Royan (; in the Saintongeais dialect; ) is a commune and town in the south-west of

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 ...

, in the department of

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 ...

in the

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 ...

region. Capital of the Côte de Beauté, Royan is one of the main French Atlantic coastal resort towns, and has five beaches, a marina for over 1,000 boats, and an active fishing port. As of 2013, the population of the greater urban area was 48,982. The town had 19,029 inhabitants in 2021. Royan is located on the peninsula of Arvert, at the mouth of the Gironde estuary on its eastern shore. Royan was once of strategic importance, coveted in particular by the

Visigoths The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied Barbarian kingdoms, barbarian military group unite ...

and the

Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

. During the Reformation the city became a Protestant stronghold, and was besieged and destroyed by King

Louis XIII of France Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...

(ruled 1610–43). During the Bourbon Restoration (1814–1830), and especially during the Second Empire (1852–1870), Royan was celebrated for its sea baths. It attracted many artists during the

Roaring Twenties The Roaring Twenties, sometimes stylized as Roaring '20s, refers to the 1920s decade in music and fashion, as it happened in Western world, Western society and Western culture. It was a period of economic prosperity with a distinctive cultura ...

. Allied bombing between September 1944 and April 1945 destroyed the town. Known then as the "martyred city", it was declared a "Laboratory of research on urbanism", and it is now a showcase of the

Modernist architecture Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural architectural movement, movement and architectural style, style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco Architectu ...

of the 1950s. It was classified as a Town of Art and History (''Ville d'Art et d'Histoire'') in 2010. Royan today is a tourist and cultural hub, with some 90,000 visitors each summer season.

Geography

Royan is a seaside resort town situated in the west of the department of

, in the former province of Saintonge. It lies near the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

coast on the eastern shore of the

mouth A mouth also referred to as the oral is the body orifice through which many animals ingest food and animal communication#Auditory, vocalize. The body cavity immediately behind the mouth opening, known as the oral cavity (or in Latin), is also t ...

of the

Gironde Gironde ( , US usually , ; , ) is the largest department in the southwestern French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,623,749.

, Europe's largest estuary. Along the coastline of the commune, limestone

cliff In geography and geology, a cliff or rock face is an area of Rock (geology), rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. ...

s alternate with the five beaches known locally as ''conches''.

Geology

The town of Royan is built on a calcareous rock plateau dating from the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

Period (c. 150 million years ago). It is bounded by the Pousseau marshes to the north and the Pontaillac marshes to the west. The

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime enviro ...

, the cliffs and the ''conches'' were shaped approximately 66 million years ago by the folding of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

layers as the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

and the Pyrenees formed.

Transport

Road

Royan is approximately from the administrative capital (

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''praefectura"'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain inter ...

) of the department,

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 ...

, by departmental road D 733 and national road (''Route nationale'', RN) 137. It is from

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

by departmental road D 730 and the A10 freeway, and from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Between Royan and the town of Saintes, the historic capital of Saintonge and an important centre of art and history, travel time on the RN 150 is just under half an hour.

Train

Royan SNCF railway station is the terminus of a line connecting the town to Saintes,

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; ) is a small city in the southwestern French Departments of France, department of Charente, of which it is the Prefectures of France, prefecture. Located on a plateau overlooking a meander of ...

, and Niort (for the high-speed TGV rail link to Bordeaux and Paris). Across the Gironde estuary, the station of La Pointe-de-Grave at Le Verdon-sur-Mer connects through the Médoc region to Bordeaux-Saint-Jean station. The Tramways de Royan provided mainly passenger transport along the coast from 1890 to 1945 and partially even longer.

Airports

The

conurbation A conurbation is a region consisting of a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which, through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ...

of Royan does not have its own airport. away, Rochefort-Saint-Agnant Airport offers flights to several European destinations, including the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

. La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport is away. to the south, Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport provides international connections.

Ferry

A ferry provides bicycle, car and lorry transport across the Gironde estuary to Le Verdon-sur-Mer in the Médoc region. The crossing takes about 30 minutes.

Climate

The climate is oceanic: rainfall is relatively moderate in autumn and in winter and the winters are mild.

