Granville is a coastal commune of the Manche (french name for the Channel) département, in France. The town has approximately 15,000 inhabitants. These are termed Granvillais.

Administratively, the island of Chausey is part of the commune of Granville, which includes a small harbour.

Geography

Granville is situated on the Cotentin Peninsula at the mouth of Bosq and Pointe du Roc (Cap Lihou) which in part closes in the north of the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel.

Harbour and sea traffic

Despite the proximity with Chausey (which is part of the commune), there are no regularly scheduled sea links between the continental city and Chausey, except for tourism by private companies from Granville, or from Saint-Malo in Brittany, or for French and British security forces operating permanently in this very dangerous and narrow area of the Channel, one of the most important lanes of commercial international traffic of the world.

There are also some departures to England and to the Channel Islands. However, this traffic is relatively light from Granville, as Saint-Malo and Cherbourg offer better facilities for passenger and cargo traffic.

This part of the Channel is known for its many spread rocks off the coast, not always visible above sea level, and for the dangerous flows caused by the cyclic tide (the bay of Mont Saint-Michel experiences one of the most important tidal ranges in the world, and this causes strong currents that generate dangerous waves orthogonal to the international sea road and to the normal tidal flow that goes along the Channel). The area also experiences recurrent fog alternated with eastward winds creating dangerous storms during fall and winter.

However, it is regularly affected by pollution caused by modern shipwrecks, or by illegal fuel tank discharges into to the sea. There is now an international agreement between France and the UK, as well as other European countries bordering the Channel, to punish severely the ship-owners when such pollution has been proven. So the area is constantly under surveillance by air and radar, operated by civil and military authorities. The Granville harbour hosts a small maritime emergency rescue team.

Due to the number of rocks and shipwrecks in the area, it is rich in fish and sea food, exploited from the small harbour of Granville. Fishing is dangerous in the area, as many small fishing boats have been been involved in collisions with large commercial vessels like container ships and oil supertankers. In a recent event (2005), a british military submarine was suspected to have caused the rapid sinking of a French fishing boat, and most of its crew died.

History

The town was founded in 12th century and was taken several times by the English who strengthened it in 1437.

In 1441, Louis XI granted a charter so that the town once again became French. During the following centuries, Granville was bombarded by the English in 1645 and 1803. Furthermore, the town resisted the attacks of the Huguenots in 1695 and Vendean in 1793.

In October 1793 a force of some 25,000 Vendéan troops (followed by thousands of civilians of all ages), commanded by Henri de la Rochejaquelein, headed for the port of Granville where they expected to be greeted by a British fleet and an army of exiled French nobles. Arriving at Granville, they found the walled city surrounded by Republican forces, with no British ships in sight. Their attempts to take the city were unsuccessful. During the retreat the extended columns fell prey to Republican forces. Suffering from hunger and disease, they died in their thousands.

Granville once formed part of the diocese of Coutances, the Parliament of Rouen and the intendance of Caen. Before the French Revolution, the town had two parishes: L'église Notre-Dame du Cap Lihou and Saint-Nicolas. This parish was an appendix of Notre-Dame until Saint-Nicolas was set up in 1829 whose territory is regarded as a commune independent of Granville.

In 1962, Saint-Nicolas-près-Granville was attached to Granville.

It is probable that monks from Mont-Saint-Michel went to the Priory on Lihou during the first half of the 12th century.

Sights

The old town preserves all the history of its military and religious past. The lower town was partly built on land reclaimed from the sea. The upper part of the old town is surrounded by ramparts from the 15th century. These are entered through the drawbridge (Grand'Porte), the bloody theatre of the "Siège des Vendéens" in 1793.

Inside the walls of the upper town are some beautiful houses of which several are concentrated on Rue Saint-Jean.

The ancient church of Notre-Dame du Cap Lihou (1441-1796) which dominates the heights, constitutes an imposing building of the Romanesque style. It was built during the Hundred Years' War out of granite. There is a museum located in one of the gates which preserves invaluable documents enabling visitors to discover the history of the town through the centuries.

Granville also is the home of the Musée Christian Dior, which is located in the fashion designer's childhood home, Villa Les Rhumbs.[1]

Natives

• Christophe Auguin (born 1959), sailor, winner of the 1996-1997 Vendée Globe yacht race
• Bernard Chenez (born 1946), cartoonist
• Christian Dior (1905-1957), couturier
• Jacques Gamblin (born 1957), actor
• Étienne-François Letourneur (1751-1817), Director of the First French Republic

See also

• Douzelage

External links

• Granville town council website (in French)

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