Brière

La Brière, or La Grande Brière ( 7,000 ha) is one of the largest marsh and lagoon landscapes of France, comparable to the Spreewald in Germany. It is located in the department of Loire -Atlantique, near the port city of Saint- Nazaire. The associated Brière Regional Nature Park (in French Parc naturel régional de Brière ), includes a total of 49,000 ha, it is a labyrinth of water and islands and the Camargue is the second largest natural park in the country.

The swampy basin landscape was formed by earth movements during the Tertiary, which plummeted the plutonic rock. Over millions of years the sea has flooded the basin and deposited sediments. Before about 11 million years ago it was separated by the formation of a coastal emerging from the sea. Originally, there stretched a sea gulf into which the rivers Vilaine and Loire resulted. Alluvial fill of the Gulf and turned him lying in those moorland, from the now projecting only 27 rocky islands, on the crests of scattered hamlets. Since the 16th century it is still valid today - Briere, after which 6000 ha of land undivided possession of the municipalities are Charte de la, but today this ownership has lost its meaning, because the people can no longer dependent on fishing, hunting, from the Red - and willow weaving or cutting peat live and are forced to earn their living in St Nazaire.

The natural landscape has been transformed by human activities such as channeling, fishing, reed cutting, grazing and haymaking. To the marshes a heath landscape has been created, which becomes swampy meadows, which are flooded at high tide. This landscape is opened up to tourists especially through guided boat tours. As the entrance to the Nature Park is Saint- Lyphard. As a backdrop French feature films, the Brière also appeared internationally more visible. So in 1925 made ​​by Léon Poirier film adaptation of Alphonse de Châteaubriants novel La Brière of 1923.