Bréhat

Geography

The island, accompanied by some small island S neighbors, constitutes a commune (officially named Island-with-Bréhat ), attached to the canton of Paimpol (district of Saint-Brieuc), of a surface of 309 ha for a population of 421 inhabitants in 1999,406 in 2001,382 in 2006.

The permanent population strongly decreased (1 559 in 1873,1 400 into 1952,653 in 1982), on the other hand the estival population can reach ten thousands of inhabitants.

Sea link of Closed Port (in the south, vis-a-vis the continent) with the point of Arcouest all the year, and with Paimpol, Erquy, Dahouët, Binic and Saint-Quay-Portrieux in summer.

The island is makes of it made up with high tide of two islands : the northern island with the relief of Moors and the more flowered southern island; they are connected by the Vauban bridge (or rear bridge Prat).

The rocks with water flowers of the island and the archipelago of Bréhat form dangerous shelves, the pleasure sailing there is particularly difficult and requires solids maritime knowledge.

Bréhat was the 1st natural Site classified in France

Climate

Its microclimate, particularly soft in winter, offers a very great diversity of flowers and plants. It is one of the rare places in “Northern Brittany” on which can push Mediterranean plants, because the frosts are even rarer there than on the coasts of the commune of Ploubazlanec and the “gilded belt”.

Geology

It is also an island on which one finds granite pink, however far in the east from the " pink Coast of granite " who starts towards Perros-Guirec. Between trees, flowers and pink granite, luminous contrasts are particularly eloquent.

History

Traces of occupation during the Gallo-Roman period. Before being an island, Bréhat was a top attached to the littoral.

To 2 km of the point of Arcouest, in the north of Paimpol, Bréhat is in the center of ten small islands. They are one time the apparent traces when the Breton islands were not yet islands, but tops separated by coastal valleys: to be established there, our ancestors of the Neolithic era did not have to wet the feet! Here like elsewhere, the littoral landscape then knew important transformations. The volume of the seas varied with the climate. Water, immobilized freezes some during the cold periods, was released with the favor from the warmings from the atmosphere to turn over to the oceans, creating islands. 470: Holy Budoc, Large-Breton monk , built a monastery on the island Lavrec, in the east of Bréhat. It is the oldest monastery of the Armorican peninsula.

The parish of Bréhat, wedged in the évêché of Saint-Brieuc belonged to the deanery of concerning Lanvollon évêché of Fraud and was under the terms of Saint Samson and Notre-Dame.

With the Middle Ages, Bréhat becomes a strategic military point and the duke of Penthièvre decides to strengthen the island. In spite of these fortifications, Bréhat will be regularly invaded by English, and even Spanish.

Under Louis XIV, Vauban strengthened the island and built the passage ( bridge into Breton) which bears its name between the two islands.

Many personalities and artists remained on the island: Prosper Mérimée, Ernest Renan, Pierre Parcelled out, Theodore Botrel, the brothers Edmond and Jules de Goncourt, Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse, Robert Giraud.

Administration

Demography

Heraldic

Places and monuments

Port-Close
the Phare Peacock
the vault Saint-Michel
the semaphore
the cross of Maudez
the vault Keranroux
the Moulin with tide of Birlot

Personalities related to the commune

Transport

Various joint means of transport make it possible to go on the island:

by plane: airports of Lannion or distant Saint-Brieuc of 40 kilometers,
in the train by Paimpol, where are ensured of the correspondences with TGV passing by the stations of broad outlines of Saint-Brieuc or Guingamp,
in boat: the crossing being ensured by the high-speed motorboats of Bréhat, connecting in a few Bréhat minutes with Arcouest, dispatching platform nearest located on the commune of Ploubazlanec, as well as the ports of Erquy, of the Dahouët, Saint-Quay-Portrieux, Binic and Tréguier.

Gallery

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