Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie () is a

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 ...

in the

Vendée Vendée (; br, Vande) is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.

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

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

Pays de la Loire Pays de la Loire (; ; br, Broioù al Liger) is one of the 18 regions of France, in the west of the mainland. It was created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital, Nantes, one of a handful of "balancing metropolises" (). ...

, western France. It is situated on the

Côte de Lumière The Côte de Lumière ( en, Coast of Light) refers to the seaside resorts located along the coast of the Vendée, France. Communes situated on the coast, from north to south, include: * Noirmoutier-en-l'Ile * Barbâtre * La Barre-de-Monts * Notre ...

. The community originated in 1967 from the unification of two communities on either side of the

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

of the river the

Vie Vie (IPA: /'vi.e/), is a district (or ''quarter''), of Oradea, a city in Bihor, Romania. The name means ''vineyard'' in Romanian. Geography Vie is situated in the hills overlooking Oradea, in the northern part of the town. It spans quite a ...

, Saint-Gilles-sur-Vie and Croix-de-Vie. Known for its important fishing harbor (specializing in

sardine "Sardine" and "pilchard" are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring family Clupeidae. The term "sardine" was first used in English during the early 15th century, a folk etymology says it comes from the Ital ...

s), since 1982 Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie is also classified as a

seaside resort A seaside resort is a resort town, town, village, or hotel that serves as a Resort, vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, suc ...

History

In the ninth century, the monks of Saint-Gilles-du-Gard settled in what was then called ''Sidunum'', a priory and a fortified church. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, the city, organized around the main street (now the Rue Torterue) became an important port, capable of accommodating ships with a capacity of one hundred tons. Croix-de-Vie appeared on the right bank of the Vie, when the Duke of Montausier granted Saint-Gilles plots of land on the "small island" so they could build their homes. In 1610, Marie Beaucaire built the large pier and the wharf and then a chapel from 1611 to 1613. This building was used for worship until the construction of Sainte-Croix Church in 1896 which is used today. In 1622, King

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

spent dinner one night in Croix de Vie, in a mansion located what is now in General de Gaulle street. Although Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie was three hours from

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

and ten hours from Paris, the development of railways from the 1880s increasingly allowed holidaymakers to reach the seaside town. A trade union initiative was created in 1922. On 23 January 1967, Saint-Gilles-sur-Vie and Croix-de-Vie merged to create the new municipality of Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie. The fusion was the idea of Marcel Ragon and Charles Grasset. Ragon became the first mayor of the new municipality while the latter, who had served as deputy mayor of Croix-de-Vie from March 1965 until December 1966, went on to serve under Ragon as deputy mayor of the new municipality until 1995. In 1982, Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie was classified as a resort.

Geography

Location

Situated on the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean, along the

côte de Lumière The Côte de Lumière ( en, Coast of Light) refers to the seaside resorts located along the coast of the Vendée, France. Communes situated on the coast, from north to south, include: * Noirmoutier-en-l'Ile * Barbâtre * La Barre-de-Monts * Notre ...

about 70 kilometres from

, 320 from

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

, 450 from Paris and 600 from

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

,« Venir à Saint Gilles Croix de Vie »
Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie covers an area of 10.3 square kilometres. It is bordered by the

communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, ...

Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez () is a commune in the Vendée department, administrative region of Pays de la Loire, western France. Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez station has rail connections to Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie and Nantes. Population See also *Com ...

to the north,

Le Fenouiller Le Fenouiller () is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. See also *Communes of the Vendée department The following is a list of the 257 communes of the Vendée department of France. The com ...

to the north east,

Givrand Givrand () is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. See also *Communes of the Vendée department The following is a list of the 257 communes of the Vendée department of France. The communes ...

to the southeast, and

Bretignolles-sur-Mer Bretignolles-sur-Mer (, literally ''Bretignolles on Sea''; also ''Brétignolles-sur-Mer'') is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. Population See also *Communes of the Vendée department The ...

to the south.

Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie station Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie is a railway station in Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, Pays de la Loire, France. The station is located on the Commequiers–Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie railway. The station is served by TER (local) services operated by the SN ...

has rail connections to Sainte-Pazanne and Nantes. It was the

chef-lieu An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lux ...

of the former canton of Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, which had an area of hectares and contained 14 communes: L'Aiguillon-sur-Vie,

Brem-sur-Mer Brem-sur-Mer (, literally ''Brem on Sea'') is a commune in the Vendée ''département'' in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. It was created in 1974 by the merger of the former communes of Saint Martin-de-Brem and Saint Nicolas-de-B ...

La Chaize-Giraud La Chaize-Giraud () is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. See also *Communes of the Vendée department The following is a list of the 257 communes of the Vendée department of France. The ...

Coëx Coëx () is a commune of the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. The organist Joseph Joubert (1878–1963) was born in Coëx. Points of interest * Jardin des Olfacties See also *Communes of the Vendée depart ...

