Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

and

subprefecture A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province. Albania There are twelve Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several districts, sometimes translated as subprefectures. ...

located at the northern end of the

Cotentin peninsula The Cotentin Peninsula (, ; nrf, Cotentîn ), 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 w ...

in the northwestern French department of

Manche Manche (, ) is a coastal French département in Normandy, on the English Channel, which is known as ''La Manche'', literally "the sleeve", in French. It had a population of 495,045 in 2019.Cherbourg-Octeville Cherbourg-Octeville () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.

on 28 February 2000,Décret
23 February 2000 which was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin on 1 January 2016. Cherbourg is protected by Cherbourg Harbour, between

La Hague La Hague () is a commune in the department of Manche, northwestern France. The municipality was established on 1 January 2017 by merger of the former communes of Beaumont-Hague (the seat), Acqueville, Auderville, Biville, Branville-Hague, ...

and

Val de Saire The Val de Saire (or Vale of the River Saire) is an area situated in the north of the Cotentin Peninsula, to the east of Cherbourg in the French region of Lower Normandy. To the south lies the Plain. It is named after the river Saire, which flo ...

, and the city has been a strategic position over the centuries, disputed between the English and French. Cited as one of the "keys to the kingdom" by Vauban, it became, by colossal maritime development work, a first-rate military port under the leadership of

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, and holds an arsenal of the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

. A stopping point for prestigious transatlantic liners in the first half of the 20th century, Cherbourg was the primary goal of US troops during the invasion of Normandy in 1944. Along with its use as a military, fishing and yachting port, it is also a cross-Channel ferry port, with routes to the English ports of Poole and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, the Irish ports of

Rosslare Harbour The village of Rosslare Harbour (), also known as Ballygeary, grew up to serve the needs of the harbour of the same name (now called Rosslare Europort), first developed in 1906 by the Great Western Railway and the Great Southern and Western Rai ...

and

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, and St Helier on

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the l ...

. Limited by its geographical isolation from being a great commercial port, it is nonetheless an important shipbuilding centre, and a working-class city with a rural hinterland.

Geography

Location

Cherbourg is located at the northern tip of the

Cotentin Peninsula The Cotentin Peninsula (, ; nrf, Cotentîn ), 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 w ...

, in the department of

Manche Manche (, ) is a coastal French département in Normandy, on the English Channel, which is known as ''La Manche'', literally "the sleeve", in French. It had a population of 495,045 in 2019.subprefecture A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province. Albania There are twelve Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several districts, sometimes translated as subprefectures. ...

. At the time of the 1999 census the city of Cherbourg had an area of , while the city of Octeville had an area of . The largest city in the Department of Manche, it is the result of the merger of the communes of Cherbourg and Octeville. The

amalgamated Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to: Mathematics and science * Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal **Pan am ...

city today has an area of . Cherbourg is situated at the mouth of the and at the south of the bay between to the east and

Cap de La Hague Cap de la Hague is a cape at the tip of the Cotentin peninsula in Normandy, France. The La Hague area has precambrian granite and gneiss cliffs, several coves and small fields surrounded by hedges. France's oldest rocks are to be found on i ...

to the west, Cherbourg-Octeville is from the English coast. Cherbourg and Octeville-sur-Cherbourg once belonged to the deanery of La Hague, delimited by the Divette. In 1786, a part of Equeurdreville joined Cherbourg, during the construction of the port, and then in 1802, a portion of Octeville. Since 1811, the " mielles" unesof Tourlaville, commune of the deanery of Saire, are integrated into the Cherbourg territory known as the quarter of Val-de-Saire where the and the Saint-Clement Church were built. Thus, Cherbourg-Octeville lies both in La Hague and in the Val de Saire. Like all Chantereyne and the area of the Mielles, the Cherbourg territory was reclaimed from the sea. Built at the level of the sea, the town developed at the foot of the Roule mountain (highest point of the old town) and la Fauconnière. Octeville is a former rural municipality, composed of hamlets, whose settlement extended from the 19th century and whose territory is highly urbanised since 1950, especially around the of the provinces and the university campus. The bordering communes are

Tourlaville Tourlaville () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin.Équeurdreville-Hainneville Équeurdreville-Hainneville () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin.La Glacerie La Glacerie （） is a former commune in the Manche department in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin.Martinvast Martinvast () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. See also *Communes of the Manche department The following is a list of the 446 Communes of France, communes of the Manche Departments of France, departm ...

to the south, and

Nouainville Nouainville () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. See also *Communes of the Manche department The following is a list of the 446 Communes of France, communes of the Manche Departments of France, departm ...

and

Sideville Sideville () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. See also *Communes of the Manche department The following is a list of the 446 Communes of France, communes of the Manche Departments of France, departmen ...

to the south-west.

Geology

Located at the end of the

Armorican Massif The Armorican Massif (french: Massif armoricain, ) is a geologic massif that covers a large area in the northwest of France, including Brittany, the western part of Normandy and the Pays de la Loire. It is important because it is connected to Dov ...

, Cherbourg-en-Cotentin retains traces of the geologic formation, deformed

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

s and

metamorphic Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causi ...

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes ...

s of the Precambrian of

Hercynian orogeny The Variscan or Hercynian orogeny was a geologic mountain-building event caused by Late Paleozoic continental collision between Euramerica (Laurussia) and Gondwana to form the supercontinent of Pangaea. Nomenclature The name ''Variscan'', comes f ...

by the folding of the arkoses of the Cambrian and Armorican sandstone and shale of the

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period million years ago (Mya) to the start of the Silurian Period Mya. T ...

. These folds result in layers of sandstone tilted 45° towards the north-east on la Fauconniere (including " La Roche qui pend" the hanging rock' and the . These two cliffs are due to sea erosion in the Quaternary. The retreat of the sea then gave way to sand dunes and tidal marshes, destroyed by the urbanisation of the 17th and 19th centuries, identical to those of Collignon in Tourlaville. These rocks in the soil have been used for centuries in several ways: Crushed granite extracted in

greenschist Greenschists are metamorphic rocks that formed under the lowest temperatures and pressures usually produced by regional metamorphism, typically and 2–10 kilobars (). Greenschists commonly have an abundance of green minerals such as chlorite ...

, whose colour comes from chlorite and

sericite Sericite is the name given to very fine, ragged grains and aggregates of white (colourless) micas, typically made of muscovite, illite, or paragonite. Sericite is produced by the alteration of orthoclase or plagioclase feldspars in areas that hav ...

, are used mainly for roofing in Nord-Cotentin, but also masonry in Cherbourg. The Armorican

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

of the Montagne du Roule is used for rubble and rockfill. Most of the many quarries, which opened in the metropolitan area for building the harbour wall, are now closed.

Hydrography

Cherbourg-en-Cotentin is bordered by the sea. The construction of the port of trade, from 1769, accompanied by the diversion of the (the mouth of which was located at the current exit of Port Chantereyne) and the Trottebec (from the territory of Tourlaville) gathered in the ''canal de retenue'', along the ''Avenue de Paris'' and ''Rue du Val-de-Saire''. The streams of the Bucaille and the Fay, which watered the ''Croûte du Homet'', disappeared in the 18th century during the construction of the military port.

Climate

Cherbourg-en-Cotentin has a temperate oceanic climate. Its maritime character causes high humidity (84%) and a strong sea wind, commonly

storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm), ...

y but also low seasonal variations of temperature and few days of frost (7.3). The combined effect of the wind and the tides can generate a rapid change of weather in a single day, with sun and rain which can be a few hours apart. The influence of the Gulf Stream and the mildness of the winter allow the naturalisation of many Mediterranean and exotic plants (

mimosa ''Mimosa'' is a genus of about 590 species of herbs and shrubs, in the mimosoid clade of the legume family Fabaceae. The generic name is derived from the Greek word (''mimos''), an "actor" or "mime", and the feminine suffix -''osa'', "resemb ...

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (ba ...

agave ''Agave'' (; ; ) is a genus of monocots native to the hot and arid regions of the Americas and the Caribbean, although some ''Agave'' species are also native to tropical areas of North America, such as Mexico. The genus is primarily known for ...

s, etc.) which are present in the public and private gardens of the city, despite average insolation. The climate is similar to areas much further north in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

and Ireland due to the moderation. Summers are far cooler than expected by French standards.

Routes of communication and transport

Road

Historically, Cherbourg-en-Cotentin is at the western end of Route nationale 13, which runs through the city by the "Rouges Terres" and the ''Avenue de Paris'', from

La Glacerie La Glacerie （） is a former commune in the Manche department in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin.E03 and E46, referred traffic through La Glacerie and

Tourlaville Tourlaville () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin.Cap de la Hague Cap de la Hague is a cape at the tip of the Cotentin peninsula in Normandy, France. The La Hague area has precambrian granite and gneiss cliffs, several coves and small fields surrounded by hedges. France's oldest rocks are to be found on i ...

Barfleur Barfleur () is a commune and fishing village in Manche, Normandy, northwestern France. History During the Middle Ages, Barfleur was one of the chief ports of embarkation for England. * 1066: A large medallion fixed to a rock in the harbour ...

, crosses the city from east to west. After the completion of the bypass east of the agglomeration, a western bypass project is under study, and a 'zone' corresponding to the future final route has been selected. Similarly, upgrading to a dual carriageway for access of Maupertus Airport is envisaged. The D650 is used to connect Cherbourg to the west coast of the Cotentin peninsula. Departing from Cherbourg, the D650 takes a southwesterly direction to

Les Pieux Les Pieux () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. It is the head commune of the Canton of Les Pieux, and of the former communes community of les Pieux. Les Pieux is also twinned with Lytchett Matravers. ...

and then along to join the ''Côte des Isles'' (the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

coast) to Barneville-Carteret. In the approach to Cherbourg, this road has undergone development, in recent years, with amenities (roundabouts, traffic lights, urban development) by virtue of the

peri-urbanisation Peri-urbanisation relates to the processes of scattered and dispersive urban growth that create hybrid landscapes of fragmented and mixed urban and rural characteristics. Origin The expression originates from the French word ' ("peri-urban" m ...

of the communes in its path. With the awarding of autoroute status to the RN13 in 2006, the work of upgrading to motorway standard between Cherbourg and Caen is being undertaken over a 10-year period.Mémento économique du Cotentin 2007, , 2007 The construction work of the RN13 at the entrance of the Cherbourg agglomeration (locality ''Virage des Chèvres'') was completed in early 2009.

Sea

Cherbourg-Octeville is a port on the English Channel with a number of regular passenger and freight ferry services operating from the large modern ferry terminal and has a major artificial harbour. The following operators currently run services from the port: *

Brittany Ferries Brittany Ferries is the trading name of the French shipping company, BAI Bretagne Angleterre Irlande S.A. founded in 1973 by Alexis Gourvennec, that operates a fleet of ferries and cruiseferries between France and the United Kingdom, Ireland, a ...

to Poole (1 sailing daily) and

(up to 2 sailings daily, summer only). * Stena Line to Rosslare (3 sailings weekly). *

Irish Ferries Irish Ferries is an Irish ferry and transport company that operates passenger and freight services on routes between Ireland, Britain and Continental Europe, including Dublin Port–Holyhead; Rosslare Europort to Pembroke as well as Dublin ...

(2 sailings weekly). *

Condor Ferries Condor Ferries is an operator of passenger and freight ferry services between The United Kingdom, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Bailiwick of Jersey and France. Corporate history Condor Ferries established the first high-speed car ferry service to ...

(1 sailing weekly in summer only). Cherbourg-en-Cotentin has previously had services operated by the following operators: * Stena Line to

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

(up to 2 sailings daily). Withdrawn in 1996. * P&O Ferries to

(up to 2 sailings daily by conventional ferry and up to 3 by fast ferry during the summer). Withdrawn in 2005 following a business review. *

P&O Irish Sea P&O Irish Sea was the trading name of P&O Ferries in the Irish Sea from 1998 to 2010, when it was rebranded P&O Ferries. History The P&O Irish Sea brand was formed in 1998 by merging the ferry operations of Pandoro Ltd (who operated freight-or ...

to Rosslare (up to 3 sailings weekly) and

(weekends only during the summer). Dublin service was withdrawn in 2004 and Rosslare service sold to Celtic Link. *

HD Ferries HD Ferries was a fast catamaran Channel Islands ferry service between Jersey, Guernsey and Brittany. HD Ferries had daily departures (six crossings per day; average crossing time per leg of just one hour) from the port of Saint Helier (Jersey) ...

to Guernsey and

. Operated in 2007 but cancelled in 2008 due to lack of customers. *

Celtic Link Ferries Celtic Link Ferries was an Irish ferry company which used to operate a passenger and freight roll-on/roll-off service between Rosslare and Cherbourg. Celtic Link Ferries ceased operating in February 2014 with Stena Line taking over their r ...

to Rosslare (3 sailings weekly). Service sold to Stena Line. The port welcomes some 30 cruise ships per year including the largest, thanks to a cruise terminal built in 2006 in the Gare Maritime de Cherbourg, which had opened in 1933 on the ''Quai de France'' next to the ''Cité de la Mer''. Frequently, cruise ships that have planned for another destination have taken refuge in the port, for protection from the frequent storms. Conventional cargo ships berth in the eastern area of the docks on the ''Quai des Flamands'' and ''Quai des Mielles''. During the construction of the

Concorde The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde () is a retired Franco-British supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France an ...

prototypes in the 1960s, some sections built in the United Kingdom passed by ferry through Cherbourg, for transfer to Toulouse.

Rail

The Paris - Cherbourg railway line, operated by

Réseau Ferré de France Réseau ferré de France (RFF, french: French Rail Network) was a French company which owned and maintained the French national railway network from 1997 to 2014. The company was formed with the rail assets of SNCF in 1997. Afterwards, the train ...