Sea breeze A sea breeze or onshore breeze is a wind that blows in the afternoon from a large body of water toward or onto a landmass. By contrast, a land breeze or offshore breeze is a wind that blows in the night from a landmass toward or onto a large ...

s keep summer temperatures moderate. Two winds, the north-westerly ''noroît'' and the south-westerly ''suroît'', blow in from the ocean and along the coast of the department. The very high average insolation of 2,250 hours a year is comparable to the French Riviera.

was the department most affected by Cyclone Martin on 27 December 1999. Winds speeds of up to were recorded on the island of Oléron, and in Royan, with severe damage to local buildings, woodland and harbour facilities.

History

Prehistory and antiquity

The site of Royan has been occupied since prehistoric times, as evidenced by archaeological finds of knapped flint. The Santones, a Celtic people, were early arrivals on the

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

of Arvert. The Romans developed vineyards, oyster farming, and the saltern technique for salt production. The poet Tibullus celebrates the coast after the victory of his patron, the general Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus, and the poet

Ausonius Decimius Magnus Ausonius (; ) was a Latin literature, Roman poet and Education in ancient Rome, teacher of classical rhetoric, rhetoric from Burdigala, Gallia Aquitania, Aquitaine (now Bordeaux, France). For a time, he was tutor to the future E ...

built a villa here. The

arrived in Saintes in 418. In 419, defensive walls were built around Royan. Gregory of Tours mentions the usurpation of the church of Royan by the Arian

. In the summer of 844, the

came up the Gironde, plundering everything in their path.

Middle Ages

At the beginning of the 11th century, a precarious peace returned to the peninsula. Small

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

doms and abbeys emerged. Between 1050 and 1075, the Prieuré de Saint-Vivien de Saintes built the Saint Pierre priory on the Saint-Pierre plateau, two kilometres from Royan and a small settlement grew there. In 1092, the Grande-Sauve Abbey built the Saint Nicolas priory nearby, on the Foncillon rock on the coast. A small castle in Royan protected the beach of Grande Conche, used as a harbour. Harbour activity was significant by the end of the 11th century, and many vessels used the Gironde estuary as a stopping point while waiting for favourable winds or currents. The Lord of Didonne took advantage of this to impose a tax on any boat mooring at the foot of the

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

. In 1137, Eleanor of Aquitaine married King Louis VII of France. Royan became part of the Duchy of Aquitaine, under direct royal control. In 1152, the marriage was annulled and Eleanor married

Henry Plantagenet Henry II () was Monarchy of the United Kingdom, King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189. During his reign he controlled Kingdom of England, England, substantial parts of Wales in the High Middle Ages, Wales and Lordship of Ireland ...

, who became King Henry II of England in 1154. Royan passed into English control. The English king strengthened the town's defences with robust bulwarks and a solid

keep A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residen ...

. The various taxes paid by ships in the 13th century were codified by the Lords of Royan in 1232 as the Custom of Royan (''Coutume de Royan''). On May 20, 1242, King Henry III of England, at war with King

Louis IX of France Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), also known as Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death in 1270. He is widely recognized as the most distinguished of the Direct Capetians. Following the death of his father, Louis VI ...

(Saint Louis), landed at Royan with 300 knights. Although defeated at Taillebourg, under the Treaty of Paris (1259) the English retained control of the south of Saintonge, and with it the town of Royan. In 1355, during the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...

, the Black Prince, heir to the throne of England, occupied Saintonge and further strengthened Royan's defences. Royan became a large town, administered by twelve magistrates (''échevins'') and twelve councillors. In 1451, at the end of the Hundred Years' War, the region had become definitively French but the town was in ruins. In 1458, Marie de Valois (1444–1473), natural daughter of King

Charles VII of France Charles VII (22 February 1403 – 22 July 1461), called the Victorious () or the Well-Served (), was King of France from 1422 to his death in 1461. His reign saw the end of the Hundred Years' War and a ''de facto'' end of the English claims to ...

and his mistress Agnès Sorel, married Olivier de Coëtivy,

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

of Taillebourg. She brought a

dowry A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...

