Erquy (; ; Gallo: ''Erqi'') is a

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 ...

in the

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.

department of

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 ...

in northwestern

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 ...

. Erquy is located in a cove of the Penthièvre coast bordered by cape Erquy on one side and a volcanic rock formation called ''pointe de la Heussaye'' on the other. Erquy harbour shelters a flotilla of about 80 trawlers and the town is known as the scallop "capital". The shellfish are collected in the Saint-Brieuc bay. With its ten fine sand beaches and lovely pink

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

houses, Erquy is a popular summer tourist destination. It is also to note that Erquy claims to be the inspiration behind the village for the

Asterix ''Asterix'' or ''The Adventures of Asterix'' (french: Astérix or , "Asterix the Gauls, Gaul") is a ''bande dessinée'' comic book book series, series about a village of indomitable Gaulish warriors who adventure around the world and fight th ...

comics as it is also in

Armorica Armorica or Aremorica (Gaulish: ; br, Arvorig, ) is the name given in ancient times to the part of Gaul between the Seine and the Loire that includes the Brittany Peninsula, extending inland to an indeterminate point and down the Atlantic Coast ...

which is modern day

in France.

Population

Inhabitants of Erquy are called ''Réginéens'' or ''Erquiais'' in French.

Geography

Erquy offers a variety of natural landscapes: pink

cliffs and rocks, wild

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler a ...

land, pinewoods, beaches, dunes and a transparent emerald sea. Some coastal paths run along the spectacular pink

cliffs of Cape Erquy and Cape Fréhel, close by. The

land of Cape Erquy is listed as one of the most remarkable natural environments of the

department. Once used as farmland, it is now a nature reserve. It shelters a wide variety of species of heather and gorse creating a colourful landscape changing with the seasons. Erquy's ten beaches come in all shapes and sizes: from the small coves bordered by

land north of the cape to the large expanses of Caroual and Saint-Pabu. During the summer season, the population is multiplied by seven and can go as high as 30 000 inhabitants. In just a few years, Erquy has become the most active town of the Penthièvre coast economically, commercially, culturally as well as in sports.

History

Erquy and its neighbouring hamlets are rich in heritage with chapels, mansions, lighthouses, a dolmen and a castle. Besides being a harbour, Erquy used to shelter an active pink

quarry and the small pink Tu-Es-Roc village is a testimony of that activity. Nowadays, a trail with interpretative panels allows visitors to explore the former quarry whose pits have become ponds: ''Les Lacs Bleus''. The jewel of its rich past is the ''Château de Bienassis'', a pink

castle. Other interesting pieces of heritage in Erquy include:
- The guardhouse at Trois Pierres which was built in 1744 as part of a vast defensive system instigated by

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...

who formed coast guard companies and stationed batteries and guardhouses along the whole Breton coast.
- A cannonball oven which was completed in 1794. The cannonballs were heated until they were red-hot so they could set enemy ships on fire.
- The Saint-Michel Chapel: this picturesque chapel is located on a tiny island,

Îlot Saint-Michel Îlot Saint-Michel (Saint Michael Island) is an uninhabited island in the English Channel off the coast of Brittany in Côtes-d'Armor, France, near the resort of Sables-d'Or-les-Pins. It is part of the commune of Erquy and is accessible by foot ...

, linked to the coast by a natural pebble causeway covered by the sea at high tide.
- The Caroual viaduct: built by Harel de la Noë, it enabled the first trains to run from the towns of

to Erquy from 1922 onwards. The fishing harbour:
Erquy became an important fishing port following the discovery of

clam Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve molluscs. The word is often applied only to those that are edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the seafloor or riverbeds. Clams have two shel ...

banks in the early 1950s and of scallop banks in 1962. Since then, it has been rated one of the important scallop ports in Europe.

Cultural significance

Erquy and two other harbours,

Saint-Quay-Portrieux Saint-Quay-Portrieux (; Breton: ''San-Ke-Porz-Olued'') is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department of Brittany in northwestern France. Population Inhabitants of Saint-Quay-Portrieux are called ''quinocéens'' in French. See also *Communes ...

and Loguivy-de-la-Mer/ Paimpol, organise every year and in turn a scallop festival : ''La Fête de la Coquille Saint-Jacques''.