, ends at Cherbourg railway station, which opened in 1858 and welcomes a million passengers every year. This line continued, at the beginning of the 20th century, up to the resort of

Urville-Nacqueville Urville-Nacqueville () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune La Hague. It is an amalgam of two pre-existing villages, which were both heavily damage ...

and was complemented by the which served from Cherbourg to

between 1911 and 1950. Today, the

Intercités Intercités (before September 2009: ''Corail Intercités'') is a brand name used by France’s national railway company, SNCF, to denote non high speed services on the 'classic' network in France. SNCF established the Intercités brand in January ...

Paris-Caen-Cherbourg line is the most profitable in its class with profit over €10 million per year despite numerous incidents and delays. Regular services operate to

Paris-Saint-Lazare The Gare Saint-Lazare (English: St Lazarus station), officially Paris-Saint-Lazare, is one of the six large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. It serves train services toward Normandy, northwest of Paris, along the Paris–Le Hav ...

via Caen using

stock, local

TER Ter or TER may refer to: Places * River Ter, in Essex, England * Ter (river), in Catalonia * Ter (department), a region in France * Torre (river), (Slovene: ''Ter''), a river in Italy * Ter, Ljubno, a settlement in the Municipality of Ljubno ob ...

services operate from the station to

Lisieux Lisieux () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. It is the capital of the Pays d'Auge area, which is characterised by valleys and hedged farmland. Name The name of the town derives from the ...

via Caen and to Rennes via

Saint-Lô Saint-Lô (, ; br, Sant Lo) is a commune in northwest France, the capital of the Manche department in the region of Normandy.

. Intercités services to

take three hours on average. From July 2009 to December 2010, a TGV Cherbourg –

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

service operated, via

Mantes Mantes-la-Jolie (, often informally called Mantes) is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region of north-central France. It is located to the west of Paris, from the centre of the capital. Mantes-la-Jolie is a subpre ...

and Roissy TGV. With one daily round-trip, it operated experimentally for three years and gave the people of Cherbourg direct access by rail to France's primary airport. The service ceased prematurely, as the minimum threshold of passenger traffic was not met. As well as a main line station there was also the '' Gare Maritime Transatlantique'' station. This now forms part of the ''Cité de la mer''.

Bus

Heuliez GX 317 n°814 Schuman - Zéphir Bus

The ''Compagnie des transports de Cherbourg'' (CTC) was created in 1896, connecting the ''Place de

Tourlaville Tourlaville () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin.Urville. After the German occupation and bombardment of the tram depot, the use of buses took over, and it was not until 1962 that the network had several lines. From 1976, the ''Communauté urbaine de Cherbourg'' supported the jurisdiction of public transit. Management of the public service is delegated to

Keolis Keolis is a multinational transportation company that operates public transport systems. The company manages bus, rapid transit, tram, coach networks, rental bikes, car parks, water taxi, cable car, trolleybus and funicular services. ...

, the CTC took the name o
Zephir
Bus in 1991. The network covers the whole of the metropolitan area. In recent years, a night bus service has also been created. Cherbourg-Octeville and its suburbs are also served by the Manéo departmental bus service.

Air

The Cherbourg – Maupertus Airport, located in Maupertus-sur-Mer, serves the city. Its runway hosts

charter flights Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flights ...

. After stopping the daily service to Paris by

Twin Jet Twin Jet is a French regional airline based in Aix en Provence. History Twin Jet was founded in May 2001 and operated its first scheduled flight in March 2002. The company operates 250 flights a week mainly on domestic routes within France a ...

, in spring 2008, a new link with Caen and Paris started with Chalair on 27 October 2008. With 40,500 passengers in 2007, the airport had lost 30% of its commercial passengers, and 10% of its total traffic over a year.

History

Heraldry

The origin of the coat of arms is disputed. According to Victor Le Sens, it is of religious origin: Fess argent charged of stars represents the belt of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

, one of the two patrons of the city and the number of stars, like the bezants, evokes the Trinity, the other patron of the city. The bezants would be the expression of the redemption of the captives, illustrating the participation of the notables of Cherbourg on the Third Crusade. The coat of arms of Cherbourg dates from the late 12th century, at the time of the Crusades. According to M. Le Poupet, which relies in particular on the works of Marcus Vulson de la Colombière, Vulson de la Colombière and Antoine-Jean Gros, Baron Ségoing de Laborde, Ségoing, the content of the coat of arms evokes the maritime trade of the city, the bezants - traditional furniture of the arms of ennobled financiers - represent wealth and fortune, while the star shows peace and prudence. The sable signifies prudence and constancy in adversity, the azure denotes activity and the seas. M. Canel had explained before him that the bezants and stars respectively illustrated trade and sea port. The stars, absent from the armorial of Charles-René d'Hozier, d'Hozier in 1697, were added in the 18th century. Under the Empire, the coat of arms was completed by a free area of second-class towns which is to dexter azure to an "N" of or, surmounted by a pointed star of the same, brocading at the ninth of the escutcheon. Regarding the external ornaments, the mural crown symbolises protection and happiness, the caduceus of trade and business, the olive tree of peace, the oak of strength, recalling the role of both the military and commercial port. The argent means that Cherbourg was a second class city under the Empire. Today, the municipality of Cherbourg-Octeville uses a logo, entitled ''"mouette musicale"'' [musical seagull]. Initially adopted by Cherbourg, it consists of a gull, symbolising the maritime character of the town, on a musical stave, evoking the musicality of the port: "The cry of the seagulls that dance between sky and sea, the mermaids of ships and the melodious song of the waves".

Origins and toponymy

The date of Foundation of Cherbourg can not be set precisely, although several local historians, including Robert Lerouvillois, trace the origin of the city to Coriallo (for *''Coriovallo'') of the Unelli. According to Pierre-Yves Lambert, the Celtic element ''corio-'' means "army, troop" and the element ''vallo-'' similar to the Latin ''vallum'', would be "rampart, fortification". Mentioned on the ''Tabula Peutingeriana'' (c. 365), in the Antonine Itinerary and the ''Gesta'' de Wandregisel, Fontenelle ("In pago Coriovallinse", 747-753), ''Coriallo'', Latinised then as ''Coriallum'', hosted a Roman garrison during the late Roman Empire, and the recovered remains would be the village between Cherbourg and

Tourlaville Tourlaville () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin. ''Carusburg'' would mean "fortress of the marsh" in Old Norse ''kjarr'' (marsh), and ''town, borg'' (castle, fortified town) or "city of the marais" in Old English ''ker'' (bog) and ''burgh'' (town). The element ''kjarr'' / ''ker'' is also found in Normandy in Villequier and Gonfreville-l'Orcher, Orcher. According to François de Beaurepaire, it comes rather from the Old English ''chiriche'' (spelled ''ċiriċe'', Church) or [tch] is reduced to [s], as the commune of Chirbury, in the County of Shropshire, formerly also spelled ''Chirichburig'' (915) and ''Chiresbir'' (1226). The name of Octeville appears meanwhile, in 1063, in a Charter of William the Conqueror about allocations made to the Collegiate Church of Cherbourg. It means: "the rural area of ''Otti''", a Scandinavian male name also found in Octeville-l'Avenel, Octeville-sur-Mer and Walesby, Lincolnshire, Otby (Lincolnshire, ''Ottebi'', 11th century). Cherbourg is also the name of a Township (Canada), Canadian township, located between Matane and Les Méchins, Quebec, Les Méchins, which gave its name to the communes of Saint-Thomas-de-Cherbourg, merged in 1954 into Les Méchins, and Saint-Jean-de-Cherbourg, Quebec, Saint-Jean-de-Cherbourg. This name, including the proclamation date of 7 May 1864, could be due to the impact by the local newspapers of the inauguration of the military port by Napoleon III in 1858. Cherbourg is also the name of a town in Queensland, Australia.

Middle Ages

The Cotentin, conquered by Quintus Titurius Sabinus in 56 BC, was divided between the ''pagus constantiensis'' ("County of Coutances") and the ''pagus coriovallensis'' ("County of Coriallo"), within Gallia Lugdunensis. Coriallo housed a small garrison and a castra, castrum was built on the left bank of the Divette as an element of the ''Litus saxonicum'', after Saxons, Saxon raids at the beginning of the fourth century. In 497, the village was sold with all of Armorica to Clovis I, Clovis. It was evangelised by in 432, then by Saint Exuperat, Saint Leonicien, and finally Saint Scubilion in 555. In 870, , landing in Kent, was ordained priest of Cherbourg and established a hermitage in the surrounding forest. After several Normans, Norman raids in the ninth century, Cherbourg was attached to the Duchy of Normandy along with the Cotentin Peninsula, Cotentin, in 933, by William I Longsword, William Longsword. The Danish King Harold moved there in 946. In the face of English threats, Richard III, Duke of Normandy, Richard III of Normandy strengthened the fortifications of the Château de Cherbourg, castle at the same time as those of the other major strongholds of Cotentin. In 1053, the city was one of the four main cities of the Duchy of William the Conqueror to receive an annuity in perpetuity for the maintenance of one hundred needy. In 1139, during the struggle for succession to the Anglo-Norman Crown, Cherbourg fell after two months of siege to the troops of Stephen, King of England, Stephen of England before being retaken in 1142 by Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, Geoffrey of Anjou, whose wife, Empress Matilda, three years later founded the . During the conquest of Normandy by Philip II of France, Philippe Auguste, Cherbourg fell without a fight in 1204. The city was sacked in 1284 and 1293, the abbey and the Hôtel-Dieu looted and burned, but the castle, where the population was entrenched, resisted. Following these ravages, Philip IV of France, Philip the Fair fortified the city in 1300. Its strategic position, a key to the kingdom along with Calais as a bridgehead for invasion by the English and French, the town was much disputed during the Hundred Years' War. Having one of the strongest castles in the world according to Jean Froissart, Froissart, it changed ownership six times as a result of transactions or seats, never by force of arms. The fortress resisted the soldiers of Edward III of England, Edward III in 1346. In February 1354, Cherbourg was transferred by John II of France, Jean le Bon to Charles II of Navarre, called ''the Bad'', with the bulk of the Cotentin. The city was of Navarre from 1354 to 1378, and Charles II stayed in Cherbourg on several occasions. In 1378, the city was besieged by Charles V of France, Charles V as the rest of the Norman possessions of the King of Navarre, but in vain. Navarre troops who had dropped the County of Évreux and the Cotentin were entrenched in Cherbourg, already a difficult taking, and defended it against French attacks. In June 1378, having lost ground in Normandy, Charles II of Navarre rented Cherbourg in 1378 to Richard II of England for a period of three years. Bertrand du Guesclin besieged it for six months using many machines of war, but abandoned the siege in December 1378. The King of England then refused to return the city to the Navarrese, despite the efforts of Charles II. It was only his son Charles III of Navarre, Charles the Noble who recovered it in 1393. In 1404, it was returned to Charles VI of France, in exchange for the Duchy of Nemours. Fallen in 1418 to the hands of the English, Cherbourg, the last English possession of the Duchy of Normandy after the Battle of Formigny, was released on 12 August 1450. On 28 April 1532, Cherbourg was visited with great fanfare by Francis I of France, Francis I and the dauphin. At that time, Cherbourg was described by Gilles de Gouberville as a fortified town of 4,000 residents, protected by drawbridges at the three main gates which were permanently guarded and closed from sunset until dawn. Inside the city walls, the castle, itself protected by wide moats and equipped with a keep and twelve towers, was south-east of the city. Outside and to the south of the city walls, the suburb along the Divette was frequented by sailors. Cherbourg was not affected by the wind of the Protestant Reformation, Reformation that divided Normandy, consolidated and heavily guarded by , Henry III of France, Henry III thanked his defence against the troops of Gabriel, comte de Montgomery, Montgomery, as lieutenant-general of Normandy and Governor of Cherbourg in 1578, and then marshal the following year. The bourgeois also remained loyal to Henry III and Henry IV of France, Henry IV, when Normandy was mostly held by the Catholic League (French), Catholic League.

17th to 19th century

To complement the two major ports of Brest, France, Brest on the Atlantic Ocean and Toulon on the Mediterranean Sea, Louis XIV of France, Louis XIV wished to build a new port on the side of the English Channel, facing England, in order to shelter the passing ships. In 1686, Vauban offered to strengthen the fortifications of Cherbourg, and close Cherbourg Harbour with two sea walls, but preferred La Hogue for the establishment of a major military port.« "Who are the men who exercised the most influence on the creation of a dockyard in Cherbourg and particularly what part should be attributed to Vauban in projects related to the closure of the harbour?" Extract of ''Scientific Sessions conference France'', held in Cherbourg in September 1860, Mr. Bazan. Cherbourg: Auguste Mouchel, 1860. Fortifications and the castle development work began the following year but were stopped by the King in December 1688, influenced by François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois, Louvois and fear of English attacks. In the absence of these fortifications, the population of Cherbourg attended to the destruction of the three ships of Anne Hilarion de Tourville, Admiral Tourville at the end of the Battles of Barfleur and La Hogue, Battle of La Hogue. The commercial port dug at the current position of the ''place Divette'' between 1739 and 1742, was devastated in August 1758 by an English attack under the orders of Thomas Bligh, General Bligh and Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe, Admiral Howe. During the Seven Years' War, the British briefly occupied the town after the Raid on Cherbourg in 1758. The British destroyed military buildings and warehouses before departing. With the development of a new pool of trade in 1769, Cherbourg - a longstanding commercial port of minor importance, a city without a university or cultural activity, regularly looted, and having weak relations with Paris - acquired a weight in the Cotentin which translated, on the eve of the French Revolution, by the creation of networks of sociability by the middle-class united in associations - such as the in 1755 and the Masonic Lodge, lodge "Faithful mason". The population increased from 800 Feu fiscal, feus (4,000 inhabitants) in Cherbourg and 95 in Octeville, around 1715, to 7,300 people in Cherbourg by 1778. Louis XVI of France, Louis XVI decided to relaunch the project of the port on the English Channel. After many delays, it was decided in 1779 to build a -long sea wall between Cherbourg Harbour, île Pelée and the tip of

Querqueville Querqueville () is a former commune in the Manche department in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin. On 16 August 1830, Charles X of France, King Charles X, dethroned, departed into exile from the military port of Cherbourg aboard the ''Great Britain'', leaving room for the July Monarchy. After seeing moor in its harbour ''Le Luxor'' carrying the Luxor Obelisk, Obelisk of Luxor in August 1833, Cherbourg welcomed the return of the remains of Napoleon to France aboard the ''Belle Poule''. On 4 August 1858, an equestrian statue of Napoleon by the sculptor Armand Le Véel, was erected on the occasion of the visit of Napoleon III to the inauguration of the Mantes-la-Jolie–Cherbourg railway, railway line from Cherbourg to Paris. On 19 June 1864, a naval engagement in the American Civil War was held off the coast of Cherbourg: The warship of the Confederates, the CSS Alabama, CSS ''Alabama'' was sunk by the ship of the Union USS Kearsarge (1861), USS ''Kearsarge'' after two hours of fighting [see the Battle of Cherbourg (1864)], under the eye of thousands of spectators, who had arrived by train for the inauguration of the casino. Visualizing the fight from a sailboat, Édouard Manet, Manet immortalised it in ''The Battle of the Kearsarge and the Alabama''. In November 1984, the

mine hunter ''Circé'' discovered a Shipwreck, wreck under nearly of water off Cherbourg. The location of the wreck (WGS84) was 49°45'147N / 001°41'708W. Captain Max Guerout later confirmed the wreck to be of the CSS ''Alabama''.