of 12,000 écus and the fiefdoms, or '' châtellenies'', of Royan and Mornac. In 1501, by his marriage to Louise de Coëtivy, Charles de la Trémoille became Baron of Royan. Commerce developed in the town, but access was made difficult by the town's fortifications. From the beginning of the 16th century, a new quarter developed along the beachfront. During the

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion were a series of civil wars between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants (called Huguenots) from 1562 to 1598. Between two and four million people died from violence, famine or disease di ...

in the 16th century, many of the great captains of the time fought beneath the walls of the

citadel A citadel is the most fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of ''city'', meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. ...

, among them Henri de Navarre, who would become King Henry III of Navarre and then King Henry IV of France, and Pierre de Bourdeille, seigneur de Brantôme, later a

prior The term prior may refer to: * Prior (ecclesiastical), the head of a priory (monastery) * Prior convictions, the life history and previous convictions of a suspect or defendant in a criminal case * Prior probability, in Bayesian statistics * Prio ...

of Saint-Pierre-de-Royan). In 1592, Henry IV made the town a marquisate, granted to Gilbert de la Trémoille. At the beginning of the 17th century, Jean Louis de Nogaret de La Valette, the first Duke of Épernon, considered Royan "one of better places of its size in France". After the signing of the

Edict of Nantes The Edict of Nantes () was an edict signed in April 1598 by Henry IV of France, King Henry IV and granted the minority Calvinism, Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was predominantl ...

in 1598, it became a Protestant stronghold. The town was besieged a first time in 1622 by King

, but resisted. A second siege in 1623 caused great hardship. Many inhabitants abandoned the city and were banned from returning. The

garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

was forced to surrender. In 1631, Cardinal Richelieu ordered the levelling of the town; the citadel was dismantled, and the ditches were filled in. The city, which no longer had a church, was associated with the rural

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Saint Pierre. After the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, a majority of the population emigrated, many people going to the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

. Persecution continued under King

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...

. A great storm in 1735 destroyed the

harbour A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be Mooring, moored. The t ...

embankment, and navigation was not restored until the 19th century.

French Revolution

On 22 December 1789, the National Constituent Assembly set up in the early stages of the French Revolution voted for the administrative division of France into departments in place of the former provinces. The department of Charente-Inférieure was created on 4 March 1790 with the entry into force of this law. Each department was subdivided into districts, and each district into cantons. Royan became the administrative centre of its canton. Royan elected a

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

at that time, chaired by Daniel Renaud, a Protestant, and mayor Nicolas-Thérese Vallet of Salignac. On July 12, 1790, the National Constituent Assembly passed a law, the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, which subordinated the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

to the government. The priests of the parishes of Royan, Vaux and Saint-Sulpice refused to take an obligatory oath of allegiance to France under this law, so joining the group of "refractory priests" (''prêtres réfractaires'') condemned to

deportation Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or is under sen ...

. Throughout the country, church properties were seized. In Royan, the 1622 convent of the Récollets, set in grounds of , was put up for sale. It was bought on 25 February 1791, and then demolished, by shipowner Jean Boisseau. As elsewhere, economic crisis caused growing dissatisfaction in Royan. To counter this, patriotic clubs were formed. On 14 July 1790, on the occasion of the first Festival of the Federation ('' Fête de la Fédération'' celebrations the French Revolution, a ceremony was organized in the church of Saint Pierre for the swearing of the solemn oath to the coming first French Constitution, adopted in 1791. At the end of November 1790, mayor Nicolas-Thérese Vallet of Salignac was removed from office and was replaced by François d' Aulnis de Puiraveaux. In 1791, Daniel Renaud was elected mayor of the commune. In May 1791, the pro-republican, anti-royalist Society of the Friends of the Constitution established a branch in Royan. In general terms, however, the

Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (French: ''La Terreur'', literally "The Terror") was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the French First Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and Capital punishment in France, nu ...

(''la Terreur'') after the creation of the First French Republic had little impact in the area, and few of the local nobles were affected.

