Cézembre

Cézembre is an island in Brittany, in the Ille-et-Vilaine département of France, near Saint-Malo. The island is uninhabited, with a surface area of approximately 18 hectares (44 acres), a length of 750 metres (2,461 ft), and a maximum width of 250 metres (820 ft).

Cézembre, seen from the Sillon beach, Saint-Malo

The island features a fine sandy beach facing Saint-Malo on the south, and a steep and rocky coast around the rest of the island. As elsewhere in northern Brittany, the tidal range is among the highest in the world. Until the seventeenth century it was possible to reach the island at low tide on foot from Saint Malo.

The island's beach is popular in summer with visitors arriving by yacht or motorboat and there are infrequent excursions from St-Malo, although landing is not possible except at high tide. A small restaurant serves lunches and prebooking is essential.

Cézembre was inhabited by a number of hermits over the centuries, and featured a monastery for a time. There were also five small chapels. Vauban fortified the island at the end of the seventeenth century, and it was used thereafter as a place of quarantine. During World War I, the Belgian Army installed a disciplinary company on Cézembre.

World War Two

During World War II, the Germans and Italians strengthened the island's fortifications as part of the Atlantic Wall. The Italian contingent was made up of two officers and just over one hundred sailors, included in the Divisione Atlantica of the Repubblica Sociale Italiana. The Normandy campaign in the summer of 1944 saw the German-Italian garrison heavily bombarded by land artillery, naval artillery, and air strikes. Guns on the island contributed to the defense of St. Malo. The island's three-hundred-man garrison eventually surrendered to elements of the U.S. 83rd Infantry Division on 2 September 1944.[1]

Post-war

As a result of this intense Allied bombardment, Cézembre's landscape is barren and pitted, although natural vegetation is returning. The island has not yet been completely demined, and for this reason most of the island other than the beach constitutes a zone interdite (prohibited zone), with a barbed-wire fence and warning notices.

The micronation of Talossa claims Cézembre as part of its territory (a "colony" in Talossan since the 1980's, that Talossa says was occupied by France and then claimed again to become one of its "provinces"). In fact the island has always been part of France since the union with Brittany, and was inhabited or used by Breton inhabitants until the end of World War 2 where it was highly bombarded before being liberated along with the rest of Saint-Malo and Brittany. It is a plain part of Saint-Malo, and reachable by pedestrian from the beach. The prohibited zone has created a natural area under protection and only the beach in the allowed zone can be visited. Talossa claims that barbed-wire fence and warning notices are creating a border when it fact it only constitutes a personal protection for safety, and for the local ecosystem (notably sea birds, and maritime plants) that has developed locally since the island is no longer inhabitable. Due to the protection, no economic development and establishment of residence is possible, and the island is also a property of the state, and visited regularly by scientists, French rescuers, so it was never left abandoned by France, even during WW2 when it was occupied by the German army. The island is also fully within the territorial waters of France and the small maritime area (possibly uncovered at low tide by a sand bank) between the island and the continent is part of the interior waters of France. The coasts of the island is also open to pedestrian fishing.

After demining operations, the management of the island was transferred from the French ministry of Defense to the Conservatoire du littoral (an official French public operator) in October 2017, in order to further expand its natural protection and manage the historic and archaeology sites left on the island, including the ruins of chapels and burial sites.

See also

References
  1. "HyperWar: US Army in WWII: The Breakout and Pursuit [Chapter 21]". www.ibiblio.org. Retrieved 2018-06-06.

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