Early 20th century

From 1847, the geographical and technical properties of the port of Cherbourg attracted shipping companies linking European ports to the east coast of the United States. At the end of the 1860s, the ships of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company and the Hamburg America Line anchored in the harbour before crossing the Atlantic. After leaving

, England, the RMS Titanic, RMS ''Titanic'' made its first stop at Cherbourg on 10 April 1912, during its maiden voyage, where an additional 274 passengers embarked. In 1913, Cherbourg received 500 ships and 70,000 passengers. On 31 July 1909, tsar Nicholas II and French president Armand Fallières met officially in Cherbourg to reinforce the Franco-Russian Alliance. During the First World War, traffic was completely suspended. Cherbourg became the place of arrival for equipment and the British and American troops, and for departure on leave and injuries. The military port experienced an increase in activity, and the garrison stationed at Cherbourg was reinforced. The port infrastructures were developed to receive coal and oil required for the conflict. Traffic doubled, reaching 600,000 tons in 1918. Transatlantic transit resumed in the aftermath of the war with the British, American and Dutch transatlantic companies. To welcome the best stopovers, the Chamber of Commerce built a deep water port, a new ferry terminal, and an area dedicated to loading, unloading and storage of goods in the field of Mielles. Cherbourg became the first port of migration in Europe, and Cunard Line, White Star Line and Red Star Line companies united to build the ''Hôtel Atlantique'' [Atlantic Hotel] intended to receive emigrants before crossing. At the same time, the downtown was renovated, especially in the architectural projects of René Levesque (architect), René Levesque, Drancey and . However, the Great Depression, 1929 crisis put an end to the transatlantic peak.

Second World War

During the World War II, Second World War (1939–1945), the German Army (Wehrmacht), German Army occupied north of France and fortified the coastline against invasion. As a deep-water port, Cherbourg was of strategic importance, very heavily protected against seaborne assault. German troops arrived in the outskirts of Cherbourg on 17 June 1940, towards the end of the Battle of France. Two days later, the City Council declared the open city, city open, and ''Generalmajor'' Erwin Rommel, commander of the 7th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht), 7th Panzer Division, received the surrender of the city from the hands of the maritime prefect, Vice-Admiral , who had earlier destroyed submarines under construction at the arsenal and East Fort. Four years later, Cherbourg, the only deep-water port in the region, was the primary objective of the United States Army, American troops who had landed at Utah Beach during the Operation Overlord, Battle of Normandy. The Battle of Cherbourg was required to give the Allies of World War II, Allies a point of logistic support for human resupply and material of the troops. American troops encircled the city on 21 June 1944. At the end of furious street fighting and bitter resistance from the Fort du Roule, ''Generalleutnant'' Karl-Wilhelm von Schlieben, ''Konteradmiral'' Walter Hennecke and 37,000 German soldiers surrendered on 26 June to Major general (United States), Major General J. Lawton Collins, Joseph Lawton Collins, Commanding officer, Commanding General (CG) of the VII Corps (United States), U.S. VII Corps. After a month of demining and repairs by American and French engineers, the port, completely razed by the Germans and the bombing, welcomed the first Liberty ships and became, until the victory of 1945, the busiest port in the world, with traffic double that of New York City, New York. It was also the endpoint of the gasoline which crossed the English Channel via the underwater pipeline Operation Pluto, PLUTO (Pipe Line Under The Ocean), and the starting point of the Red Ball Express, truck transport circuit to Chartres. Cherbourg was returned to France by the Americans on 14 October 1945. It was cited in the Order of the Army on 2 June 1948 and received the Croix de guerre 1939–1945 (France), Croix de guerre with Palm.

Postwar

The wartime destruction was mainly concentrated around the military port in Cherbourg but had hit 60% of Octeville. Thanks to the urgency of the port reconstruction, economic activity resumed quickly. Cherbourg, headed by former French Section of the Workers' International, SFIO Minister , built much social housing. The postwar boom led to the modernisation of the economy and a greater role for female employment. Under the leadership of Charles de Gaulle, General de Gaulle, Cherbourg became the hub of nuclear ballistic missile submarine construction from 1964, including the first, French submarine Redoutable (S611), ''Le Redoutable'', which was launched in 1967. Félix Amiot's shipyard Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie, specialised in military armaments, became famous during the Christmas of 1969 in an episode of the Cherbourg Project. Incorporated in 1970, the gathered together Cherbourg and Octeville,

La Glacerie La Glacerie （） is a former commune in the Manche department in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin.Tourlaville Tourlaville () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin.Querqueville Querqueville () is a former commune in the Manche department in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin.Équeurdreville-Hainneville Équeurdreville-Hainneville () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin.

Turn of the millennium

Vue panoramique sur Cherbourg depuis le Fort du Roule 03

The major decisions of the public authorities, on which Cherbourg has depended for many centuries, and the nuclear industry, caused a deep economic crisis in the 1990s. The Arsenal was drastically downsized, the Northern Fleet (FLONOR) moved to Brest, France, Brest in 1992, and the closed. UIE, Burty, CMN, Socoval and Alcatel accumulated social plans or closings. Under the auspices of the , the agglomeration developed its academic offerings with the Institut universitaire de technologie de Cherbourg-Manche, IUT of Cherbourg-Manche, the Engineering School of the University of Caen Normandy (ESIX Normandie), School of Engineers of Cherbourg and a branch of the University of Caen Lower Normandy, University of Caen, which complemented and the School of Fine Arts. The new millennium began with the creation of a new commune. Cherbourg-Octeville was created on 1 March 2000 through the joining of Cherbourg and Octeville, following a local referendum within ''"Grand Cherbourg"''. The city revived its tourist and maritime identity through the Cité de la Mer and the opening to the public of the Redoutable-class submarine (1967), ''Redoubtable'', and became the home of stopovers for cruises and nautical events. The "between land and sea", with an emphasis on the commercial and touristic attractiveness of the city and the Bassins Quarter, as well as the economic specialisation in boating, emerged. Meanwhile, the traditional activities of the port (passengers, freight and fishing) were in crisis.

Miscellany

The Norman language writer Alfred Rossel, a native of Cherbourg, composed many songs which form part of the heritage of the region. Rossel's song "Sus la mér" ("on the sea") is often sung as a regional patriotic song. The local dialect is known as Cotentinais. La Glacerie was named for glass factory. In 1655, Louis Lucas de Néhou built a glass factory which produced windows and mirrors for such buildings as the Galerie des Glaces and Château de Versailles. The factory in La Glacerie was destroyed by Allied bombardments in 1944 during the Normandy invasion. Cherbourg was the first site outside the United States to be designated as an American Civil War Heritage Site by the Civil War Trust, Civil War Preservation Trust because a sea battle was fought nearby in 1864 by Union and Confederate warships. See the Battle of Cherbourg (1864).

Population

Urban fabric

Cherbourg originally developed on the left bank of the mouth of the , around the castle. Traces of the ancient fortress are rare in the modern city; the fortification was located in the area bounded by the ''Rue de la Marine'', ''Quai de Caligny'', the ''Foch'', ''Gambetta'', ''Albert-Mahieu'' and ''François-Lavieille'' streets, and ''La République'' and ''La Trinité'' squares. The city had five streets: ''Grande Rue'', ''Rue de la Trinité'' (today, Tour-Carrée), the ''Rue du Nouet'' (to the Blé), the ''Rue au Fourdray'' and ''Rue Onfroy'' (of trade), and a dozen boëls (alleys). These five medieval streets were transformed into pedestrian streets in the 1980s. Until the destruction of the city walls, the main road called ''rue de-devant-le-château'', was built on its west (east is bordered by ditches) with several houses with arcades, called ''soliers''. After the dismantling of the walls, inside which lived three-fifths of the population, the city extended up to its natural boundaries at the end of the 17th century: the Divette in the east, and Chantereine stream in the west. During the 19th century, it extended to the neighbouring annexed territories of

Tourlaville Tourlaville () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin. Damaged during all eras, rebuilt in piecemeal, the city has no architectural unity. Shale, extracted from the quarries of the agglomeration, is the traditional material of construction. With widespread coverage in the northern Cotentin, it is also used in Cherbourg for the walls in the city, apparent or often covered with a grayish or sometimes colourful coating. The frames are then Valognes stone (limestone), pink granite of Fermanville, or brick, and the underpinnings Armorican sandstone of the Roule and the Fauconniere. The expansion of the city from the 18th century contributed to the diversity of materials. The use of Caen stone and industrial brick was necessary under the Second Empire, while vernacular architecture disappeared gradually in these years in favour of a more homogeneous and Parisian style. Cherbourg and its agglomeration urbanised around the ports and along the coast. With post-war reconstruction and the economic development of the Trente Glorieuses, the city is experiencing a crisis of housing due to the demographic boom, having built on the last vacant land. Indeed, a 1954 report evaluated 1,000 inhabitant families living in slums and called for 1,500 housing units. Then out of land ''Cité du Casino'' in 1957 and the ''Cité Fougère'' in 1958, then in 1959 all of the ''Amont-Quentin'', ''Charcot-Spanel'' and ''Cité Chantereyne'' to accommodate the families of the engineers and officers of the Arsenal. Port Chantereyne and the Mielles lands are reclaimed from the sea, the ''Place Divette'' and ''Boulevard Schuman'' are created at the site of the old fairground. However, at that time, the change mainly affected nearby villages that formed an agglomeration in less than forty years. Octeville, a dispersed habitat until the 18th century, and urbanised during the work of the port around a central street, saw the housing estate of the Provinces settle on the heights of la Fauconniere and triple its population in 20 years. Several estates also emerging at Tourlaville, La Glacerie, Querquerville and Equeurdreville, amending the physiognomy of a suburb which densified. This urbanisation resulted in the dilution of the geographic and sociological boundaries of the agglomeration resulting in the creation in 1970 of the until the merger of Cherbourg and Octeville in 2000. Les-Provinces

Following this merger, a plan of urban renewal named "Between Land and Sea" was launched in 2002 on the quarters of Bassins, of the Amont-Quentin and the Provinces to homogenise the territory of the newly alamgamated city. The Bassins quarter, released by the channelling of the Divette and the filling of the retaining channel, is expected to profoundly transform the commercial landscape of the city, carried by the construction of a new shopping centre and the renovation of downtown. On the heights, seven HLM tower blocks are intended for demolition to improve social housing. A 3-star hotel and the relocation of the casino is also planned. At ''Avenue Carnot'', the former Grouard warehouses must leave room for parking and a place through from the wharf from the ''Quai de l'Entrepôt'' to the Pasteur Hospital, to 180 dwellings by Presqu'île habitat and ADIM (Vinci company) then 100 extra in a second round of development. The administrative quarters are: *Downtown, historic heart of Cherbourg, with the inner city and the districts of La Polle and the Vœu, dating from the 19th century. *The Val-de-Saire, annexed in 1811, beyond the Divette and swing-bridge. *Sud-est, corresponding to the districts of du Roule and Maupas, traditionally for workers. *The Amont Quentin-Provinces, on the heights of the city, built from the late 1950s (essentially HLM tower blocks). *Octeville-Bourg, from both sides of the Salengro and Barbusse streets. *Ouest, western part of the former municipality of Octeville. Since 1996, Cherbourg-Octeville is covered by a sensitive urban zone on the expanded area of the Provinces.

Demography

The construction of the dam and the military port has brought an important flow of workers and soldiers. Cherbourg and Octeville have seen their populations quadruple in a century. Cherbourg had 43,000 inhabitants at the beginning of the 20th century. During this century, Cherbourg lost some 15,000 inhabitants, while Octeville grew continuously, with an explosion in the 1960s and 1970s, during the construction of the housing estates. According to estimates from Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, INSEE for 2018, Cherbourg-Octeville has 35,545 inhabitants.Téléchargement du fichier d'ensemble des populations légales en 2018
Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, INSEE It is the largest city of the Manche department, and second of Lower Normandy (after Caen), surpassing Alençon, which had been second before the amalgamation. Cherbourg concentrated 7.7% of the departmental population, twice as much as the prefecture,

Saint-Lô Saint-Lô (, ; br, Sant Lo) is a commune in northwest France, the capital of the Manche department in the region of Normandy.