Seaside resort

Work to pave the town's streets began in 1816, and was finally completed in 1826. In July 1819, mayor Raymond Labarthe signed the first order regulating sea bathing. This forbade nude bathing at beaches neighbouring houses, and reserved Foncillon beach for women. In 1820, it was forbidden "to wash pigs, horses and other cattle in the sea as we have baths". In 1836, a staircase was cut out of the rock to facilitate the landing of passengers from boats. By 1845, civil engineering works by the engineer Botton incorporated the Foncillon cliff into Royan's port. In 1847, the engineer Lessore built the town's first

casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

. The first street lights were installed in 1854, during a time of considerable development in the town under the Second Empire (1852–1870). Between 1850 and 1870, tourist numbers increased from 9,000 to 10,000, and the population from 3,329 to 4,500. Royan was a fashionable seaside resort in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with magnificent boulevards. In 1922, Royan achieved the classification of "summer resort". The town welcomed many prominent guests such as Sacha Guitry, Yvonne Printemps, Mary Marquet, Jacques-Henri Lartigue or the painter

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

Destruction

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, two German forts defended the Gironde estuary: ''Gironde Mündung Nord'' (to the north, at Royan) and ''Gironde Mündung Süd'' (to the south, at La Pointe de Grave). These constituted one of the last pockets of

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

resistance along the Atlantic coast of France, well after the liberation of the rest of the country. A force of some 350 heavy bombers of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

(RAF) bombed Royan in two raids conducted in the early hours of 5 January 1945, destroying the town. Four Lancaster heavy bombers were shot down; no aircrew survived. Two other bombers also crashed after colliding. The raid was ordered by

Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF; ) was the headquarters of the Commander of Allies of World War II, Allied forces in northwest Europe, from late 1943 until the end of World War II. US General Dwight D. Eisenhower was the ...

(SHAEF), which had been told that the only people left in Royan were Germans and collaborators. Responsibility for this raid is generally attributed to General de Larminat of the Free French Forces. The Allied operation against the German forces on the island of Oléron and at the mouth of the Gironde estuary began with a general naval bombardment on 15 April 1945, some 10 months after D-Day. For five days, the American naval task force assisted the French ground forces with naval bombardment and aerial reconnaissance in the assault on Royan and the Pointe de Grave area at the mouth of the Gironde. American B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator aircraft carried out aerial bombing missions, including extensive and pioneering use of napalm, finishing the destruction of 5 January. The first bombing raids killed over 1,000 civilians and only 23 German soldiers. When the Americans returned later and used napalm, they destroyed the entire town and killed another 1,700 civilians. Blandford writes, "There was a Free French commander with the U.S. Seventh Army outside Royan, who was not informed until too late. The message was in French and the American signalman could not understand it. It took four hours to get it translated". Howard Zinn, author of '' A People's History of the United States'', was one of many bombardiers who participated in the World War II attacks on Royan. He later wrote of the bombardment.

Royan today

The town was rebuilt as part of an urban development programme in the 1950s, and is representative of the

of the period.

Population

The inhabitants of Royan are known as ''Royannais'' (male) and ''Royannaises'' (female) in French.

International Relations

Royan is twinned with: * Balingen,

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

, Germany *

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hampshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 70,131 and the district had a pop ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, United Kingdom * Nafplion (Ναύπλιο),

Peloponnese The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridg ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

* Annapolis Royal,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, Canada

Sights

Church of Notre-Dame (''église Notre-Dame'')

Royan's 1877 neo-Gothic church, on what is now the Square Charles de Gaulle, was destroyed when Royan was bombed on January 5, 1945. After the war a new church was built, bigger, architecturally ambitious and spectacular, and drawing its aesthetic inspiration from the large Gothic

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

s. Notre-Dame de Royan, completed in 1958 and built entirely of

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...

by architects Guillaume Gillet and Marc Hébrard and engineers Bernard Lafaille, René Sarger and Ou Tseng, is considered a masterpiece of contemporary architecture. The church took three years to build. The elliptical nave is 45 metres long by 22 metres wide () and has a

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

for some 2000 people. It is flanked by an

ambulatory The ambulatory ( 'walking place') is the covered passage around a cloister or the processional way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar. The first ambulatory was in France in the 11th century but by the 13t ...

