The town of Le Juch

In Breton: ‘Ar yeuc’h’, which means a raised area
Pronounced ‘le duke’
Population: 721 residents, known as ‘les juchois’

Getting there

The first mention of this village appeared in 1254, ‘Jugum’ in Latin, which became ‘Le Gug’ in 1292, ‘Jugum’ in 1325 and 1379, ‘Le Jucq’ in 1453, and ‘Juch’ in 1565.

Its name comes from Breton, the original language of Brittany, ‘Ar Yeuh’, a variation of the word ‘Hoh’, which meant a mound or a heap.

Even further back, this word came from the Celtic word ‘iukko’.

Throughout the centuries, this was mixed up with an old French word that sounded similar: ‘juc’, which meant a chicken coop or perch. This is why the name of the village in the 1400s is noted as ‘Jucq’.

There was a Juch family, too, one of the oldest and most important family lines in the area back in the Middle Ages.

The Lords of the Juch family took part in the crusades in the early 1200s, and were active in the wars of the 1300s. They also held the post of ‘chambellan’ in the Duke’s court, similar to a Chamberlain, an officer in charge of managing a royal household. Their social status didn’t end there: along with other lords of southern Brittany, they served the King of France from the late 1400s.

Le Juch - voie verte - photo journées patrimoines de Pays

In 1541, the fiefdom of Le Juch, endowed with a collection of rights and prerogatives, stretched from the Pointe du Raz (the Land’s End of Brittany to the west) all the way to Trégourez, Ploéven and up to Plobannalec. The fiefdom was also responsible for the court of justice at all levels and owned prisons in the village of Le Juch.

The coat of arms for the barons of Le Juch bore an azure blue cross and shield and a white lion with red tongue and claws.