, while the agglomeration represents 17% and the urban area 23.5%. The depopulation of the city-centre of the agglomeration was one of the main topics of the campaign for the municipal elections of 2008. In addition to the battle of figures on the number of lost inhabitants, the three candidates, Bernard Cazeneuve (PS), Jean Lemière (UMP) and Hervé Corbin (dissident UMP) indicated a new interest in this problem. The urbanisation of the Grimesnil/Monturbet zone, provided for the coming years, should logically bring extra population, although no one knows if it will be enough to stop the demographic bleeding. Today, the neighbouring communes of the metropolitan area (Martinvast, Nouainville, Tonneville, Bretteville, etc.) are experiencing a demographic boost: The framework of life, rural and peaceful, in no way prevents the inhabitants from taking advantage of the infrastructure of the urban community. This problem, which is found in many French towns of this size, has led to the constitution of a , the urban community who wish to so participate financially in the rich and the . Since the merger between Cherbourg and Octeville, in February 2000, the inhabitants are officially called ''Cherbourgeois-Octevillais''. Before, the inhabitants of Cherbourg was called the ''Cherbourgeois'' and those of Octeville were the ''Octevillais''. It is likely that, with the merger, the latter disappears gradually in favour of ''Cherbourgeois''. This would be similar to ''Équeurdrevillais'' (or sometimes ''Équeurdrais'') for the nearby of

Équeurdreville-Hainneville Équeurdreville-Hainneville () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin. The temperate oceanic climate favours the naturalisation of southern and exotic plants such as palm trees, brought back by many Cherbourg sailors and explorers. Then, under the Third Republic, public gardens opened. Today the city offers several green spaces: *The of , on the ''Avenue de Paris'', was the first park to be offered to the population, in 1887. At the foot of the ''Montagne du Roule'', it hosts many animals (sea lions, aviary, aviaries, deer, etc.). A commemorative site preferred by the municipality, it contains the monument to the dead inaugurated in 1924, the old portal of the Abbey of the Vœu, the bust of Jean-François Millet, and the last town bandstand. Two pavilions of angles constructed in 1889 limit the garden on the ''Avenue de Paris''. *The Emmanuel Liais Park is the former garden of the Mayor of Cherbourg's house, designed in 1881 and opened in 1885. Bequeathed to the city upon his death, it is very wooded and has an observation tower, a plan of water containing water lilies and other aquatic plants and two greenhouses sheltering rare plants, including a rich collection of South American plants brought back from his travels and acclimated by Liais. It is labelled as a Remarkable Gardens of France, Remarkable Garden. *The Montebello garden, opened in 1872 in the street of the same name, within the Napoleon III Quarter, was created at the initiative of the Horticultural Society of Cherbourg for its members. Open to the public since its inception, it contains bamboos, camellias and magnolias, and offers a chalet of bricks with beams. *The Park of the , a Cherbourg-Octeville property on the territory of Tourlaville, was developed by the Vicomte René de Tocqueville from 1872, with an English landscape garden, English garden and a woodland. The park and the greenhouse built between 1872 and 1875, which is home to palm, banana, cactus and lianas have been open since the acquisition by the city of Cherbourg in 1935, and are classified as historical monuments since 4 March 1996. Several water bodies welcome Black Swans and the aviaries are home to rare birds. An artificial waterfall was created in 1921. *The [wild valley] contains hedgerows, wetlands, orchards and woodland in the heart of Octeville, in a natural area of . A private garden, the Jardin botanique de la Roche Fauconnière, Botanical Garden of the Roche Fauconnière, is also listed in the inventory of Historic Monuments since 29 December 1978. Established in 1873, it was embellished over generations by the Favier family. The commune also has Allotment (gardening), allotments, managed by associations: Vallon Sauvage, Fourches, Roquettes, Saint Sauveur and Redoute, which gives free land to its members. In 2007, the municipality was awarded four flowers in the Concours des villes et villages fleuris, competition of flowery towns and villages. The beautification policy, which dates from 1995, resulted in obtaining a first flower, followed by a second in 2000 and third in 2002. It relies on public gardens, heirs to a local botanical heritage of over a century, of flower beds and of green space on events such as ''Le Mois des Jardins et Presqu’île en Fleurs'' [The Month of Gardens and Peninsula in Flowers], and the annual distribution of geraniums to the resident volunteers.

Economy

Historic

At the instigation of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Colbert, the guild of drapers was founded on 16 April 1668, the manufacture of cloth produced two thousand pieces per year. Two years earlier, Colbert had also promoted the introduction of the La Glacerie, glass factory in the forest of

Tourlaville Tourlaville () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin. Opened in 1793 at the location of the current Lawton-Collins Wharf, the arsenal was moved in 1803 on a decision by Napoleon, within the project of the Cherbourg Naval Base, military port. Sailing ships were built, the first, the brig ''La Colombe'', was launched on 27 September 1797, and then screw-propelled vessels up to the end of the 19th century. From 1898, the Arsenal specialised in the . The first were ''Le Morse'' and ''Le Narval''. Since then, more than 91 vessels have been built there. ''L'Annuaire de la Manche'' [The Yearbook of Manche] in 1829 mentioned several slate quarries in the agglomeration whose product was sometimes exported to Le Havre, two printers, two soda refineries (properties of Mr. Le Couturier and Messrs. Crenier and Co. producing approximately 600 tonnes for Ostend, Dunkirk, Rouen and Paris, Germany and Russia), a sugar refinery (Mr. Despréaux) whose 50 tonnes were sold in the English Channel, a lace factory run by four nuns on behalf of Messrs. Blod and Lange and several tanners. It is indicated that the port trade was based on exportation of mules to Réunion and the Antilles, salted meat of pigs and eggs in Great Britain, Britain, wine and brandies, and the import of Scandinavian, Poland, Polish and Russian wood, linseed, and hemp. But its use as a place of war hampered the development of Cherbourg as major commercial port, compared to Le Havre. Ten years later, for these exchanges, counted 225 to 230 both French and foreign, from 30 to 800 tons, ships each carrying 6 to 18 crew. He added the maritime buildings and armaments and the export of butter of

, and the total annual trade was estimated at between 4 or 5 million francs, of which one million for the export of eggs to the United Kingdom, and 850 tons of salted meat. At the beginning of the 20th century, Cherbourg was primarily a Cherbourg Naval Base, military port. The commercial port was modest, always exporting mules to the West Indies and Réunion and local food products to Britain (butter, meats, eggs, cattle, etc.), but also chemical products of soda extracted from kelp, granite from nearby quarries, and important wood and iron from Nord (French department), Nord, tar, hemp, and food from the colonies. At this time the port embraced the transatlantic epic. Cherbourg's industry was then specialised in shipbuilding, as well as in lace-making and the manufacture of rope. The late 19th century also saw Cherbourg develop an aviation industry, through the company of Félix du Temple de la Croix, Félix du Temple, taken over in 1938 by Félix Amiot, another aviation pioneer for the aerospace company of Normandy. Gradually, workers developed a particular skill in metalwork, both for the submarines of the Arsenal, for aircraft and ships of the Amiot shipyards or George Herman Babcock, Babcock-Stephen Wilcox, Wilcox boilers. In 1916, Nestlé introduced its first French factory in Cherbourg. The 1960s saw a revival of the local economy through the increase in the female workforce and the decline of agricultural employment in favour of diversification of jobs and a high-tech industry. In 1960, under the leadership of Mayor Jacques Hébert (French politician), Jacques Hébert, Hortson was established in the Maupas quarter. One hundred employees manufactured projectors and film cameras, particularly for the Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française, ORTF and Russian television. Redeemed, the factory specialised under the name of Thomson-CSF audiovisual in surveillance and medical cameras, then in the production of electronic circuits of computer terminals on behalf of Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie and the Arsenal. Since 1976, it has been dedicated to the production of microwave electronic devices, employing 260 workers in 1979 contracted for radars of the Dassault Mirage F1, Mirage F1 Army Air and of the Navy Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard, Super Etendards, rising to 400 employees at the end of the 1980s, after moving in 1987 into a new modernised factory in Tourlaville. For a decade, the electronic workshop expanded, adding a production line for mobile television relays, and a workshop for mechanical surface treatment. As part of the internal restructuring of Alcatel-Lucent, Alcatel, the site, which has 300 employees, was sold in 2002 to Sanmina Corporation, Sanmina-SCI, which ceased its activity in March 2008. The ''Compagnie industrielle des télécommunications'' (CIT), merged the following decade with Alcatel, it also opened an assembly plant for electronic telephone exchanges, at

Querqueville Querqueville () is a former commune in the Manche department in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin. through what the journalist François Simon called "industries of death", since about two thirds of the local industrial fabric was related to defence and the nuclear industry. Cherbourg is also the cradle of the Paul-Louis Halley, Halley family and society, which became Promodès in the 1960s ( hypermarkets, Champion (supermarket), Champion supermarkets). In 1999, Promodès merged with Carrefour. The old buildings of Halley House became the technical centre of the Cachin vocational school, on ''Avenue Aristide-Briand''.

Economic data

In 1999, the economically active population of Cherbourg and Octeville was 18,671 inhabitants in a total population of 42,288 inhabitants. and Cherbourg-Octeville supports an unemployment rate (19.6% in 1999), double that of its job base (9.3% in 2006, a decrease of 1.1% in one year) which itself has the highest unemployment of the basins of employment of the department. At 31 December 2004, there were 3,700 jobseekers. Therefore, the annual average household income is lower than the national average (€13,730 for the city, compared with €15,027 in France) despite an average monthly salary (€1,590 in 2001) highest job growth of the department and higher than that of Caen-Bayeux (€1,550).

Main activities

Cherbourg is the seat of the particularly manages the airport, the fishing ports of Cherbourg and the trade, and, together with the , the FIM group training organisation. *Major Employers on 1 January 2001 *Maritime sector The Cherbourg economy derives a large part of its activities from its maritime position. Cherbourg indeed has : A military port, a fishing port, a port of commerce (passenger traffic and cross-border goods) and a marina. Weakened since the 1990s, the commercial port sees the transit of 110,000 trucks to or from Ireland and Great Britain. FastShip, Inc., Project Fastship, involving container transport from Philadelphia (United States) by high-speed vessels and oped for fifteen years, has been forgotten in favour of the Motorways of the Sea in the context of the Ena (Eurocoast Network Association), with Cuxhaven (Germany), Ostend (Belgium), Rosslare (Ireland) and Ferrol, Galicia, Ferrol (Spain), with no more effect at the moment. In recent years, the cross-Channel passenger traffic has declined, with competition from Port of Caen, Caen-Ouistreham and the Pas-de-Calais. The withdrawal of the P&O Portsmouth, P&O company, which served Poole and Southampton, has left two companies with cross-Channel links:

and Poole and

to Rosslare (Ireland). In the first eleven months of 2007 compared with the same period of 2006, passenger traffic declined by 3.84% to 750,000 units, while freight fell 4.43% with 87,000 trucks landed. For comparison, the port had 1.7 million passengers and 138,000 trucks in 1995. Property, with the Port of Caen, Port of Caen-Ouistreham, of the joint association Ports Norman Associates, involving the and the Departmental Councils of and Departmental Council of Calvados, Calvados, port trade is managed by a joint company of the and . The construction of a terminal dedicated to the traffic of coal from South America and destined for the United Kingdom will put an end to the haemorrhage of the activity of the port. The fishing industry is affected by the crisis affecting the entire industry, and the port has seen its fleet decline. Cherbourg was the first French marina by number of visitors in 2007, having 10,117 boats for 28,713 overnight stays in 2007, and the total impact estimated at €4 million for the Cherbourg agglomeration. A tradition of local industry, shipbuilding is based on the two pillars of the DCNS (company), DCNS Cherbourg for submarines and Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie (CMN), famous for their speedboats. This sector has been widely restructured over the past twenty years. The military arsenal saw the end of the construction of the Redoutable-class submarine (1967), ''Redoutable''-class submarines and expanded its customer base, until then exclusively of the Navy, prior to being privatised in 2007. With diesel ''Agosta'' submarines, developed since 1994 for Pakistan, and the ''Scorpène'', in collaboration with the shipyards of Cartagena, Spain, Cartagena, sold to Malaysia, Chile and India, 25% of the total turnover of the establishment is of foreign origin. Partnerships with Pakistan and India have concluded to make the construction term at home. The CMN, which employed 1,200 people at the beginning of the 1980s, modernised and automated, and now has 500 employees. The company diversified into large luxury yachts, without abandoning the military market, and has signed such contracts with the United Arab Emirates and Qatar through the Franco-Lebanon, Lebanese businessman Iskandar Safa, owner since 1992. TransatJ