, and a gallery three metres above the floor. The gallery is lit by rhombus-shaped

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

representing the Stations of the Cross. The building's structure alternates prestressed V-shaped reinforced concrete elements made using the Lafaille process, named for its inventor, French engineer Bernard Lafaille, with huge windows, made by master glazier Henri Martin-Granel and covering a total area of . The church was classified as a historical monument in 1988.

Convention Centre (''Palais des congrès'')

The ''Palais des congrès'' was built in 1957 by Bordeaux architect Claude Ferret. Its design is based on cubic geometry, relieved by the oblique lines of external staircases and by the subtle interweaving of convex inner walls. A glass wall opens a broad outlook onto the Gironde estuary, and the building was later extended with gardens under a transparent cube. It was classified as a historical monument in 2004.

Central Market (''Marché central'')

Built in 1955 by architects Louis Simon and Andre Morisseau and engineer René Sarger, the is a round concrete shell with walls thick. It rests on thirteen peripheral support-points, and has no internal pillars. The structure is in

diameter In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the centre of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest Chord (geometry), chord of the circle. Both definitions a ...

, with a central height of . It served as the model for the market in

Nanterre Nanterre (; ) is the prefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located some northwest of the centre of Paris. In 2018, the commune had a population of 96,807. The eastern part of Nanterre, b ...

and for the Centre of New Industries and Technologies (CNIT) in the La Défense neighbourhood of Paris.

Education

Royan's language university, CAREL (''Centre Audiovisuel de Royan pour l'Étude des Langues''), attracts language students, and foreign students from some 80 countries. Its facilities include twenty soundproof audiovisual rooms, four language laboratories, an auditorium, a library, a television studio and a self-service cafeteria. It prepares students to sit language examinations, including the '' Diplôme approfondi de langue française'' (DALF), the '' Diplôme d'études en langue française'' (DELF), the '' Test de connaissance du français'' (TCF), and the '' Test de français international'' (TFI). Junior high schools (''collèges'') include the Collège Émile Zola, Collège Henry Dunant and Collège Sainte-Marie. Senior high schools (''lycées'') include the Lycée de l'Atlantique and the Lycée de Cordouan.

Sports

The main

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

of the city is the Stade d'honneur, near the railway station. Royan has numerous other sports facilities, including two

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...

s, of which one, at Foncillon, is an outdoor seawater pool open in the summer months; several gymnasiums; a sports hall; several

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

courts; a

Basque pelota Basque pelota (Basque: '' pilota'', Spanish: '' pelota vasca'', French: '' pelote basque'') is the name for a variety of court sports played with a ball using one's hand, a racket, a wooden bat or a basket, against a wall (''frontis or fronto ...

wall; a rugby ground; and a

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

course. The commune also has a surf-club, based near Pontaillac beach, and a karting circuit (KFM - Circuit of the ''côte de beauté''). Nearby, La Palmyre, in the commune of Les Mathes, has a racecourse, a riding school and an 18-hole

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

. On 18–24 June 2017, the World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) World Championships of Beach Ultimate were held in Royan.

Personalities

Born in the commune of Royan: * Hadrien David (born 2004), racing driver *

Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons Pierre Dugua de Mons (or Du Gua de Monts; – 1628) was a French merchant, explorer and colonizer. A Calvinist, he was born in the Château de Mons, in Royan, Saintonge (southwestern France) and founded the first permanent French settlement ...

, (–1628), merchant, explorer and colonizer * Marie Léopold-Lacour (1859-1942), feminist, journalist, writer * Eugène Pelletan (1813–84), writer, journalist and politician * Jeanne Pelisson-Mallet (1873–1961), painter Famous residents: *

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...

* Émile Zola

References

External links

Official website

Tourist office website

Royan information

Vidéorama touristique sur Royan
{{Authority control Communes of Charente-Maritime Gironde Santones Seaside resorts in France Port cities and towns on the French Atlantic coast Charente-Maritime communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia County of Saintonge Royan