Ille-et-Vilaine, Administrative department in Brittany, France.
Ille-et-Vilaine is an administrative division in northwestern France, stretching between the Atlantic coast and inland Brittany. The landscape shifts from coastal towns like Saint-Malo to flat farmland inland and wooded hills near the eastern border.
The territory formed on March 4, 1790, when the National Assembly divided the old province of Brittany into five new divisions. Rennes was chosen as capital and has remained the administrative center ever since.
The name joins two rivers: the Ille flows north while the Vilaine empties south into the Atlantic. Many towns and villages still carry Breton place names and phrases that recall the Celtic past of the region.
High-speed trains connect Rennes to Paris in roughly two hours, while regional buses serve smaller towns. The coast near Saint-Malo can be reached from the center in about an hour by car or train.
The two rivers that name the division flow in opposite directions and split the territory into two hydrological basins. This feature shows in the landscape, where you cross the gentle watershed between valleys.
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