While these two military companies have experienced reductions in loads (the number of jobs at the Arsenal increased from 6,000 including 1,000 subcontracted, in 1988, to 2,600 including 500 subcontractors), and the companies have repositioned in the nautical industry. , a subsidiary of CMN with 100 employees, built racing yachts. Originally hosted by CMN to build aluminium hulls designed by James Ébénistes (Saint-Laurent-de-Cuves), Allures Yachting has specialised in cruising sailboats. The Allais shipyard, of Dieppe, has established a subsidiary, ICAN, dedicated to civilian boats and pleasure craft. A network of subcontractors and specialists formed around this hub through Ameris France (established in 1994 under the name of ''Cap 50 export'', specialised in the research and the supply of spare parts for ships and military aircraft), the Efinor group (founded in 1988, specialising in metallurgy, nuclear decommissioning and engineering), MPH (help in project control, 140 employees). At Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue, Facnor has become a global specialist of sailing reels. The Navy employs nearly 3,000 officials in the agglomeration, especially in the context of administration (maritime prefecture), maritime safety (customs, CROSS, Abeille), logistical support of the

and foreign passage, and of training. *Metallurgy Metallurgy has long represented a large source of employment in the agglomeration. Around the Arsenal and its boilermakers, several metalworking and mechanical industries were formed from the early 1900s. This is the case of the oldest business the city, the Simon Brothers company, founded in 1856, which went from being a mechanical workshop to a steam agricultural machinery manufacturer and then to an agribusiness in a half a century. Manufacturing guns in 1870 and 1939, the company became a world leader in butter churn, churns and mixers for the butter industry. Similarly, the Babcock boiler manufacturer was implanted in Cherbourg in the interwar period and closed its doors after a protracted labour dispute, in 1979. Later, the began business in Cherbourg in 1973, for the construction of oil platforms, but closed in 1985. *Agri-food The food industry, essential in Lower Normandy, is not absent from the employment pool. A farm raising salmon in the harbour, abattoirs handling farmed livestock of Nord-Cotentin, and several processing companies exist. The Simon Brothers (50 employees) have supplied equipment for the cider and dairy industries for more than a century. *Electronics Alcatel had two units in the 1980s, one in Cherbourg, then Tourlaville (formerly Thomson-CSF) the other in Querqueville (Alcatel-Lucent, Alcatel CIT). Both, regarded as flagships of the group, specialised respectively in microwave and electronic telephone exchanges. However, Alcatel decided to close the Querqueville factory in 1997, Codifur then took over part of the business with hundreds of employees. In 2002, it also offloaded the Tourlaville unit to Sanmina Corporation, Sanmina-SCI, which relocated its production six years later. Codifur resumed the after-sales service business of Alcatel, or 5% of the initial activity, and a few dozen employees. *Other industries Socoval, a manufacturer of menswear of the Cantoni Group from Italy, is the last textile factory of the Cotentin and employs about 100 employees, since the social plan of 2001, which resulted in the loss of about 40 employees. Economic partners now rely on the "mastery of atmosphere", i.e. the control of contamination from industrial processes, through the created in 2001. Having experience of work involving nuclear risk, it wants to transfer these skills to the food, electronics and pharmaceutical industries. Two courses have been designed for this purpose: A BTS in nuclear maintenance at the Lycee Tocqueville and a DESS in mastery of atmosphere at the Cherbourg School of Engineering. *Commerce The urban community, the main commercial centre of the Cotentin, has four hypermarkets covering - of which one, Carrefour (260 employees), located in the Cherbourg area, represents the third largest private employer of the commune - as well as several large specialist stores. Trade employs nearly 1,400 people in the city centre, but the decline in cross-Channel traffic has caused a big shortfall, exacerbated by the fragile local economy. Although downtown Cherbourg is the main commercial centre of the agglomeration, with 340 establishments, its dominance is lower in the urban community, when compared to Caen towards its agglomeration. Indeed, Cherbourg focuses 35% of commercial activities and 45% of retail trade in the agglomeration, against 40% and 55% for the centre of Caen respectively, particularly two-thirds of the human equipment stores against 90% in Lower Normandy's capital. Grocery chains, equipment and home appliances have left the city centre for out-of-town shopping centres. The number of fast food outlets doubled between 1995 and 2005, while the strength of the traditional catering has stagnated. *Services Cherbourg-Octeville, the largest city of the department, is the main centre for administration and services for the Cotentin. Health is an important provider of jobs with the (470 beds, second of Lower Normandy, merged since 2006 with the Hospital of Valognes) and the Cotentin Polyclinic. The same goes for the education sector with four public and four private schools, a marine high school and aquaculture, a university campus and several graduate schools. The branches of public enterprises are also located there (EDF, with 120 officers and SNCF, with 50 officers). Public employment represents an important part with, in addition to the hospital and schools, municipal and community staff. Business service companies are also present in computer science (Euriware, 85 employees), cleanliness (Onet, 240 employees, and Sin&Stes, 100 employees) and advertising (Adrexo, 50 employees). Cherbourg-Octeville hosts the headquarters of public radio, and the departmental daily (120 employees with his CES press), successor to the Libération de , and subsidiary of the since 1990. France 3 Normandie boasts a local editorial office in the city; Cherbourg's edition of covers the agglomeration,

and the

; local television has installed its headquarters and its main studio in the area. Jobs in the construction sector are divided between Faucillion (80 employees), Eiffage (75 employees) and Colas Group, Colas (60 employees). Since its opening, the ''Cité de la Mer'' is the tourist engine of Nord-Cotentin. The cruise terminal also attracts liners each year. The marina of 1,500 spaces is the first French port of call (11,000 per year). The capacity of the city was, as of 1 January 2007, 15 hotels and 429 rooms. The casino, owned by the Cogit Group is the 109th in France, with a turnover of €6.7 million.

Politics and administration

In 2010, the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville was awarded a 3-star equivalent "" Certification mark, label and was upgraded to a 4-star equivalent rating in 2012.

Administrative divisions

The city has the of two cantons: Canton of Cherbourg-Octeville-1 (to the west) and Canton of Cherbourg-Octeville-2, Cherbourg-Octeville-2 (in the east, which also includes the town of La Glacerie). are the Socialist Party (France), Socialists Frédéric Bastian, Anna Pic, Karine Duval and Sébastien Fagnen. The arrondissement of Cherbourg has 189 municipalities and 190,363 inhabitants. The sub-prefect is Jacques Troncy, former sub-prefect of Arrondissement of Montbéliard, Montbéliard, appointed 17 March 2014. Since 1986, the , known as Cherbourg, covered the three cantons of Cherbourg-Octeville, and those of Canton of Équeurdreville-Hainneville, Equeurdreville-Hainneville, and Canton of Tourlaville, Tourlaville. In the context of the legislative redistricting of 2010, the two cantons of Beaumont-Hague and Quettehou integrated the constituency of Cherbourg-Octeville, becoming the Manche's 4th constituency, 4th constituency. Despite this redistribution often perceived as advantageous for the right, the outgoing Socialist Party (France), Socialist deputy of the 5th constituency, Bernard Cazeneuve, was re-elected in the first round with 55% of the vote. Cherbourg-Octeville also has the headquarters of the Maritime Prefect, maritime prefecture of the English Channel and the North Sea, whose authority extends from the Bay of Mont Saint-Michel to the Belgium, Belgian border. The is the Vice Admiral of the Squadron, Bruno Nielly. The home port, maritime quarter of Cherbourg (initials: CH) is restricted to the limits of the department. Since 1971, Cherbourg-Octeville has belonged to the , presided over by André Rouxel since 2012, Mayor of Tourlaville, to which the municipality delegates urban transport, management of space and the quality of life, the environment and development strategies (higher education, research, major projects, and ''Cité de la Mer'', etc.). The postal codes from prior to the merger of 2000 have been preserved: 50130 for addresses of the former territory of Octeville, 50100 for Cherbourg.

Political trends and results

Cherbourg is historically, with the Arsenal and the port, the main focus of labour and trades unions of the department of Manche. However, the Cherbourg workers do not lean towards radical or revolutionary movements, nor to Company union, yellow unionism, traditionally preferring the reformist tendencies. These choices are reflected politically into a strong center-left anchor, dominated by Socialist-radicals and independent Socialists, before whom the French Section of the Workers' International, SFIO and the Socialist Party (France), Socialist Party are not imposed. Since the Liberation, with the exception of a Gaullist period of 18 years with Jacques Hébert (French politician), Jacques Hébert following death, the city of Cherbourg has voted in favour Socialist forces. Similarly, the right won the town hall of Octeville in 1989, for a term, by the division of the left. Since the redrawing of the electoral district of Cherbourg in 1986, covering the urban population of the agglomeration and the rural district of the , the left-right alternation is the rule in every legislative election. Presidential elections, results of the second rounds *2012 French presidential election, Election of 2012 (77.28% participation): 60.00% for François Hollande (Socialist Party (France), PS, elected), 40.00% for Nicolas Sarkozy (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP). *2007 French presidential election, Election of 2007 (83.27% participation): 52.03% for Ségolène Royal (Socialist Party (France), PS), 47.97% for Nicolas Sarkozy (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP, elected). *2002 French presidential election, Election of 2002 (76.82% participation): 86,81% for Jacques Chirac (Rally for the Republic, RPR, elected), 13.19% for Jean-Marie Le Pen (National Front (France), FN). Parliamentary elections, results of the second rounds (1 round, unique for 2012) *2012 French legislative election, Elections of 2012 (54.48% participation), candidates who have collected more than 5% of the vote: 56.57% to Bernard Cazeneuve (Socialist Party (France), PS, elected), 39.23% David Margueritte (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP), 8.80% for Jean-Jacques Christmas (FN), 5.55% for Ralph Lejamtel (Europe Ecology – The Greens, EELV). *2007 French legislative election, Elections of 2007 (61.28% participation): 60.77% for Bernard Cazeneuve (PS, elected), 39.23% (UMP). *2002 French legislative election, Elections of 2002 (62.49% participation): 50.78% for Bernard Cazeneuve (PS), 49.22% for Jean Lemière (UMP, elected). European elections, results of the two scores or more than 15% *2014 European Parliament election in France, 2014 election (41.70% participation): 20.59% for (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP), 20.38% for Gilles Pargneaux (Socialist Party (France), PS-Radical Party of the Left, PRG), 19.85% for Marine Le Pen (National Front (France), FN). *2009 European Parliament election in France, 2009 election (37.63% participation): 24.98% for Dominique Riquet (UMP), 22.51% for Gilles Pargneaux (PS), 14.2% for Hélène Flautre (Europe Écologie). *2004 European Parliament election in France, 2004 election (40.81% participation): 37.75% for Henri Weber (PS), 16.74% for Tokia Saïfi (UMP). *1999 European Parliament election in France, 1999 election (45.52% participation): Cherbourg, 25.12% for François Hollande (PS), 13.98% to Charles Pasqua (Rally for France, RPF), 12.54% for Nicolas Sarkozy, 45.09% of participation; Octeville 29.79% for François Hollande (PS), 11.55% for Charles Pasqua (FPN), 8.08% for Nicolas Sarkozy. Regional elections *2004 French regional elections, 2004 election (61.90% participation): 58,27% for Philippe Duron (Socialist Party (France), PS), 31.06% for René Garrec (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP), 10.67% for Fernand Le Rachinel (National Front (France), FN). *1998 French regional elections, 1998 election (53.71% participation): Cherbourg 42.06% for Jean-Pierre Godefroy (PS), 18.13% for (Union for French Democracy, UDF), 51.08% participation. Octeville 44.33% for Jean-Pierre Godefroy (PS), 15.50% for Pierre Aguiton (UDF). Cantonal elections *2008 French cantonal elections, 2008 election: Canton of Cherbourg-Octeville-Sud-Ouest 54.43% for Michel Lerenard (PS), 15.37% for Alain Estève (DVD), 53.22% of participation; Canton of Cherbourg-Octeville-Nord-Ouest 63.03% for Jean-Michel Houllegatte (PS), 36.97% for , 39.32% participation *2004 French cantonal elections, 2004 election: Canton of Cherbourg-Octeville-Sud-Est, 65.69% for Michel Louiset (PS), 34.31% for M Héry, 59.04% participation. *2001 French cantonal elections, 2001 election: Canton of Cherbourg-Nord-Ouest (2nd round), 56.15% for Jean Lemière, 43.85% for Jean-Michel Houllegatte, 52.35% of participation; Canton of Cherbourg-Octeville-Sud-Ouest (1st round), 53.12% for Michel Lerenard, 25.29% for Guillemeau, 52.28% participation. *1998 French cantonal elections, 1998 election: Canton of Cherbourg-Sud-Est, 65.76% for Michel Louiset, 34.24 percent Ponthou, 41.5% participation. Municipal elections *2014 French municipal elections, 2014 election: 39.19% for Jean-Michel Houllegatte (PS), 34.06% for David Margueritte (UMP), 15.56% for Jean Levallois (Miscellaneous DVD), 11.17% for Ralph Lejamtel (Left Front (France), FG), 52.28% participation. *2008 French municipal elections, 2008 election: 66.82% for Bernard Cazeneuve (PS), 19.64% for (UMP), 13.55% for Hervé Corbin (dissident UMP), 55.48% of participation. *2001 French municipal elections, 2001 election: 55.09% for Bernard Cazeneuve, 23.98% for Jean Lemière, 55.57% participation. Referendums *2005 French European Constitution referendum, 2005 European Constitution referendum: 43.39% for Yes, 56.61% for No, 68.95% participation. *Local referendum on the Grand Cherbourg: Cherbourg 83.72% for Yes; Octeville 55.88% for Yes.

List of mayors

With the merging of the municipal councils of Cherbourg and Octeville on 1 March 2000, Jean-Pierre Godefroy (PS), the Mayor of Cherbourg, took the helm of the new administration, and Bernard Cazeneuve (PS), Mayor of Octeville, became the first Deputy. Bernard Cazeneuve was elected Mayor of Cherbourg-Octeville during the 2001 French municipal elections, 2001 municipal election, and re-elected in March 2008 with 66.82% of the vote. Appointed Minister Delegate for European Affairs in May 2012, he gave way to Jean-Michel Houllegatte the following month. The latter was re-elected following the victory of his list with 51.81% at the second round of the 2014 French municipal elections, 2014 municipal election.

Municipal administration

The City council (France), municipal council is composed of 39 members including the mayor and eleven assistants. Thirty Councillors represent a leftist majority, nine represent the opposition.

Budget

The main initial budget for 2007 amounted to €73,994,364, divided between the operating section (€54,126,712) and investment section (€19,867,652). Personnel expenses exceeded half (60%) of operating expenses. Almost all of the resources were fuelled by grants (49%) and tax (44%). Of the seven budgets of the municipal mandate (2001-2007), this budget increased overall by 22% (43% for investments, 15% for operation). The investment budget is included in the multiannual programme "Unite the city" (2003-2007), presented in December 2002 by Bernard Cazeneuve. It sees a transformation of the newly amalgamated city through refurbishment of the pool and Port Chantereyne, development of the Bassins zone, filling the retaining channel, and the construction of the sailing school. It is mainly financed by borrowing, increasing the debt of the city (the charges multiplied by two-thirds between 2002 and 2007), lower than the average per capita of the stratum.

