Île-de-Bréhat

Bréhat (French: Île-de-Bréhat, French pronunciation: [il də bʁea]; Breton: Enez Vriad) is an island and commune located near Paimpol, a mile off the northern coast of Brittany. Administratively, it is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in northwestern France.

Bréhat Île-de-Bréhat Enez-Vriad
Commune
Views of Bréhat
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Bréhat
Bréhat Show map of France Bréhat Show map of Brittany
Coordinates: 48°50′51″N 3°00′00″W
Country	France
Region	Brittany
Department	Côtes-d'Armor
Arrondissement	Saint-Brieuc
Canton	Paimpol
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Olivier Carré[1]
Area 1	3.09 km2 (1.19 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]	427
• Density	140/km2 (360/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	22016 /22870
Elevation	0–34 m (0–112 ft)
Website	www.iledebrehat.fr
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Bréhat is actually an archipelago composed of two main islands, separated only at high tide, and many smaller ones. It is famous for its pink granite rocks, very mild micro-climate and Mediterranean vegetation, due to the warm Gulf Stream coming from across the Atlantic.

Many day-trippers come to Bréhat every day by the ferry service (les Vedettes de Bréhat) which sails from Pointe de l'Arcouest, to the north of Paimpol, taking about 10 minutes.^[3] They come to visit the main tourist attractions, the Paon and Rosedo lighthouses, the St-Michel chapel, the Guerzido beach, the Birlot [fr] water-mill and the Verrerie of Bréhat. In June 2023 the local municipality imposed a limit on the numbers of summer tourists, citing "overtourism".^[4]

Climate

Bréhat features a temperate oceanic climate with mild winters, dry summers and lower precipitation levels than continental Brittany as a result of the effects of the Gulf Stream,^[5] favoring a wide diversity of plants and flowers such as mimosas, hortensias, ceanothus, echiums and agapanthus. It is one of the few places in Brittany and its surroundings where palm trees and other Mediterranean plants can grow naturally due to the scarcity of frosts throughout the year.

Climate data for Île-de-Bréhat (1961–1990)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	8.9 (48.0)	9.0 (48.2)	10.4 (50.7)	11.9 (53.4)	14.6 (58.3)	17.1 (62.8)	19.4 (66.9)	19.9 (67.8)	18.7 (65.7)	15.9 (60.6)	12.0 (53.6)	10.0 (50.0)	14.0 (57.2)
Daily mean °C (°F)	6.8 (44.2)	6.8 (44.2)	8.0 (46.4)	9.4 (48.9)	11.9 (53.4)	14.4 (57.9)	16.6 (61.9)	17.1 (62.8)	16.0 (60.8)	13.5 (56.3)	10.0 (50.0)	8.0 (46.4)	11.5 (52.7)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	4.7 (40.5)	4.6 (40.3)	5.5 (41.9)	6.9 (44.4)	9.2 (48.6)	11.7 (53.1)	13.8 (56.8)	14.3 (57.7)	13.4 (56.1)	11.1 (52.0)	7.9 (46.2)	6.0 (42.8)	9.1 (48.4)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	85.0 (3.35)	69.5 (2.74)	62.5 (2.46)	45.0 (1.77)	56.0 (2.20)	39.6 (1.56)	36.1 (1.42)	36.3 (1.43)	51.5 (2.03)	69.0 (2.72)	88.7 (3.49)	83.5 (3.29)	722.8 (28.46)
Average relative humidity (%)	87	85	85	85	86	87	87	86	86	86	85	85	86
Mean monthly sunshine hours	61.7	87.3	134.5	180.3	224.3	223.2	238.2	220.9	169.8	122.7	72.3	56.3	1,791.5
Source: Infoclimat.fr[6]

Population

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1968	653	—
1975	553	−2.35%
1982	511	−1.12%
1990	461	−1.28%
1999	421	−1.00%
2009	429	+0.19%
2014	392	−1.79%
2020	377	−0.65%
Source: INSEE[7]

Inhabitants of Île-de-Bréhat are called Bréhatins in French.

Sights

• Héaux de Bréhat Lighthouse
• Rosedo Lighthouse
• Chapelle Saint Michel
• Paon Lighthouse
• Chapelle Keranroux
• Verrerie of Brehat

• 
  La Croix Lighthouse
• 
  Paon Lighthouse
• 
  Chapelle St Michel
• 
  Bréhat island's enclosed harbour, at high tide
• 
  Chapelle Keranoux
• 
  St Michael's chapel

People linked to Île-de-Bréhat

• Pierre-Marie Le Bozec- Naval officer who lived and died here
• André César Vermare (1869–1949), renowned sculptor who resided and died in the island
• Marc Chagall (1887–1985), painted La fenêtre sur l'Ile de Bréhat, 1924, kept at Vereinigung Zürcher Kunstfreunde.^[8]
• Goudji (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
• Marie-José Chombart de Lauwe, resistance fighter.

See also

• Communes of the Côtes-d'Armor department
• Paimpol–Bréhat tidal farm