island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...
Côtes-d'Armor
The Côtes-d'Armor (, ; ; br, Aodoù-an-Arvor, ), formerly known as Côtes-du-Nord ( br, Aodoù-an-Hanternoz, link=no, ), are a department in the north of Brittany, in northwestern France. In 2019, it had a population of 600,582.
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.
Bréhat is actually an
archipelago
An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands.
Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arch ...
composed of two main
island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...
s, separated only at high tide, and many smaller ones. It is famous for its pink
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies un ...
rocks, very mild
micro-climate
A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often with a slight difference but sometimes with a substantial one. The term may refer to areas as small as a few squ ...
and
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...
vegetation, due to the warm
Gulf Stream
The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension the North Atlantic Drift, is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the Unit ...
coming from across the
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
.
Many
day-tripper
A day trip is a visit to a tourist destination or visitor attraction from a person's home, hotel, or hostel in the morning, returning to the same lodging in the evening. The day trip is a form of recreational travel and leisure to a location t ...
s come to Brehat every day by the ferry service (les Vedettes de Bréhat) and visit the main tourist attractions, the Paon and Rosedo lighthouses, the St-Michel chapel, the Guerzido beach, the Birlot water-mill and the Verrerie of Bréhat.
Climate
Bréhat features a temperate
oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...
with mild winters, dry summers and lower precipitation levels than continental Brittany as a result of the effects of the Gulf Stream, favoring a wide diversity of plants and flowers such as
mimosa
''Mimosa'' is a genus of about 590 species of herbs and shrubs, in the mimosoid clade of the legume family Fabaceae. The generic name is derived from the Greek word (''mimos''), an "actor" or "mime", and the feminine suffix -''osa'', "resemb ...
ceanothus
''Ceanothus'' is a genus of about 50–60 species of nitrogen-fixing shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family ( Rhamnaceae). Common names for members of this genus are buckbrush, California lilac, soap bush, or just ceanothus. ''"Ceanothu ...
, echiums and agapanthus. It is one of the few places in Brittany and its surroundings where
palm trees
Palm most commonly refers to:
* Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand
* Palm plants, of family Arecaceae
**List of Arecaceae genera
* Several other plants known as "palm"
Palm or Palms may also refer to:
Music
* Palm (ba ...
and other Mediterranean plants can grow naturally due to the scarcity of frosts throughout the year.
Population
Inhabitants of Île-de-Bréhat are called ''Bréhatins'' in French.
Sights
*
Héaux de Bréhat Lighthouse
The Héaux de Bréhat is an active lighthouse in Côtes-d'Armor, France, located on the Île-de-Bréhat. The lighthouse is closed to the public.
Built by French engineer Léonce Reynaud in 1840, it sits on the reefs of Tréguier, near the Sil ...
*Rosedo Lighthouse
*Chapelle Saint Michel
*Paon Lighthouse
*Chapelle Keranroux
*
Verrerie of Brehat
La Verrerie (; frp, La Vèrriére is a municipality in the district of Veveyse in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. It was formed on 1 January 2004 by the union of the municipalities of Le Crêt, Grattavache, and Progens.
Brehat Phare de la Croix 01.JPG, La Croix Lighthouse
FR-22016 pharepaon01.jpg, Paon Lighthouse
FR-22016 chapstmichel01.jpg, Chapelle St Michel
Brehat Island harbour fisheye.jpg, Bréhat island's enclosed harbour, at high tide
Keranouxchapel.jpg, Chapelle Keranoux
Brehat - Chapelle Saint-Michel.jpg, St Michael's chapel
People linked to Île-de-Bréhat
*
Pierre-Marie Le Bozec
Pierre-Marie Le Bozec (28 April 1769, in Île-de-Bréhat – 15 May 1830, in Île-de-Bréhat) was a French Navy officer.
Biography
Youth
Le Bozec was born to a family of sailors, and started sailing in 1780 on a merchantman. From 1782, he ...
- Naval officer who lived and died here
* André César Vermare (1869–1949), renowned sculptor who resided and died in the island
*
Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall; russian: link=no, Марк Заха́рович Шага́л ; be, Марк Захаравіч Шагал . (born Moishe Shagal; 28 March 1985) was a Russian-French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with se ...
(1887–1985), painted ''La fenêtre sur l'Ile de Bréhat'', 1924, kept at Vereinigung Zürcher Kunstfreunde.
*
Goudji
image:Goudji.JPG, Goudji
Goudji (born July 6, 1941) is a French sculptor and goldsmith, who was born in Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, Georgia.
Biography
Goudji was born in Soviet Georgia and spent his youth in Batumi with his family. His fat ...
(born 1941), the Georgian-born French sculptor and goldsmith, frequently resides in Bréhat; in 2008 he offered an item and participated in an auction to restore local religious monuments