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It is part of the Armorican Massif and lies between the estuary of the River Vire and Mont Saint Michel Bay. It is divided into three areas: the headland of La Hague , the Cotentin Pass, and the valley of the River Saire (Val-de-Saire).
It forms the bulk of the département of Manche.
The largest town in the peninsula is Cherbourg on the north coast, a major cross-channel port.
Other towns of note: Coutances, Barfleur , Saint-Lô, Bricquebec , Granville, Barneville-Carteret , Carentan, AvranchesAvranches is a commune of Normandy, France, in the Manche departement of which it is a sous-prefecture''. History Henry II did penance for the murder of the Anglo-Norman saint Thomas Becket in Avranches on May 21, 1172, and reached the Compromise of Avran.
The western coast of the peninsula, known as la Côte des Îles (the coast of the islands) faces the Channel IslandsAlternative meaning: Channel Islands (California The Channel Islands are a group of islands off the coast of Normandy, France, in the English Channel. They comprise two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey. History Ma and ferryA ferry is a boat or a ship carrying passengers, and possibly their vehicles, on a relatively short-distance, regularly-scheduled service. Ferries form an important part of the public transport systems of many waterside cities, allowing direct transit bet links serve Carteret, Granville and the islands (including ChauseyChausey forms part of the Channel Islands from a geographical point of view, but because it is under French jurisdiction it is almost never mentioned in the context of the other Channel Islands. There are no scheduled transport links between Chausey and t).
The town known today as Coutances, capital of the Unelli , a GaulGallia (in English Gaul is the Latin name for the region of western Europe occupied by present-day France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine river. In English the word Gaul commonly refish tribe, acquired the name of Constantia in 298Events Constantius Chlorus overthrows the Alamanni in the territory of the Lingones (Langres) and strengthened the Rhine frontier Christians are expelled from the Roman army Baths of Diocletian built in Rome Births Athanasius of Alexandria, bishop and opp during the reign of Roman emperor Constantius ChlorusGaius Flavius Valerius Constantius ( March 31, 250 July 25, 306) was an emperor of the Western Roman Empire ( 305 306). He was commonly called Chlorus (the Pale), an epithet given to him by Byzantine historians. He was the father of Constantine the Great.. The whole peninsula, called in LatinAlternative meanings: See Latin (disambiguation Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. It gained great importance as the formal language of the Roman Empire. All Romance languages are descended from Latin, and ma the pagus Constantinus subsequently became known as the Cotentin.
Until the construction of modern roads, the peninsula was almost inaccessible in winter due to the band of marshland cutting off the higher ground of the promontory itself. this explains occasional historical references to the Cotentin as an island.
The town of Valognes was, until the French Revolution, a provincial social resort for the aristocracy, nicknamed the Versailles of Normandy. Little remains of the grand houses and châteaux as a result of the destruction of the Battle of Normandy. The social scene was described in the novels of Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly (himself from the Cotentin).
The Battle of La Hougue took place in 1692 at Saint-Vaast La Hougue near Barfleur .
At Flamanville at Cap de La Hague , there is a treatment plant for nuclear waste operated by COGEMA since 1984.