Île des Morts

Transported by boat, the gunpowder made a last stop at the île d'Arun, at the mouth of the River Aulne.

In 1808, Jean-Nicolas Trouille, director of the maritime works at Brest, decided to develop Île de Morts by adding powder magazines.

[1] The rock-breaking works done by convicts from the Brest prison allowed him to level a plateau on which to build three 45m-long and 12m wide two-level powder-magazines (in which the use of metal was banned to avoid risk of explosion).

In 1868, with the railways' arrival in Brest, the French Navy decided to build a new powder magazine at the Saint-Nicolas powder-factory, at Guipavas.

Even so, the Île des Morts continued in use in both World Wars, during which time the metal "Decauville" road was built, which still survives.