A naval station was first set up here around 1840 to house reserve fleet vessels and their crews (totalling nearly 200 sailors), and it was visited by Napoleon III and empress Eugénie during their August 1858 trip into Brittany.
In 1859-1860 he built the church of Sainte-Eugénie, at the center of town in honor of his wife Eugénie de Montijo, who liked the place.
The first dock was opened in 1855, enlarged 11 years later and named the Bassin Morny, inaugurated in 1866 by Emperess Eugénie.
Eugenie Scott | Eugénie de Montijo | Princess Eugenie of York | Montijo | Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg | Eugenie Clark | Eugénie | Montijo, Spain | Montijo (parish) | Louise Marie Adélaïde Eugénie d'Orléans | Eugénie Söderberg | Eugenie Leontovich | Eugenie Gershoy | Eugénie Fougère | Eugenie Bouchard | Eugénie Blanchard | Eugenie | Battle of Montijo |
He married in 1849, Anne Mortier of Trévise (1824–1900), granddaughter of marshal Mortier duke of Trévise, who was lady of the Table of Empress Eugenie, and who appeared in the extreme right-hand side of the famous painting of Franz Xaver Winterhalter.
Eugénie, Empress of the French, wife of Emperor Napoleon III, was the great-granddaughter of William Kirkpatrick, of Conheath, a descendant of Alexander Kirkpatrick, of Kirkmichael, younger brother of Sir Thomas Kirkpatrick (d. 1502), ancestor of the first Kirkpatrick Baronet.
It was a cloudy day in Paris and there was a large crowd, including the Emperor and Empress, King Fernando of Portugal and the Prince of Orange.
She later left Ingres' studio and began receiving commissions for her work, including one from the court of Empress Eugenie for a painting of Cervantes in prison.
Sigiramnus’ relics were kept at the abbey of Saint-Cyran until 1860, when Eugénie de Montijo, Empress consort of the French, encased them in a reliquary and gave it to the church of Saint-Michel-en-Brenne.