The hermit Gildas settled on the island in the 6th century and died there in 565; Rhuys abbey later sent farmers around the year 1000. The village church, at the heart of the white lanes, keeps his patronage alive.
A thousand years of history — Melvanmelvan.org→Fortified under Vauban from 1693 to cover Belle-Île, ruined by the English, the island received three forts in the 19th century. The one at En Tal point now houses B&B rooms.
After the Revolution the rector ran the island for a century: common purse, canteen-shop, justice. Houat only became an independent commune, detached from Belle-Île, in 1891.
History — town hallmairiedehouat.fr→The 1951 storm destroyed the old Er Beg harbour; Port Saint-Gildas, completed in 1956, revived lobster and sardine fishing. Electricity only arrived in November 1963.
The island museum tells of fishermen and plankton; the Melvan association publishes the annual 'Revue des deux îles' devoted to Houat and Hoëdic, the sister islands.
Melvan associationmelvan.org→Photo : Pline, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons