The Côte d'Émeraude ( br, Aod an Emrodez; ) is a name given to a part of the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" ( Cotentinais) or (Jèrriais), ( Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kan ...

coast of eastern

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 o ...

near the border with

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

in France.

Etymology

Lawyer and historian Eugène Herpin coined the name Côte d'Émeraude in 1890. He was inspired by the "symphonie" of the colours of the sea and shore. The name was inspired by the branding success of the Côte d'Azur in encouraging tourism and development.

Geography

The coast stretches across 120 km between

Pointe du Grouin The rocky finger of the Pointe du Grouin points out and protects the entrance into the bay of Mont Saint-Michel. On this headland, a Grande Randonnée footpath runs around hugging the cliff face and there is a circular walk starting out from Ca ...

Cancale Cancale (; ; Gallo: ''Cauncall'') is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France. It is known as the birthplace of Saint Jeanne Jugan. Population Inhabitants of Cancale are called ''Cancalais'' in French. Tou ...

and

Cap Fréhel Cap Fréhel is a peninsula in Côtes-d'Armor, in northern Brittany, France which extends off the Côte d'Émeraude into the Golfe de Saint-Malo. No towns or villages are situated on the peninsula; however, two lighthouses, one from the 17th ce ...

in Plévenon, is located 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.

and

Ille-et-Vilaine Ille-et-Vilaine (; br, Il-ha-Gwilen) is a department of France, located in the region of Brittany in the northwest of the country. It is named after the two rivers of the Ille and the Vilaine. It had a population of 1,079,498 in 2019.

departments, and includes the

Rance Rance may refer to: Places * Rance (river), northwestern France * Rancé, a commune in eastern France, near Lyon * Ranče, a small settlement in Slovenia * Rance, Wallonia, part of the municipality of Sivry-Rance ** Rouge de Rance, a Devonian re ...

estuary,

Dinard Dinard (; br, Dinarzh, ; Gallo: ''Dinard'') is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department, Brittany, northwestern France. Dinard is on the Côte d'Émeraude of Brittany. Its beaches and mild climate make it a holiday destination, and th ...

, and

Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the A ...

. The Bay of Saint-Brieuc lies to its west and

Mont-Saint-Michel Bay The Mont-Saint-Michel Bay (french: baie du Mont-Saint-Michel, br, Bae Menez-Mikael) is located between Brittany (to the south west) and the Normandy peninsula of Cotentin (to the south and east). The bay was listed as a UNESCO world heritage site ...

lies to its east. The official Communauté de communes Côte d'Émeraude does not cover the entire area. Plans to turn the Côte d'Émeraude into a protected park were conceived in 2003.

In art

Painter Léon Hamonet, from

Erquy Erquy (; ; Gallo: ''Erqi'') is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department of Brittany in northwestern France. Erquy is located in a cove of the Penthièvre coast bordered by cape Erquy on one side and a volcanic rock formation called ''pointe d ...

, created many watercolours of the Côte d'Émeraude.

References

Emeraude Landforms of Côtes-d'Armor Landforms of Ille-et-Vilaine {{tourism-stub