Île-d'Aix () is a commune in the French 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 ...

, region of

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 ...

(before 2015: Poitou-Charentes), off the west coast of France. It occupies the territory of the small Isle of Aix (), in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. It is a popular place for tourist day-trips during the summer months.

Location

Île-d'Aix is located at the mouth of the river

Charente Charente (; Saintongese: ''Chérente''; ) is a department in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It is named after the river Charente, the most important and longest river in the department, and also the r ...

, between Oléron Island and the coast of mainland France. The island is also close to Fort Boyard. File:Aix island Fleuriau de Bellevue 1823 detail.jpg, Map of Île-d'Aix, by Fleuriau de Bellevue, 1823 File:Ile daix satellite.png, Satellite photograph of ''Ile d'Aix'' File:AixMainStreet.JPG, The main street in the village. File:AixWoods.JPG, A forest road in the north of the island. File:AixIsland.JPG, Île-d'Aix, as seen from the south-west, from Fort Boyard.

History

During the Roman period, it seems the island was connected to the continent at low tide. It took its current shape around 1500. In 1067, Isembert de Châtelaillon gave the island to the order of Cluny. A small convent was established, which depended on St Martin in

Île de Ré Île de Ré (; variously spelled Rhé or Rhéa; Poitevin dialect, Poitevin: ''ile de Rét''; , ) is an island off the Atlantic coast of France near La Rochelle, Charente-Maritime, on the northern side of the Pertuis d'Antioche strait. Its high ...

. At the end of the 12th century, France and England fought for the possession of the island. Until 1286, the island was located at the boundary between the French and the English Saintonge, formed by the estuary of the river

. During the Hundred Years War, the island became English for about 15 years. In the 16th century, 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 ...

, the island became

Catholic 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 ...

and then

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

. In 1665, nearby Rochefort was established as a strategic harbour for the Kingdom, leading to the construction of many fortifications in the area. Vauban built numerous fortifications on the island, which Ferry completed in 1704. During the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

(1756–1763), the British captured the island in 1757 and destroyed its ramparts as part of the attempted Raid on Rochefort, before withdrawing several weeks later. The island was again captured by British forces in 1759 following the Battle of Quiberon Bay and occupied until the end of the war in 1763. The fortifications were then rebuilt by several French officers, including Marc René, marquis de Montalembert and Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, the author of '' Les Liaisons dangereuses''. During the French Revolution, in 1794, the island was used as a prison for the suppression of religious opponents in which hundreds of priests were left to die in moored prison-boats. About 226 were buried in the sands of Île-d'Aix.

Napoleonic period

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

famously visited the island in 1808 and gave directions to reinforce the fortifications. He ordered the construction of a house for the commander of the stronghold (today's ''Musée Napoléon'') and the construction of Fort Liedot, named after a colonel killed in the Russian campaign. In 1809, the Battle of the Basque Roads (French: ''Bataille de l'Île d'Aix'') was a naval battle off the island of Aix between the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

and the Atlantic Fleet of the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

. On the night of 11 April 1809, Captain Thomas Cochrane led a British

fireship A fire ship or fireship is a large wooden vessel set on fire to be used against enemy ships during a ramming attack or similar maneuver. Fireships were used to great effect against wooden ships throughout naval military history up until the adv ...

attack against a squadron of French warships anchored in the Basque Roads. In the attack, all but two of the French ships were driven ashore. The subsequent engagement lasted three days but failed to completely destroy the French fleet. From 12 to 15 July 1815, after the defeat at Waterloo,

spent his last days in France at Île d'Aix, in an attempt to slip past a Royal Navy blockade and escape to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. Realising the impossibility of accomplishing his plan, he wrote a letter to the British regent and finally surrendered to HMS ''Bellerophon'', which took him to Torbay and

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

before he was transferred to Saint Helena. File:Basques Road-Thomas Whitcombe-217057.JPG, The Battle of the Basque Roads, April 1809. File:Napoleon on Board the Bellerophon - Sir William Quiller Orchardson.jpg, Napoleon on HMS ''Bellerophon'' after his 1815 surrender.

Population

It has a population of 223 as of 2008.

Fort Liédot

Located on the island is the large Fort Liédot, built as a naval fortress to defend the Pertuis d'Antioche. Construction began in 1811 on the orders of

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

, and took 24 years to complete. The fort was built as part of a chain of fortifications and artillery batteries which protected the straight and defended the port at Rochefort. Napoleon would later spend his last days in France at Fort Liédot, having fled there in July of 1815 at the end of the Hundred Days and shortly thereafter surrendering to the

on the 15th of July, 1815. During the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

in the 1850s France used the fort to detain captured Russian soldiers, and from then until the 1960s Fort Liédot would be used off and on as a military prison detaining various political prisoners. It was abandoned after the Crimean War and later used as an artillery target in 1863. In 1871 Fort Liédot would again be used as a prison, this time detaining Communards awaiting deportation to the at-the-time French colony of

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

. In the

Interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

the fort was used as a summer camp. The

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

n independentist and future President Ben Bella was imprisoned there from 1956 to 1962, together with other National Liberation Front militants such as Mohamed Khider and Hocine Aït Ahmed.

Transport

Access to the island is provided by a year-round

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

, which leaves several times a day from Fouras, just east of the island, or from

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 ...

, and Oléron, during the summer months. Cars (except for service vehicles) are prohibited on the island, which allows more tranquility. People move around on foot or by bicycle. Horse carriages are also available to travel on the island.

References

* Tony Jaques (2007). ''Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A Guide to 8,500 Battles from Antiquity Through the Twenty-First Century''. Greenwood Publishing Group. .

External links

Official Website

1757 The attack of Island of Aix by the Royal Navy
during the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iledaix Car-free islands of Europe Charente-Maritime communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia Communes of Charente-Maritime Aix Islands of the Bay of Biscay Populated coastal places in France