International relations

Cherbourg is Twin towns and sister cities, twinned with: * Poole, United Kingdom, since 1977 * Bremerhaven, Germany * Deva, Romania, Deva, Romania * , Senegal, since 2013 Cherbourg maintains decentralised co-operation with: * Sarh, Chad, since 2001 * Coubalan, Senegal, since 1995 * Veles, North Macedonia, Veles, North Macedonia Twinning projects: * Hann, Senegal, Hann, Senegal, a quarter of Dakar * La Unión, Copán, La Unión, Honduras * Kalaat M'Gouna, Morocco

Justice

Louis XVI removed the viscountcy of Cherbourg by edict in November 1771, and transferred the rights of justice to the Bailiwick of Valognes. In 1785, a was created, however it was smaller than the Viscountcy, essentially covering

, as far as Héauville and included Helleville, Tourlaville, and Bretteville, Digosville and Martinvast, and always under the authority of the electoral district of Valognes. Cherbourg became a town and district in January 1790, seat of a justice of the peace and a civil and criminal court. Under the Directory, they were replaced by a simple police court, attended by a justice of the peace, and a police correctional court. The correctional court closed after the Act of 17 February 1800 and Cherbourg was made a town and township of the . After his arrival in the city, Napoleon established a Trial court, Court of first instance by the Decree of 19 July 1811. The city is today one of the three main judicial hubs of Manche, along with Coutances and Avranches. It hosts a (arrondissement of Cherbourg-Octeville), a Tribunal d'instance, court (Canton of Beaumont-Hague, Cherbourg-Octeville-Nord-Ouest, Cherbourg-Octeville-Sud-Est, Équeurdreville-Hainneville, Cherbourg-Octeville-Sud-Ouest, Les Pieux, Saint-Pierre-Eglise and Tourlaville), a Labour Court (France), council of tribunals and a Tribunal de commerce, tribunal of commerce. A Maison d'arrêt, remand prison is located in the city centre, behind the buildings of the court. As a result of the justice reform presented in 2007 by Rachida Dati, the jurisdiction of the Court of Valognes will be integrated to that of Cherbourg.

Local life

Education

Two have been defined, one being on Cherbourg territory in the Quarter of Maupas, the other straddling Cherbourg and Octeville, in the quarter of the Provinces. Cherbourg-Octeville has six high schools: *The former college, which became high school in 1886, is known by the name of Lycée Victor Grignard (830 students: General and TSG, as well as ). *The Lycée Jean-François Millet (1,210 students: General sector, preparatory health, Khâgne, preparatory literary classes). *The Lycée Alexis de Tocqueville (1,480 students: General sector, technical, professional and higher education -BTS-). *The Ingénieur-Cachin private professional high school (320 students). *The Thomas Hélye private high school, the Sainte-Chantal private lycée and the La Bucaille technological lycée (1,005 students, courses) general and technical. *The aquaculture and marine high school (102 pupils). On 28 June 2013, this became the professional maritime and aquaculture lycée . The university campus, installed on the heights of Octeville, focuses the Cherbourg School of Engineering, the IUT Cherbourg-Manche (which hosts approximately 1,000 students in initial or continuing education through four DUT departments, four pro licenses, one DU, a DCEF and a DAEU), as well as two branches of the University of Caen Lower Normandy, University of Caen (UFR sciences and UFR modern foreign languages). The Pasteur hospital houses the Institute of training in nursing of Cherbourg-Octeville. The Group FIM, training service of the two chamber of commerce, chambers of commerce and industry of la Mancha, manages the school of trade and distribution, and since 2007, the Institute of promotion and marketing boating, forming alternating a fortnight of accreditation in the field of boating (shipbuilding, nautical services company, marinas, etc.). The Institute of the Film Industry of Normandy is installed as a result of the École Internationale de Création Audiovisuelle et de Réalisation, International School of Audiovisual Creation and Realisation (EICAR) on the site of the former . It is complemented by the training of apprentices of the Performing Arts and Audiovisual Centre, while the (Esbaco), founded in 1912 by Henri Buffet design Professor and Professor of modelling Félix Delteil, is located in the former convent of the Little Sisters of the Poor (Bassins zone) since 1976. Cherbourg-Octeville welcomes the (EAMEA, 351 students) and the Institut national des sciences et techniques nucléaires, National Institute of Science and Nuclear Technology - remains of the importance of the army in the city - while the School of the Quartermasters (between 600 and 700 students) is located at

Querqueville Querqueville () is a former commune in the Manche department in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin.Tourlaville Tourlaville () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin. Cherbourg-Octeville has two hospitals: *The Pasteur Central Hospital, public, second establishment of Lower Normandy with 711 beds and places. With a joint medical project since 2001 and a communal direction since 2003, the Pasteur Centre and the Central Hospital of Valognes merged in 2006 within the (2,000 officials, more than 1,000 beds, and a 2005 budget of €133 million) *The Polyclinic of the Cotentin, at the border between Octeville and

Équeurdreville-Hainneville Équeurdreville-Hainneville () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin.Urville-Nacqueville Urville-Nacqueville () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune La Hague. It is an amalgam of two pre-existing villages, which were both heavily damage ...

, and those of the former Communauté de communes de la Saire, and the Communauté de communes de Douve et Divette. To this date, it is merged to the deanery of

, to become the , therefore adding the parishes covering the and of Communauté de communes des Pieux, Les Pieux. Jean-XXIII parish unites Cherbourg and La Glacerie, with the Cherbourg churches of La Trinité (long only parish church), Notre-Dame-du-Roule, Notre-Dame-du-Vœu, St-Jean-des-Carrières and Saint-Clément. The parish of Saint-Sauveur of Octeville, which also covers

has three sites in the commune: Saint-Martin, the historic site, Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul, at Provinces, and the Chapel of Saint-Barthélemy. Protestants have a temple of the Reformed Church of France, Reformed Church (since 1835, rebuilt after the war in 1964), and a Pentecostalism, Pentecostal Evangelicalism, Evangelical church affiliated with the Assemblies of God. The Evangelical Baptists, Baptist Church has been present since 1985 in the agglomeration and is currently located in Tourlaville. Cherbourg and Octeville experienced two major waves of immigration of Islam, Muslim population, the late 1950s and during the 1960s, after the construction of the neighbourhoods of Amont-Quentin, Provinces and Maupas, and then in the 1980s, with the major construction sites of the La Hague site, La Hague reprocessing site and the Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant. The Muslim community then opened three mosques (the Mosque of Omar in Octeville, the Mosque de la Gare, on the ''Avenue de Normandie'', and then the Turkish mosque, on the ''Boulevard de l’Atlantique''). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Parish of Cherbourg, has its chapel on the ''Rue du Commerce''.

Personalities linked to the commune

Natives of Cherbourg

* Masseot Abaquesne (–1564), ceramicist * Jean Nicolet (1598–1642), explorer of New France * Philippe Mius d'Entremont (c. 1601 – c. 1700), Baron of Pobomcoup and coloniser * Jean Hamon (doctor), Jean Hamon (1618–1687), medical doctor and Solitaires of Port-Royal, solitaire of Port-Royal ; * (1626–1705), brigadier of the Armies of the King under Louis XIV of France, Louis XIV, Governor of the Hôtel des Invalides * , known as ''Du Bocage'' ( 1658), French corsair then vice-admiral of Brazil * Jean-Baptiste-Charles-Marie de Beauvais, Jean Baptiste de Beauvais (1731–1790), preacher and representative to the Estates General of 1789 * , (1746–1819), lawyer at the Parlement de Normandie, Parlement of Rouen, and author of works of law * Amable Troude (1762–1824), General of the Empire * (1780–1854), botanist * (1791–1872), sailor * Lizinska de Mirbel (1796–1849), miniaturist * (1809–1876), engineer * (1810–1859), politician, musician * (1816–1885), founder of the ''Fondation Vallée'', for mentally retarded children in Gentilly, Val-de-Marne, Gentilly * Joachim Menant (1820–1899), Assyriology, Assyriologist * Emmanuel Liais (1826–1900), astronomer and mayor of Cherbourg * Alfred-Alexandre Quentin (1827–1895), trombonist * (1841–1926), songwriter in the Norman language * Georges Sorel (1847–1922), political thinker * (b. 1854), writer * Henry Moret (1856–1913), painter of the Pont-Aven School * (1871–1959), colonel, eminent specialist in Meiji period Japan * Victor Grignard (1871–1935), Nobel chemist laureate of the Nobel Prize in 1912 * Lortac (1884–1973), writer and French pioneer of animated cartoons * Joseph Noyon (1888–1962), compositeur, arrangeur (' [Hymn to the night], ''Il est né le divin enfant'' [He is born the divine child]) * (1890–1968), Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rabat, Archbishop of Rabat * Félix Amiot (1894–1974), aircraft builder and creator of Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie (CMN) * (1907–2002) and Paul-Louis Halley (1934-2003), founders of the Promodès Group * (1908–1976), biologist and zoologist * (1908–1952), member of the Resistance Jean Marais by van Vechten, 1947

* Jean Marais (1913–1998), actor and stuntman * Roland Barthes (1915–1980), Semiotics, semiologist * Jean-Charles Tacchella (b. 1925), filmmaker, author of ''Cousin Cousine'' (1975) ; * (b. 1925), journaliste, former television news presenter, and politician * Annie Saumont (b. 1927), writer, laureate of the in 1981 * Jacques Rouxel (animator), Jacques Rouxel (1931–2004), animator, creator of ''Les Shadoks'' * Michel Besnier (b 1945), writer * (1945–1994), singer who has imported the madison (dance), madison into France in the 1960s * (b. 1951), poet * (b 1951), writer * (b 1956), sailor * Élisabeth Ballet (b 1957), sculptor * (b 1958), oceanographer * (b 1959), Bishop of Langres * Rosette (actress), Rosette (b 1959), film actress * (b 1963), writer and illustrator * (b 1968), footballer * (b 1968), rugby player * Françoiz Breut (b 1969), singer * (b 1971), television presenter * Émilie Loit (b 1979), tennis player * (b 1982), comedian * Amaël Moinard (b 1982), cyclist * Élodie Godin (b 1985), basketball player * Lise de la Salle (b 1988), pianist * Ernst Umhauer (b 1989), actor

Natives of Octeville

* (1897–1975), prefect and French politician.

Died in Cherbourg

* (1803–1879), historian and poet. * Prosper Payerne (1806–1886), physician, scientist and inventor. * Armand Le Véel (1821–1905), statue sculptor. * (1813–1892), Rear Admiral. * Jean-Charles-Alexandre Sallandrouze de Lamornaix (1840–1899), Admiral, Commander in Chief of the Squadron of the North, died in harbour on the battleship French ironclad Formidable, ''Formidable''. * Louis Corbière (1850–1941), botanist. * Heinz Hellmich (1890 – 17 June 1944) German General who served in the German Army (Wehrmacht), Wehrmacht during World War II. * (1912–2003), one of the negotiators of the Évian Accords for the abandonment of French Algeria * (1925–2006), politician, deputy mayor of Cherbourg

Others linked to Cherbourg

The work of the seawall and the military port in Cherbourg led many soldiers and engineers, for whom this step was often an important moment in their career. Thus, Charles François Dumouriez (1739–1823), Governor of Cherbourg who was responsible for the first work, at the dawn of the French Revolution, Joseph Cachin (1757–1825), engineer assigned by Napoleon to the general direction of the maritime work of Cherbourg in 1804. For twenty years, he realised the improvement of the commercial port, and the digging of the docks of the Cherbourg Naval Base, military port, constituting the New Arsenal. Henri Rieunier (1833–1918) who was twice major of the Navy in Cherbourg (1872/1875) and Louis-Émile Bertin (1840–1924) who lived in Cherbourg from 1863 to 1879, and is buried in the cemetery of

La Glacerie La Glacerie （） is a former commune in the Manche department in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin.

Culture and heritage

Cultural facilities

With Caen, Cherbourg-Octeville is the main cultural centre of Lower Normandy. The city is the seat of several Learned society, learned societies, including the founded in 1755, formed in 1851, and the Artistic and Industrial society of Cherbourg, incorporated in 1871. The creation and dissemination of the performing arts are ensured by the Le Trident (theatre), ''Trident'', of Italian theatre, the theatre of Octeville and the ''Vox''. Amateur theatre is celebrated by ''Les Téméraires''. The ''vocation prioritaire du Centre régional des arts du cirque'' [Priority Mission of the Regional Centre of Circus Arts] (CRAC) of La Brèche, opened in October 2006, is the residence of circus troops, but instead also offers programming for the public. CRAC participates in the festival of street arts, ''Charivarue''. In addition, the provision of artistic education is rich, with the Film Industry Institute of Normandy, the school of fine arts and the municipal music school, labelled as a conservatory for communal influence, which has 800 registrants. After the closure of ''Ultrasound'' in

Équeurdreville-Hainneville Équeurdreville-Hainneville () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin. The Great Hall of the Cité de la Mer, with a space for over 6,000 people, has hosted several concerts, but it is primarily dedicated to the organisation of fairs and exhibitions. Today, the main welcoming complex of large-scale concerts is the Jean-Jaurès Centre of Équeurdreville-Hainneville. Octeville has retained its patronal festival, the Sainte-Échelle, with holiday fair and parades. Cherbourg restarted its carnival in the 1980s, heir of the , similar to that of Rouen and Évreux.

