- Brière
Brière (Ar Briwer in Breton) is the
marsh area to the north of the Loireestuary at its mouth in theAtlantic Ocean . The residents of Brière are called "Brièrons". The Brière marsh area includes a vast area of humid zones stretching from theGulf of Morbihan and the estuary of theVilaine to the north, to thesalt marsh es ofGuérande to the west to the estuary of theLoire River and theLac de Grand-Lieu in the south.Peat used to be harvested here.The Brière territory extends over 490 square kilometres, including 170 km² of humid zone, at the heart of which lies the Grande Brière Mottière which encompasses 70 km² and 21 communes.
It is rich in
flora andfauna , and navigation is possible withboat s calledchaland s.Cottages are a common sight in the area, with around 3000
thatched roofcottage s dotted throughout the area.Communes of Brière
The following communes are found in Brière
*La Chapelle-des-Marais
*Crossac
*Montoir-de-Bretagne
* Saint-André-des-Eaux
* Saint-Joachim (the commune covering most of la Grande Brière)
*Saint-Lyphard
*Saint-Malo-de-Guersac
*Saint-Nazaire
*Sainte-Reine-de-Bretagne
*Trignac Traditionally, 21 communes are considered part of Brière (source : [http://www.parc-naturel-briere.fr/fileadmin/template/briere/pdf/charte_cartes_schemas.pdf] , pdf file) :
*La Baule-Escoublac
*Besné
*La Chapelle-des-Marais
*La Chapelle-Launay
*Crossac
*Donges
*Guérande
*Herbignac
*Missillac
*Montoir-de-Bretagne
*Prinquiau
*Pontchâteau
*Pornichet
* Saint-André-des-Eaux
* Saint-Joachim
*Saint-Lyphard
*Saint-Malo-de-Guersac
*Saint-Nazaire
*Sainte-Reine-de-Bretagne
*Trignac
*La Turballe The regional "parc naturel" of Brière claims that 17 communes make it up (source : [http://www.parc-naturel-briere.fr/fileadmin/template/briere/pdf/charte_parc.pdf] , pdf file) :
*Assérac
*La Baule-Escoublac
*La Chapelle-des-Marais
*Crossac
*Donges
*Guérande
*Herbignac
*Missillac
*Montoir-de-Bretagne
* Saint-André-des-Eaux
* Saint-Joachim
*Saint-Lyphard
*Saint-Malo-de-Guersac
*Saint-Molf
*Saint-Nazaire
*Sainte-Reine-de-Bretagne
*Trignac External links
* [http://www.parc-naturel-briere.fr/ tourist information]
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