Aytré () is a commune in the

Charente-Maritime Charente-Maritime (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Chérente-Marine''; ) is a Departments of France, department in the French Regions of France, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, on the country's west coast. Named after the river Charente (river), Charen ...

department,

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine () is the largest Regions of France, administrative region in France by area, spanning the west and southwest of Metropolitan France. The region was created in 2014 by the merging of Aquitaine, Limousin, and Poitou-Charentes ...

, southwestern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Aytré is especially known for its long beach, which is easily accessible from neighbouring

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle'') is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime Departments of France, department. Wi ...

, or

Les Minimes Les Minimes, Port de plaisance des Minimes, is the largest marina in France for pleasure boats. It is located in the city of La Rochelle, as the new part, with a university campus, shops, restaurants and a cinema. History Its name is derived fro ...

. The beach is flat and shallow, making it a good bathing spot for children, and an excellent spot for

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind-propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the Californian aerospace and surf culture. Windsurfing gain ...

. The historian

Jean Prasteau Jean Prasteau (12 May 1921 in Aytré, Charente-Maritime – 9 August 1997 in Paris) was a 20th-century French journalist and historian. He won the 1992 Prix Cazes for his book ''Les grandes heures du Faubourg Saint-Germain''. Publications *195 ...

(1921–1997) was born in Aytré, as was Jean Desaguliers, a Protestant pastor, and father of

John Theophilus Desaguliers John Theophilus Desaguliers (12 March 1683 – 29 February 1744) was a French-born British natural philosopher, clergyman, engineer and freemason who was elected to the Royal Society in 1714 as experimental assistant to Isaac Newton. He had stu ...

Economy

Industries are few, and economic activity mainly gravitates around La Rochelle, with the distinct exception of Alstom Transportation. The world's fastest train,

TGV The TGV (; , , 'high-speed train') is France's intercity high-speed rail service. With commercial operating speeds of up to on the newer lines, the TGV was conceived at the same period as other technological projects such as the Ariane 1 rocke ...

, was designed right in Aytré.

Oysters Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of Seawater, salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in Marine (ocean), marine or Brackish water, brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly Calcification, calcified, a ...

are cultivated in the bay and important camping grounds have been developed for tourists during the summer period.

History

During the

Siege of La Rochelle The siege of La Rochelle (, or sometimes ) was a result of a war between the French royal forces of Louis XIII of France and the Huguenots of La Rochelle in 1627–1628. The siege marked the height of Huguenot rebellions, the struggle between ...

Cardinal de Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu (9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), commonly known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French Catholic prelate and statesman who had an outsized influence in civil and religious affairs. He became kno ...

spent time in a farm just to the south of Aytré. Merovingian sarcophagus from Aytre cemetery

Population

References

External links

Official website
Communes of Charente-Maritime {{CharenteMaritime-geo-stub

Economy

History

Population

See also

References

External links