Manche
Manche (, ; Norman language, Norman: ) is a coastal Departments of France, French ''département'' in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy on the English Channel, which is known as , literally "the sleeve", in French. Manche is bordered by ...
department in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, the former commune of Angoville-sur-Ay was merged into Lessay.
Geography
Lessay is a small town in the centre of the
Cotentin Peninsula
The Cotentin Peninsula (, ; ), also known as the Cherbourg Peninsula, is a peninsula in Normandy that forms part of the northwest coast of France. It extends north-westward into the English Channel, towards Great Britain. To its west lie the Gu ...
,
Normandy
Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy.
Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...
.
History
It was founded as a monastery but a town grew up around it over the years. The 10th-century
Lessay Abbey
The Abbey of the Holy Trinity () is an 11th century Romanesque architecture, Romanesque Benedictines, Benedictine Abbey church located in Lessay, Manche, France, then in Normandy. The abbey is one of the most important Norman architecture, Norman ...
is one of the greatest examples of
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe that was predominant in the 11th and 12th centuries. The style eventually developed into the Gothic style with the shape of the arches providing a simple distinction: the Ro ...
in Normandy. It was largely destroyed by fighting in the town during July–August 1944, but has been rebuilt.
Population
Heraldry
Points of interest
* LORAN-C transmitter Lessay
* La Foire: the Sainte Croix fair of Lessay is a trade fair established in the 11th century in order to develop commercial activity in the village. For three days in the second week of September, of Lessay is transformed into a marketplace, attracting over 400,000 visitors. The fair offers demonstrations of old and new trades, thousands of stalls selling a range of products from household equipment to animals, food, cars and garden and agricultural tools.''Lessay et son canton à travers les siècles'' by Michel Pinel
* Lessay was the location for the studio for English language commercial radio station
Contact 94
Contact 94 was a radio station that broadcast from Lessay in Northern France to Normandy and the Channel Islands between September 1988 and November 1991. The station broadcast on various frequencies during its time on air, including 94.4 FM, 93 ...
which was aimed at the Channel Islands before they had commercial radio of their own. The station launched on 5 September 1988 and closed in 1991.
See also
*
Communes of the Manche department
The following is a list of the 445 communes of the Manche department of France.
The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2025):Communes of Manche