Museums

Cherbourg has several museums. The former home of Emmanuel Liais, mayor of Cherbourg, astronomer and explorer, houses since 1905 the Museum of Natural History and Ethnography, the oldest museum in Cherbourg (founded in 1832), with curio cabinet, collection of stuffed animals, fossils, minerals and ethnographic objects (Egypt, Asia, Oceania, America and Africa), archaeological treasures and library science. It is also the headquarters of the . The Musée Thomas-Henry, Thomas-Henry Fine Arts Museum, named after Thomas Henry (patron of the arts), its first patron, was inaugurated in 1835 and is now the third collection of Normandy with 300 paintings and sculptures from the 15th to the 20th century. Located in the cultural centre, at the back of the theatre, it presents paintings by French, Flemish, Spanish and Italian artists, as well as sculptures. Presentations of works by Fra Angelico, Simon Vouet, Camille Claudel, and one of the largest collections of works by Jean-François Millet, as well as paintings by Guillaume Fouace native of Réville or the Navy painters. Sculptures by Armand Le Véel are also included. The Museum of the War and the Liberation, the first of its kind when it was inaugurated by René Coty on 6 June 1954, traces the daily life of Cherbourg civilians during the Occupation and the course of the Liberation of Cotentin, particularly the Battle of Cherbourg. It is installed in the Fort du Roule, centrepiece of the defence of Cherbourg taken by the Americans on 25 June 1944 . The Cité de la Mer, is a large museum devoted to scientific and historical aspects of maritime subjects. Dedicated to oceanographic exploration, it is a complex installed since 2003 in a part of the remains of the old transatlantic station. It offers giant aquariums, a collection of underwater vehicles, such as those of Compagnie maritime d'expertises, COMEX, the bathyscaphe ''Archimède'' and French submarine Redoutable (S611), ''Redoutable'', the first French Ballistic missile submarine, SSBN built in Cherbourg, fully open to the public. The , a unique contemporary art centre in France, dedicated to photography, was inaugurated in the Bassin zone in November 2008.

Literature

The Jacques Prévert Municipal Library, founded in 1831 and opened in 1832, holds the second largest collection in the region, after that of Caen. The purchase of the library of the local scholar Henri-François Duchevreuil, in 1830, complements the 1,855 volumes of the district's library, created at 24 ''Rue Tour-Carrée'', in application of the decree of the Convention of 8 pluviôse year II and composed essentially of works seized from emigrants and deportees. Several donations were then made, including a legacy of 3,000 works by in 1844 (with twenty-six Incunable, incunabula and a ninth-century manuscript The Jewish War, ''De bello iudaico'' [The Jewish War] of Josephus, Flavius Josephus, which remains the oldest document in the library) and a gift in 1877 from Jérôme-Frédéric Bignon, Mayor of Le Rozel and heir to the king's librarians. It also has a Norman fonds, an old fonds devoted to botany and another to travel. Housed in a wing of the City Hall in 1855, and then at 9 ''Rue Thiers'' (''Rue Talluau'') from 1896, the library moved into the cultural centre in June 1981, taking the name of Jacques Prévert, who had died four years earlier in

. The library also participates in the ''Normannia'' project of the Norman digital library. The former barracks of the Abbey, dating back to the start of the works of the large dam in 18th-century, has housed one of the five regional centres of history of the National Navy, alongside Brest, France, Brest, Lorient, Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, Rochefort and Toulon, since 1970. The archives of the maritime district of the English Channel, Channel and the North Sea are grouped here, and the library of the Navy founded in 1836 in Cherbourg and specialising in maritime history with its 23,000 works. Each year, a network of writing workshops are organised in the metropolitan area, the ''Mercurielles'', and the Festival of the Book and of Youth Comic Books (since 1987). The Biennial of the 9th Art exhibits the works of comics, comic cartoonists (Enki Bilal in 2002, François Schuiten and Benoît Peeters in 2004, André Juillard in 2006, and Jacques de Loustal, Loustal in 2008). In 2002, with the support of the City Hall of Cherbourg, Enki Bilal had planned to create a mural in the old ''gare maritime'' to represent the history of migration in the place; This project was rejected on the basis of an official complaint by , president of the and the Cité de la Mer. Cherbourg-Octeville is the seat of two publishing houses, ''Isoète'' founded in 1985 and established in 1996.

Cherbourg-Octeville in literature

*Honoré de Balzac cites the engineer Joseph Cachin, constructor of the port of Cherbourg, among the men of genius in ''Le Curé de village'' [The Village Priest] and ''La Duchesse de Langeais'' [The Duchess of Langeais]. Cherbourg is also present in ''Le Réquisitionnaire'' [The Recruit]. *Octave Mirbeau, The Diary of a Chambermaid (novel), ''Le Journal d'une femme de chambre'' [The Diary of a Chambermaid], 1900: In the final chapter, Celestine became the owner of a cafe in Cherbourg *Remy de Gourmont, ''Un cœur virginal'' [A Virginal Heart], 1907 *Ernest Psichari, ''L'Appel des armes'' [The Call to Arms], 1913 *Gilles Rosset, ''Le Vent dominant'' [The Prevailing Wind], Grasset, 1979 *Alexis Salatko, ''Vingt deux nuances de gris'' [Twenty-two Shades of Grey], 1990 *Jean-Philippe Arrou-Vignod, ''L’omelette au sucre'' [The Omelette with Sugar], Gallimard, Folio Junior, 1999 *Robert Sinsoilliez, ''Une balle pour rien à Cherbourg'' [A Bullet for Nothing to Cherbourg], 2000 * * Ken Follett's novel ''The Pillars of the Earth'' features Cherbourg as the hometown of Jacques Cherbourg, a Frenchman washed ashore in England during the European Middle Ages. His son, Jack Jackson, travels to France as an adult and meets his father's family in Cherbourg. * Kimberly Brubaker Bradley set her novel, ''For Freedom: The Story of a French Spy'' in Cherbourg. The narrator, Suzanne Hall (née David), is a spy for the French Resistance. * Cherbourg (or to be precise its analog in the Lord Darcy (character), Lord Darcy universe) is the setting for Randall Garrett's short story "A Case of Identity" and is part of the backdrop for his novel ''Too Many Magicians''.

Cinema

The cinema occupies a significant place in the life of Cherbourg. Many classics of French cinema have been filmed there, such as ''La Marie du port'' directed by Marcel Carné and starring Jean Gabin. In 1981, Claude Miller also located the action film ''Garde à Vue'' there, though shot in the studio. However, the most emblematic is undoubtedly ''The Umbrellas of Cherbourg'' directed by Jacques Demy, a story about Madame Emery and her 17-year-old daughter Geneviève (Catherine Deneuve) who sell umbrellas at their tiny boutique. The film was shot in the summer of 1963, and still contributes to the international renown of the city. Yet long before, at the time of the splendor of the transatlantic liners, Cherbourg was a port of arrival, departure or transit for many stars, including Charlie Chaplin and Burt Lancaster, etc. The city was also birthplace of the filmmaker Jean-Charles Tacchella and the actor Jean Marais. , the Cinemovida (festival of the cinema of Spain and Latin America), and Images d'Outre-Rhin (German cinema), as well as Cin'étoiles, screenings of films outdoors in July, animate the local cultural life. In 2003, the École Internationale de Création Audiovisuelle et de Réalisation, EICAR film school was located in the old buildings of the . After three years of loss and liabilities estimated at €1.5 million, it was placed into liquidation in September 2006 and replaced the following month, under the leadership of elders of its teachers by the Institut des métiers du cinéma de Normandie (IMC Normandie) that itself closed its doors in 2011. The city has a fleet of 17 permanent cinema rooms, distributed over two sites, including one labelled as ''Art et essai'' (Revival house). *''Odéon'' (5 rooms) Following the opening of the Multiplex (movie theater), multiplex, the withdrawal of the , which operated ''Club 6'' (''Rue de la Paix'') since 1983 and the ''Odeon'' (''Rue Foch'') since 1991, resulted in the closure in 2004 of the first and the revival of the latter city centre cinema, labelled as ''Revival house, Art et essai'' by Fadila Chambelland, the former manager. The cinema had 90,000 admissions in 2006. The damaged façade of the old cafe of the Grand balcon, which then became ''Le Central'' cinema, is in the style of the Second Empire, with caryatids and garlands of flowers. *''Méga CGR'' (12 rooms) Opened in 2003 near the ''boulevard maritime'' with 2,557 seats; 400,000 admissions in 2006. *''Omnia'' (1 room) The historic cinema operated by Pathé, located on the ''Rue de la Paix'', it was bought in the 1990s by the municipality and no longer welcomes any more than rare events. The interior frescoes of R. Lecoq, representing Aeolus and Vulcan (mythology), Vulcan, were distinguished in 2006 by the label "20th century heritage" of the Ministry of Culture (France), Ministry of Culture. Several cinemas have disappeared, such as the ''Eldorado'' (destroyed, ''Place de la Republique''), the ''Eden'' (''Rue Cachin''), the ''Vox'' (former patronage room which became a second room of Le Trident (theatre)), and the ''Saint-Joseph'' (''Rue des Ormes''), etc.

Films shot in Cherbourg

*''Le p'tit Parigot'' (1926), by René Le Somptier *''La Marie du port'' (1950), by Marcel Carné, with Jean Gabin *''The Umbrellas of Cherbourg'' (1964), by Jacques Demy, starring Catherine Deneuve *''La Course à l'échalote'' (1975), directed by Claude Zidi, with Pierre Richard and Jane Birkin *''Roads to the South'' (1978), Joseph Losey, with Yves Montand *''The Green Ray (film), The Green Ray'' (1986) of Éric Rohmer * (2005), directed in part at the EICAR-Cherbourg *''La Boîte noire'' (2005), by Richard Berry (actor), Richard Berry *''Lili and the baobab'' (2006), Peter and Sloane, Chantal Richard, with Romane Bohringer *''Rumba (2008 film), Rumba'' (2008) Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon, Fiona Gordon, Dominique Abel, , etc. *''Love Me No More (film), Love Me No More'' (2008), by Jean Becker (director), Jean Becker, with Albert Dupontel *''Q (2011 film), Q'' (2011), by Laurent Bouhnik

Language

The Cherbourg population spoke ''le haguais'', a variant of Cotentinais Norman language, Norman, while having some specifics regarding the pronunciation of certain words. In Cotentinais Norman, Cherbourg is called ''Tchidbouo'' and Octeville, ''Otteville'' . Their inhabitants are the ''Tchidbouorqŭais'' and the ''Ottevillais'' and . While French was necessary in Rouen in the 19th century, Norman remained widely used from Cherbourg to Caen, up to the First World War. was the leading local figure of the dialect authors of the 19th century. He published his ''Chansonnettes normandes'', among which ''Sus la mé'' became an anthem of the

. At that time, was critical of its approximate spelling and poor mastery of the language. Various actors are now trying to promote the local use of the Norman. The Alfred Rossel society makes live folklore and language. ''Le Boué-jaun'' a Cherbourg-based magazine, published his texts in Norman, and one of three popular Norman universities is based here.

Gastronomy

A large fishing port, Cherbourg-Octeville offers a wide variety of fish (Yellowtail (fish), yellowtail, European seabass, bar, plaice, mackerel, Batoidea, rays, red mullet, pollock, lemon sole, small-spotted catshark, etc.), crustaceans (Cancer pagurus, brown crab, Majoidea, spider crab, Homarus, lobster) and shellfish (Pecten maximus, Saint-Jacques, scallops, mussels), caught off the coast of the Cotentin peninsula. The so-called are small lobsters. Cherbourg is also located near three oyster areas (Blainville-sur-Mer, Blainville, Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue, Saint-Vaast and Isigny-sur-Mer, Isigny). The most traditional preparation is the . Alexandre Dumas also presented the recipe of the ''"queue de merlan à la mode de Cherbourg "'' [tail of whiting in the Cherbourg manner], with butter and oysters. From 1464, the bakers of Cherbourg held Royal permission to develop their breads based on seawater, thus avoiding paying for the salt and the ''gabelle'' [salt tax]. On the occasion of the visit of Napoleon, they would have created folded bread, country bread ball, oval, which is folded back on itself to be cooked, thus offering a tighter bicorn-shaped sandwich which came to be called ''"pain Napoléon"'' [Napoleon bread]. Fleury indicated that at the beginning of the 19th century, the principal food of Nord-Cotentin was barley bread, buckwheat porridge and pork-based products, and on feast days, the ''galette'', a "type of dough composed of buckwheat flour, milk and eggs, and cooked in a thin film on the tile with butter", watered, of course, with cider. The agglomeration is located in the Appellation d'origine contrôlée, AOC areas of the Pont-l'Évêque cheese, Pont-l'Évêque and of the as well as being partially within the Calvados, and the cider of Normandy. It also benefits from the Geographical indications and traditional specialities in the European Union, IGP of the cider of Normandy, Normandy pork and . More broadly, the kitchen of Nord-Cotentin is , in which dairy products (butter, cream, milk, cheese, etc.) and apples (as fruit or alcohol) dominate. Since 2010, the restaurant ''le Pily'', of the Valognes restaurateur Pierre Marion, holds a star in the Michelin Guide.

