Arcachon ( ; ) is a commune in the southwestern French

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Gironde Gironde ( US usually, , ; oc, Gironda, ) is the largest department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,62 ...

. It is a popular seaside resort on the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

coast southwest of

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

, in the Landes forest. It has a sandy beach and a mild climate said to be favourable for invalids suffering from pulmonary complaints.

History

On 2 May 1857,

Emperor Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

signed an

imperial decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used for ...

declaring that Arcachon was now an autonomous municipality; coincidentally, the railway line extension from

to Arcachon had been completed that same year. At that time, Arcachon was scarcely more than a forest of pine trees, oaks and strawberry trees ( arbutus), with no road links and few real houses, with a population fewer than 400 people, mostly fishermen and peasants. In earlier years, when some hygienists began to recommend sea bathing, three sea establishments were laid out by investors to attract the Bordeaux bourgeoisie and other wealthy people. This was the beginning of a new lifestyle, and some of the locals got the opportunity to claim their independence from La Teste-de-Buch, which owned their properties, in order to found a "free" new town, Arcachon. Until 1950, tuberculosis patients also visited Arcachon for fresh-air treatments. Arcachon is known for the "Arcachonnaise", the local name for an Arcachon villa, the architectural style of many of the older houses built there in the nineteenth century. The

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

established a naval air station on 8 June 1918 to operate

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tec ...

s during World War I. The base closed shortly after the First Armistice at Compiègne.

Population

The historic populations of Arcachon from 1861 until 2017 are shown in the table below.

GEOGRAPHY

At its southern entrance from the Atlantic Ocean, Arcachon Bay is crowned by Europe's largest sand dune, the

Dune du Pilat The Dune of Pilat ( French: ''Dune du Pilat'', official name), also called ''Grande Dune du Pilat'', is the tallest sand dune in Europe. It is located in La Teste-de-Buch in the Arcachon Bay area, France, 60 km (37.2 mi) southwest of B ...

, nearly long, wide, reaching in height, and moving inland at rate of a year. Arcachon is one of the largest towns within the Landes forest, alongside Arcachon, Dax, and Mont-de-Marsan. The bay provides excellent conditions for growing

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not al ...

s and around 175 hectares of the bay is dedicated to oyster farming. The city enjoys a mild climate thanks to the

Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension the North Atlantic Current, North Atlantic Drift, is a warm and swift Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida a ...

, a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current originating from the gulf of Mexico.

Transport

The nearest airport is Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport. Arcachon station is daily served by the TER Nouvelle-Aquitaine trains from Bordeaux and also by the

TGV Atlantique The TGV Atlantique (TGV-A) is a class of high-speed trains used in France by SNCF; they were built by Alstom between 1988 and 1992, and were the second generation of TGV trains, following on from the TGV Sud-Est. 105 bi-current sets, numbered ...

from

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

on weekends. Public transportation is operated by buses. Boat excursions around Arcachon Bay are provided for tourism, and boat shuttles offer transport to Cap ferret, Dune du palat, Le Canon, Le Moulleau, Andernos and Banc D'Arguin. Arcachon Gare R01.jpg, Arcachon railway station Photo bus Baïa Arcachon ligne 1.jpg, City buses

People

* Humbert Balsan - film producer, was born in Arcachon in 1954. *

Carmen Bernos de Gasztold Carmen Bernos de Gasztold (9 October 1919 – 23 September 1995) was a French poet who lived in a Benedictine abbey. Her most famous collection is titled ''Prayers from the Ark''. The 1955 publication consists of short poems, each expressing ...

- poet, was born in Arcachon in 1919. * Sylvie Caster writer and journalist, was born in Arcachon in 1952. *

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer ...

- writer, once lived in Arcachon's Ville d'Hiver. * Ramón Emeterio Betances - Puerto Rican politician, spent close to six months at Arcachon shortly before his death in 1898. *

Jean Périsson Jean Périsson (6 July 1924 in Arcachon – 18 February 2019) was a French Conducting, conductor. Career A pupil of Jean Fournet, he won the first prize at the Besançon conducting competition in 1952. He was assistant to Igor Markevitch at the Sa ...

- composer, was born here in 1924 *

Louise Talma Louise Juliette Talma (October 31, 1906August 13, 1996) was an American composer, academic, and pianist. After studies in New York and in France, piano with Isidor Philipp and composition with Nadia Boulanger, she focused on composition from 193 ...

- composer, was born here in 1906. * Charles Tournemire - composer-organist, died here in 1939. On the other side of the Bassin d'Arcachon is

Cap Ferret Cap Ferret (English: ''Cape Ferret'') is a headland, situated at the south end of the ''commune'' of Lège-Cap-Ferret in the French ''department'' of Gironde and ''region'' of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The headland takes the form of a spit, which sep ...

, a popular resort for celebrities including

Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He most recently coached Spanish club Real Madrid and is one of the most ...

and Jean Pierre Pernaut, who have holiday homes.

Twin towns – sister cities

Arcachon is twinned with: * Aveiro, Portugal * Gardone Riviera,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Goslar Goslar (; Eastphalian: ''Goslär'') is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Goslar and located on the northwestern slopes of the Harz mountain range. The Old Town of Goslar and the Mines ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Pescara Pescara (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Pescàrë; nap, label= Pescarese, Piscàrë) is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 119,217 (2018) residents (and approxim ...

Amherst, Massachusetts Amherst () is a New England town, town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,263, making it the highest populated municipality in Hampshire County (althoug ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

References

External links

Official web site

Dune du Pyla site

Air photography of Arcachon

{{Authority control Communes of Gironde Subprefectures in France Port cities and towns on the French Atlantic coast