins) is a rocky islet at the foot of a cliff in the commune of Roscanvel on the Crozon peninsula. Its name comes from a rock near the island, shaped like a praying monk. It has a strategic position at the entrance to the goulet de Brest and so a fort sited on it controlled the whole of Camaret Bay, with views stretching from pointe du Grand Gouin (to the southwest), to fort de Bertheaume (to the northwest). The fort was built in 1848 after plans drawn 150 years earlier by Vauban, built in schist and granite and made up of an underground battery (1890) and a rapid-fire battery (1890) It was linked to the mainland by a bridge in 1859.On the heights overlooking the islet is an upper battery (1885) to the islet's right and left, a platform battery with an underground magazine (1897) and a mortar battery (1889).

Roscanvel (French pronunciation: ​[ʁɔskɑ̃vɛl]; Breton: Roskañvel) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.

The siege of Fort Crozon or the siege of El Leon was a land and sea engagement that took place as part of Spain's Brittany Campaign late in the French wars of religion and the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604). The siege was fought between 1 October and 19 November 1594 and was conducted by English and French troops against a Spanish fort constructed on the Crozon Peninsula near Brest. After a number of assaults were repelled, a Spanish relief force under Juan del Águila attempted to relieve the garrison, but it was delayed by French cavalry and could not reach the garrison in time.An assault by the English using a deceitful ruse ended the siege when the defenders were all but put to the sword. The victory proved decisive in two ways. First, it denied the Spanish an important large independent base and port from which to operate in Brittany against the English and Dutch. Second, the Spanish had lost most of their support from the French Catholic League, and as a result enabled the French king Henry IV to declare war on Spain.

The Pointe des Espagnols is the north-east extremity of the Roscanvel peninsula, an outgrowth of the Crozon peninsula closing off the roadstead of Brest. It also marks the south-east limit of the goulet de Brest (the other limits are marked by pointe des Capucins, pointe du Petit Minou and pointe du Portzic). Formed by a cliff that is more than 60m high, at whose summit and base are the remains of fortifications and barracks, the point reaches towards the north-east via the rocher de la Cormorandière, marked by a pole. The straight channel situated between the point and the rocher is the location for strong currents which affect the roadstead. This strategic position, facing Brest, was already noted by the Duchy of Brittany, who sited a fortlet there in 1387 (now lost). In 1594, Spaniards landed here and were only dislodged after several battles - it was in this period that the cape first took on its present name.

The Fort de Portzic was built near the town of Brest by Vauban between 1693 and 1699 as part of the defences of the goulet de Brest. It faces the pointe des Espagnols and was improved and enlarged over time (including the Phare du Portzic in 1848 and a semaphore station in 1987), since it formed the town's last and innermost defence. The buildings on the site remain in military use. Nearby is the lighthouse Phare du Portzic.

Îlot du Diable is a gun battery built to support fort de la Fraternité in the defensive system around the goulet de Brest in France. It is sited on the peninsula of Roscanvel and is accessible by a small bridge. The battery was razed in the 19th century, and in 1890 on its site was built a bunker with an electricity generator. A casemate was then added by the Germans in 1942. A small observation is still to be found at the summit of the site, near a former lime kiln.