Heritage

Civil monuments

The Le Trident (theatre), Italian Theatre is one of the last Theater (building), Italian theatres built in France (1880). Opened in 1882, it was built on the plans of , on the site of the grain trade, grain market. The façade pays homage to Molière, François-Adrien Boieldieu, Boieldieu and Pierre Corneille, Corneille. It has been classified a historical monument since 1984 with its two side returns and corresponding roofing; also classified are the vestibule, the grand staircase, the hall and foyer, as well as the 13 original decorations. The ceiling is the work of Georges Clairin. With three galleries, it accommodates up to 600 spectators. The Mouchel Fountain, named after the patron and director of the journal ''Le Phare de la Manche'', stands at the centre of the ''Place Général-de-Gaulle''. A monumental fountain in cast iron, it was created by Louis Eugène Gutelle in 1895. The Hotel Epron de la Horie (named after the Vice Admiral and Marine Minister Louis-Jacques Epron de la Horie, Jacques Epron de la Horie, owner under the first Empire) or ancient customs is located at the corner of ''Rue de Val-de-Saire'' and the wharf of the Old Arsenal. Built in 1781 by Jacques Martin Maurice, "contractor of the King's works" in

(cover and body of the building) and red brick (window frames), registered as a historical monument since 16 February 1965. Successively barracks of the Swiss, auxiliary Hospital of the work of the harbour, home of shipowners Richer, Cousin, Despréaux and Lias in the 19th century and a customs house during the interwar period, it is now the headquarters of the Groupe Caisse d'Épargne. The former Gare Maritime de Cherbourg is the largest French Art Deco monument. Built by from 1928 and inaugurated in 1933 by Albert François Lebrun, President Lebrun, it could accommodate two ships simultaneously. Listed as an Monument historique, historical monument in 1989 and 2000, it was redeveloped in 2002 to become an oceanographic complex, the Cité de la Mer, where one can visit the Redoutable-class submarine (1967), ''Le Redoutable'', and host since December 2006 of a cruise terminal. The ''hôtel Atlantique'' [Atlantic Hotel], opposite the maritime station, was also built by , in iron and cement and in the Art Deco style, for the three transatlantic companies which served Cherbourg, the Cunard Line, the White Star Line and the Red Star Line, grouped into the ''Société anonyme de l’Hôtel Atlantique''. It hosted on the emigrants (third class passengers), mainly from Eastern Europe, who stayed there for an average of 12 days to undergo sanitary and customs controls. The building thus included a section for infected and a section for disinfected with a capacity of 2,000 people. Begun in 1920, opened in 1926, it closed eight years later. Requisitioned under the Occupation and Liberation, it was bought by Félix Amiot to accommodate some of its shipyard employees. It has hosted the services of the since 1991. The central pavilion is included in the inventory of historic monuments since October 2001. Statues of Themis and Minerva, Roman goddesses of justice and war respectively, of Jean-Antoine Houdon, Houdon and Philippe-Laurent Roland, Roland and which were stored in the courtyard of the Palais Bourbon during their replacement on the frontispiece of the Chamber of Deputies by casts during the renovation of the façade, were available to the city in June 1989, through , Minister of Tourism, and President of the ''Communauté urbaine de Cherbourg'' [Urban community of Cherbourg]. After restoration by Pierre Bataille of Poclain, they were each placed in 1990 and 1993 on a roundabout, the ''Minerva'' of Philippe-Laurent Roland, near the Cité de la Mer, the ''Themis'' of Jean-Antoine Houdon at the foot of the Montagne du Roule. Carved around 1810, they have been classified as historic monuments since June 1990. The town hall was built at the beginning of the 19th century; It was enlarged twice, first in 1850 by a south-west wing forming an L-shape with the first building, and then under the Second French Empire, Second Empire (salon of the Empress), and reworked after the Liberation. Inside, a staircase serves the Grand Lounge and the lounge of the Empress, which houses portraits of Napoleon III and Eugénie by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Winterhalter, with - between the two – a rotunda room for the paintings of Michel-Adrien Servant recalling the major events in the history of the city. Since 1858, the Council Chamber contains the 16th century chimney of the abbot's house of the Abbey of Notre-Dame-du-Vœu, purchased by the municipality in 1841 and classified as a historical monument since 1905. The three lounges and the stairs have been registered since 13 August 2004. The , a former regional hospital of the armies of René-Le-Bas, built by a decision of Napoleon III and opened 15 February 1869, it was decommissioned in 2000 and rehabilitated as an academic and cultural centre in 2002. The Second Empire architecture, Napoleon III style buildings are surrounded by a large park. The docks and Port Chantereyne are regularly brought to life by various events: Stopovers of prestigious liners (''Queen Elizabeth 2'', RMS Queen Mary 2, ''Queen Mary 2'', etc.), armada, sailing races and such. The docks were constructed in 1994 with the lighting by Yann Kersalé. The marina, first French port of call, extends beyond the ''Plage Verte'', old beach redeveloped into lawn after the creation of the port. Recreational and leisure facilities are located here (pool, skating rink, bowling, services for boaters, etc.). In the commercial wet dock is the ''Jacques-Louise'', the last wooden trawler built in the shipyards of Cherbourg Bellot in 1959, the former Cherbourg Blue Riband, decommissioned in 1991, registered in 1996, then classified as a historic monument in 1999. A trawler in oak wood of the Orne, designed for lateral fishing off the coast, it has been open to the public since summer 2004.

Memorials

The faces the basilica, on the ''Place Napoléon''. The work of Armand Le Véel, it represents the Emperor contemplating the Cherbourg Harbour, harbour and the Cherbourg Naval Base, military port. On the base, reads an excerpt from the ''Memorial of Sainte-Hélène'', dated 15 July 1816: ''I had resolved to renew to Cherbourg the wonders of Egypt'', i.e. a pyramid with central fort and a new Lake Moeris, for the outer harbour, dug into the rock. The statue, erected in 1858 on the occasion of the visit of Napoleon III, recalls the importance of the Emperor in the expansion of Cherbourg. Around this emblematic monument of the city, registered in August 2006 and classified as an monument historique, historic monument on 31 January 2008, extends the ''Plage verte'', the old artificial beach until the postwar period, which runs along the marina. The monument of the Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry, Duke of Berry, in the ''Place de la République'', commemorates the landing of the son of the future Charles X of France, Charles X, back in France on the British frigate ''Eurotas'' on 13 April 1814, after the fall of the Empire. Completed in 1816, it consists of an obelisk of in pink granite of Flamanville, surmounting a fountain of grey granite, where four bronze lions' heads spew water into a basin dug in the same block. ArmandDeBricqueville

The bust of , on the ''Quai de Caligny'', was inaugurated on 12 May 1850, in homage to the Colonel of the Imperial Dragons and Bonapartist deputy of Cherbourg who died in 1844. This bust of Hermes is a bronze of David d'Angers on a column of granite of the architect Lemelle, on which one can read the name of four battles where Bricqueville is illustrated: Battle of Wagram, Wagram, Battle of Krasnoi, Krasnoi, Siege of Antwerp (1814), Antwerp and Battle of Rocquencourt, Versailles. Two bronze reliefs evoke the military (a sword) and parliamentary (a forum), were melted by the Germans in 1944. The monument has been listed as an Monument historique, historical monument since August 2006. The statue of Jean-François Millet, inaugurated in the on 22 September 1892, for the centenary of the French First Republic, First Republic, honours the "painter of peasants", student at the Museum of Cherbourg. Funded by a subscription launched by the municipality in 1886 and taken over by Parisian circles, the realisation of the marble bust ( high) was entrusted to Henri Chapu; after his death, it was completed by his pupil Jean-Ernest Bouteiller who had assisted him in the allegorical group in bronze ( high) of a peasant woman with her daughter in arms and laying flowers of the fields on the bust, supported on a pedestal and granite rocks ( high, wide, of depth). The monument is inscribed since August 2006. The monument to the dead of the French submarine Surcouf, ''Surcouf'', inaugurated at the end of the marina pier on 23 September 1951 by General de Gaulle, commemorates the memory of 130 sailors from the Free French Naval Forces submarine, built at Cherbourg and which sank on 18 February 1942 in the Pacific.

Military monuments

Cherbourg Harbour is the largest artificial harbour of the world. Begun in 1783, the central wall was completed in 1853 and equipped with three forts in 1860. Built from the coast, the offshore seawall is long, with an average width of at its base and at its peak, and a height of . The three sea walls cover over combined. The fort de l’Île Pelée [fort of Pelée Island], a defensive element to the east of the sea wall, was designed by Ricard and Decaux and built between 1777 and 1784. It was named ''fort Royal, fort National, fort Imperial'', before taking the name of the island on which it was built. It served as a prison during the Revolution. Fort du Roule (Museum of the War and Liberation) is located on the ''Montagne du Roule''. The location in 1650 of the Chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Protection, abandoned during the Revolution, razed in 1870, this highest point of the city [] welcomed a redoubt to protect the harbour in 1793. In 1853, the present fort was built. The place of the last fighting in 1940, it was reinforced by the Germans in 1943 with a battery located on the hillside overlooking the harbour, below the fort. Composed of four casemates for guns and a position for the direction of firing, with several tunnels and access dug into the rock, for the Germans it became the strong point of the ''fortresse de Cherbourg'' and of the Atlantic Wall. On 6 June 1954, René Coty inaugurated the first French Museum of Liberation there. At the end of a winding road named ''chemin des Résistants'' [Path of Resistants], the fort offers a panoramic view of the city and the harbour. The battery and a part of the German ammunition storage tunnels were classified as a historic monument in 1995, and another part is converted into an underground laboratory for measurement of radioactivity for the school of military application of atomic energy.

Religious monuments

FranceNormandieCherbourgBasiliqueTrinite

The was founded in 1145, on the coast of Équeurdreville-Hainneville, Équeurdreville, at the ''Croûte du Homet'', by Empress Matilda. Located outside the city walls, it was regularly looted and burned during the incessant Anglo-French battles, then during the French Wars of Religion, Wars of Religion. Subject to the regime of a commendatory abbot in 1583, it declined until its closure in 1774. Its lands were annexed in 1778 for the construction of the Cherbourg Naval Base, military port, and it became the residence of the François-Henri d'Harcourt, Duke of Harcourt, who sheltered the King in 1786. The place was then transformed into a hospital, into a Bagne de Cherbourg, prison, and into the Martin des Pallières Barracks for the Marines, marine infantry. The company town of Chantereyne was built in 1928, until its destruction in June 1944. Bought by the Town Hall in 1961, the Abbey has been slowly restored since 1965. The smokestack of the Abbey House (16th century) is kept in the council room of the city hall, the west portal of the Church (13th century) is placed in the . The remains of Martin des Pallières barracks were classified in 1913, then all of the buildings, remains and soil of the abbey, in September 2002. The grave slab of Guillaume de Margerai, priest of

Querqueville Querqueville () is a former commune in the Manche department in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin. The Church of Saint-Clément was built within the quarter of the Val-de-Saire, facing the Pasteur hospital, between June 1853 and 1856 by the architect of the city, Geufroy. long, it is of Greco-Roman inspiration, with a porch in the triangular pediment supported by four columns with Doric order, Doric Capital (architecture), capitals. It houses the altars of the Virgin (1863) by François Fréret and Saint-Clément (1864) by Louis-Victor Fréret, acquired from the Basilica of Sainte-Trinité in 1846, an organ (1881), painting of the twelve apostles (1935) the Rock of Césigné and stained glass (1953) of Mauméjean. The Church of Saint-Pierre and Saint-Paul, on the area of Octeville, was built between 1967 and 1969 while the "grand ensemble" of Provinces was born. The triangular and irregular modern architecture of Paul Vimond symbolises "the tent of God in among the houses of men", a sacred art inspired by the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). Another Church was built on Octeville during those years: The Church of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine-Postel opened in 1966 in the quarter of Fourches and decommissioned in 1990. The Church of Saint-Martin of Octeville, dating from the 12th century, is the historic parish church of Octeville which depended on the . Romanesque, it has an octagonal . The nave was remodelled in the 18th century. A relief depicting the Last Supper has been classified as a historic monument since 1908.

Military life

During the Middle Ages, Cherbourg, a stronghold of the Cotentin peninsula, was home to a small garrison for the protection of the fortress. With the implementation of the harbour and military port, Cherbourg became a port of war at the end of the 18th century, with a large garrison. In 1798, it had 1,332 men, or a tenth of the population, divided mainly between the barracks of the Abbey, current historical Service of the Navy, which housed 542 men of the 4th brigade and the Maurice Quarter, in the ''Hôtel Epron de la Horie'', home to 227 men. Numbers were brought to 3,000 men for the completion of the work, by a decree of germinal year XI. During the 20th century, Cherbourg, a strategic point during both world wars, adapted to new threats. It then hosted a large garrison of the Navy, an artillery regiment and a ''Hôpital des Armées'' known locally as "marine hospital". In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the presence of the army weakened by the transfer of the northern fleet to Brest and the closure of the maritime hospital renamed René-Le-Bas. Yet Cherbourg remained a base of the first order of the French Navy, National Navy, as the seat of the and of the Maritime Gendarmerie grouping of Manche. The naval base is the homeport of five patrol vessels of the Navy and the coastguard, group of the clearance divers sleeve and its building-base the Vulcain (M611), ''Vulcain'', the tug ''Abeille Liberté'' and various support vessels. It is also the headquarters of the Operational Training of Surveillance and Territorial Information of Cherbourg (Cherbourg FOSIT) which brings together thirteen semaphores and the lookout of the maritime district. In addition, a flotilla 35 F Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin, Dauphin helicopter is based at Cherbourg – Maupertus Airport. The operation of the military port is borne by the directions of the Commissioner of the Navy, maritime works and information systems of the Navy, as well as the branch of the support service of the fleet and the military workshop of the Cherbourg fleet. Cherbourg is also a training hub of the armed forces through the (EAMEA), in charge of the joint education of military specialists in material sciences, of techniques and of nuclear safety and the ''École des fourriers de

Querqueville Querqueville () is a former commune in the Manche department in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin.Cherbourg Harbour * History of the French Navy * * * Gare de Cherbourg * Gare Maritime de Cherbourg * Battle of Cherbourg, 1944 * Cité de la Mer * ''Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg)'', a musical film * * Severodvinsk * Groton, Connecticut, Groton

Notes

References

Results of the census of 1999
INSEE

Bibliography

;Published in the 19th century * * * * * * * * * * * ;Published in the 20th century * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

*
Cherbourg on Titanic-Titanic.com
* (English/French/German) * Visit of Queen Victoria to Cherbour
Visit of Queen Victoria
* Photographs of Tsar Nicholas II and famil
visiting Cherbourg
in 1909 from Illustration Magazine. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cherbourg Cherbourg-Octeville Former communes of Manche