Commequiers Commequiers () is a commune of the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. See also *Communes of the Vendée department The following is a list of the 257 communes of the Vendée department of France. The commu ...

Landevieille Landevieille () is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. See also *Communes of the Vendée department The following is a list of the 257 communes of the Vendée department of France. The comm ...

Notre-Dame-de-Riez Notre-Dame-de-Riez () is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. See also *Communes of the Vendée department The following is a list of the 257 communes of the Vendée department of France. Th ...

, Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie,

Saint-Maixent-sur-Vie Saint-Maixent-sur-Vie (, literally ''Saint-Maixent on Vie'') is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. See also *Communes of the Vendée department The following is a list of the 257 communes of ...

and

Saint-Révérend Saint-Révérend () is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. See also *Communes of the Vendée department The following is a list of the 257 communes of the Vendée department of France. The ...

Climate

The meteorological measurements began in 1877 in Saint-Gilles. Catherine Corbin et Franck Baraer (

Météo-France Météo-France is the French national meteorological service. Organisation The organisation was established by decree in June 1993 and is a department of the Ministry of Transportation. It is headquartered in Paris but many domestic operatio ...

)
« Étude des conditions climatiques de la Baie de Bourgneuf »
(PDF) sur le site officiel de l'association pour le développement du bassin versant de la Baie de Bourgneuf, mars 2003, p.4 et 30 The climate of the

Vendée Vendée (; br, Vande) is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.

department is oceanic. The coast experiences significant rainfall in winter and a few storms. Under the influence of the Atlantic Ocean, the climate is cool in summer. However, the Vendée is one of the sunniest departments of France in terms of the energy received, with 1268 kWh per m² per year.

Population

Culture

Religion

The town has two

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

churches (one on either side of the river), the churches of Saint-Gilles et Sainte-Croix. Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie is part of the

diocese of Luçon In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

, which is part of the

Ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United State ...

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

. It is the seat of a

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

of four parishes: Sainte Anne de Riez (around the town of Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez), Saint Jean du Gué Gorand (Coëx), Saint Nicolas de l'Océan (Bretignolles-sur-Mer), and Notre Dame de la Vie (Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie). The latter, Notre Dame de la Vie, has four

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

s—in the churches of Saint-Gilles and Sainte-Croix, as well as those of Fenouiller and Givrand. In the middle of the sixteenth century, a

protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

church was founded in Saint-Gilles-sur-Vie; it was destroyed in November 1665, as one of seventeen protestant churches in the Bas-Poitou, the region that corresponds to today's Vendée.

The Brotherhood of the Sardine

The Brotherhood of the Sardine (''Confrérie de la Sardine'') was founded in 1991. Headed by a grandmaster, it is devoted to the promotion of the seaside resort and the celebration of products from the sea, especially the sardine, which has become a speciality of Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie. Notable "sympathizers" include sailor

Michel Desjoyeaux Michel Desjoyeaux (born 16 July 1965 in Concarneau) is a French sailor, known for competing successfully in several long-distance single-handed races. He won the Vendée Globe race in 2000-01 and 2008–09, making him the only person to win t ...

, actress Isabel Otero, and the former

Prime Minister of France The prime minister of France (french: link=no, Premier ministre français), officially the prime minister of the French Republic, is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of the Council of Ministers. The prime minister ...

François Fillon François Charles Armand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a retired French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of the Republicans (previously known as the Union ...

Companies

Beneteau Beneteau or Bénéteau () is a French sail and motor boat manufacturer, with production facilities in France and in the United States. The company is a large and recognized boat builder, commanding a substantial worldwide market, with its holdi ...

– boat manufacturer, founded in 1884 in Croix-de-Vie

Personalities

* Marcel Baudouin (1860–1941) -physician * Narcisse Pelletier (1844–1894) -castaway * Benjamin Bénéteau, founder of the commune in 1884. * Marie de Beaucaire (1535–1613), Baronness of Rié. Did much to facilitate development into a town.,. *

Pierre Desproges Pierre Desproges (9 May 1939 – 18 April 1988) was a French humorist. He was born in Pantin, Seine-Saint-Denis. According to himself, he made no significant achievements before the age of 30. From 1967 to 1970, he worked as: life insurance sal ...

(1939–1988), comedian * Pierre Garcie-Ferrande, (1430–1520) cartographer.« Le premier océanographe de l'Histoire : Pierre Garcie-Ferrande, père de la cartographie marine »
, ''le Journal de la Vendée'', Conseil général de Vendée, octobre 2007 * Charles Atamian (1872–1947) -painter, painted many scenes of the Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie shore. *

Émile Goué Émile Goué (13 June 1904 – 10 October 1946) was a French composer. Life Born in Châteauroux (Indre), with a father inspector of primary education, a mother head teacher of a teacher-training school for young girls in Guéret (Creuse) and ...

(1904–1946), composer, composed ''Wanda'' (1934) situated in Croix-de-Vie.