The forêt de Brotonne (''Brotonne forest''), in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, is situated to the west of Rouen in a vast

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex ba ...

of the Seine, accessible by the

pont de Brotonne The Brotonne Bridge (''pont de Brotonne'') is a bridge in the region of Normandy in France, situated between the cities of Le Havre and Rouen. It has crossed the Seine since 1977, to the east of the commune of Caudebec-en-Caux. Its construction ...

. It is a part of the Parc naturel régional des Boucles de la Seine normande (''Regional natural parc of Boucles de la Seine normande''), which allows for the safeguarding of a large natural space stretching from the

banlieue In France, the term banlieue (; ) refers to a suburb of a large city. Banlieues are divided into autonomous administrative entities and do not constitute part of the city proper. For instance, 80% of the inhabitants of the Paris Metropolitan Are ...

of Rouen to the

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

Marais-Vernier Marais-Vernier () is a commune in the Eure department in Normandy in northern France. It is situated near the left bank of the Seine, at the edge of a wetland (the ''Marais Vernier'') formed by an old branch of the Seine. The wetland was cut off ...

. Today the forest encompasses an area in length and in width, and is divided by multiple forest roads. It contains more than ninety species of trees, notably

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

s and beech. The state-owned section covers more than (out of a total ). The forest is one of the largest beech forests in France, with 62% of its area of its surface covered in beech. In addition to beech and oaks, the forest also contains

Scots Pine ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US) or Baltic pine, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-green leaves and orang ...

s and

Hornbeam Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the flowering plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The 30–40 species occur across much of the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Origin of names The common English name ''hornbeam ...

s. In addition to the trees, the forest also contains a windmill (the moulin-tour de Hauville) and a communal cottage (''four à pain'') of La Haye-De-Routot. The forest's western edge is bordered by the

A131 autoroute The A131 Autoroute starts at in the outskirts of Le Havre and ends near Bourneville-Sainte-Croix close to exit 26 on the A13. It is operated by the Société des Autoroutes de Paris Normandie (SAPN). Its total length is . Apart from the Pont ...

History

During the Ancient Roman period, the remainder of the primary forests were cleared (as deforestation had already most likely begun during the

Neolithic Period The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

in order to build large domains consisting of several farms a linked to new cities which were growing along the banks of the Seine, along with a new palace named le palais dArelaune''. Some of the houses constructed during this period measured up to long and wide and were elegantly decorated. At the entrance of the forest on the other side of the Seine, the Fontenelle Abbey was constructed during the reign of

Clovis II Clovis II (633 – 657) was King of Neustria and Burgundy, having succeeded his father Dagobert I in 639. His brother Sigebert III had been King of Austrasia since 634. He was initially under the regency of his mother Nanthild until her ...

, which marked the beginning of evangelicalism in the area. Later, during the reign of Thierry III, Condède, a Breton recluse saint moved to an island by the forest where he lived for fifteen years, attracting a number of pilgrims who continued to come even after his death to visit his tomb. {{DEFAULTSORT:Foret de Brotonne Forests of France Geography of Normandy Tourist attractions in Normandy