Fécamp () 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

Seine-Maritime Seine-Maritime () is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Inféri ...

department in the

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

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 ...

in north-western

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Geography

Fécamp is situated in the valley of the river Valmont, at the heart of the

Pays de Caux The Pays de Caux (, , literally ''Land of Caux'') is an area in Normandy occupying the greater part of the French ''département'' of Seine Maritime in Normandy. It is a chalk plateau to the north of the Seine Estuary and extending to the cliffs ...

, on the Alabaster Coast. It is around 35 km northeast of

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

, and around 60 km northwest of

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

History

Origin of the name

According to its late medieval founding legend, the trunk of a fig tree (''

ficus ''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending in ...

'') carrying the Precious

Blood of Christ Blood of Christ, also known as the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in Christian theology refers to (a) the physical blood actually shed by Jesus Christ primarily on the Cross, and the salvation which Christianity teaches was accomp ...

collected by

Joseph of Arimathea Joseph of Arimathea was, according to all four canonical gospels, the man who assumed responsibility for the burial of Jesus after his crucifixion. The historical location of Arimathea is uncertain, although it has been identified with several t ...

was washed ashore on the riverbank at Fécamp in the 1st century. Immediately, a fountain of holy blood gushed from the site; the relic attracted many medieval pilgrims, enhancing the reputation of the city. The monks' legend justified the artificial etymology of the name to ''Fici-campus'', the camp of the

fig tree ''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending ...

. Fécamp, however, is mentioned in 875 as ''Fiscannum'' and in 990 as ''Fiscannus'' and as late as 1496 which stem from the Germanic root ''fisc'' (English "

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

") with an unknown suffix. It used to be the name of the Valmont River.

Pre-history

The prehistoric site, on the high ground inland from the port of Fécamp, reveals human occupation dating back to

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

times. Spreading over 21 hectares, surrounded by walls and ditches for a length of nearly 2000 meters, including a praetorian door. Objects recovered range in date from the Neolithic until Roman times.

Roman times

Many items of the

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, language, morals and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context ...

period have been found locally, particularly coins (including two gold Gallic coins found in 1839). A bronze axe, of Celtic design, was unearthed in 1859. Fécamp was on the ancient road linking Arques-la-Bataille and

Lillebonne Lillebonne () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in Northern France. It lies north of the Seine and east of Le Havre. In 2019, it had a population of 8,797. History Before the Roman conquest of Gaul, Iuliobon ...

with the north of Gaul. The archaeological diggings around the Ducal palace (in the grounds of the present abbey) in 1973-1984 revealed some evidence of the La Tène Celtic culture and Gallo-Roman works. Two Gallo-Roman cemeteries have also been discovered. During Roman times, a road linked Fécamp to

Étretat Étretat () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of Northwestern France. It is a tourist and farming town situated about northeast of Le Havre, at the junction of the D 940, D 11 and D 139 roads. It is located on ...

, passing through the present-day village of Fond-Pitron. The current D940 follows the original Roman road.

Middle Ages

The Abbey

More from the Middle Ages

In the 7th century, Saint Leger was exiled to Fécamp. In 932,

William I of Normandy William Longsword (french: Guillaume Longue-Épée, nrf, Willâome de lon Espee, la, Willermus Longa Spata, on, Vilhjálmr Langaspjót; c. 893 – 17 December 942) was the second ruler of Normandy, from 927 until his assassination in 942.Det ...

(Long-Sword) founded the castle that was to be the residence of the Dukes of Normandy up until 1204, after which, the Norman Duchy was integrated within the

French royal domain The crown lands, crown estate, royal domain or (in French) ''domaine royal'' (from demesne) of France were the lands, fiefs and rights directly possessed by the kings of France. While the term eventually came to refer to a territorial unit, the ...

. The castle was the birthplace of many Norman dukes, including

Richard I of Normandy Richard I (28 August 932 – 20 November 996), also known as Richard the Fearless (French: ''Richard Sans-Peur''; Old Norse: ''Jarl Rikard''), was the count of Rouen from 942 to 996.Detlev Schwennicke, '' Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln ...

(born 933) and

Richard II of Normandy Richard II (died 28 August 1026), called the Good (French: ''Le Bon''), was the duke of Normandy from 996 until 1026. Life Richard was the eldest surviving son and heir of Richard the Fearless and Gunnor. He succeeded his father as the ruler of ...

(who died 22 August 1027). In 1202, King

John of England John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Emp ...

granted a community system to Fécamp. In 1410 the English razed the town. In 1449, Fécamp was freed from English occupation. For Fécamp, the

Wars of religion A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...

finished in July 1593, when Captain de Bois-Rosé rallied the city to

Henry IV of France Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarc ...

after his conversion to Catholicism.''Wars of religion'' by Pierre Miquel, p 388 It was at Fécamp that

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child of ...

landed, on 16 October 1651, soon after the

Battle of Worcester The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of Worcester, England and was the last major battle of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell d ...

, where he had been finally defeated by

Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

Modern era

The history of Fécamp has always revolved around the fishing industry and its harbour (first mentioned in the 11th century). The reputation of the salt-herrings of Fécamp was established as early as the 10th century, that of smoked herrings from the 13th century. An association of whale fishermen was created in the 11th century. Fishing for cod started commercially in the 16th century, under the impetus of Nicolas Selles, an early shipping magnate. Throughout the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century, Fécamp had an important role as the chief fishing port in France for cod and cod-related fish. This was the case up until the 1970s, when Canada stopped all access to their fishing grounds. First practiced by three-masted sailing ships,

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

fishing trips could last more than six months, the time taken to fill the hold with cod, which were salted to preserve them. The fishing was actually carried out in small boats, carrying only two or three fishermen. Many of these small boats would be lost in the fog and never returned to the ship. As technology evolved, the three-mast boats disappeared, giving way to steamers, then to diesel-engined vessels. These days, only a small fishing fleet survives, restricted to fishing around coastal waters. In the harbour, pleasure-boats have taken the place of all but a few fishing-boats. * In the 19th century, the recipe for Bénédictine liqueur was “rediscovered” by Alexandre Legrand. The Palais Bénédictine now houses a visitors’ centre, which shows how the liqueur is made. File:Benedictine1.JPG, Palais de la Bénédictine File:Palais Benedictine cour.jpg, The Bénédictine Palace File:Auguste-Emile Flick - The Beach at Fécamp - Walters 372641.jpg, Auguste-Émile Flick, ''The Beach at Fécamp'' (1875).

The Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum, located in Mount Vernon-Belvedere, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is a public art museum founded and opened in 1934. It holds collections established during the mid-19th century. The museum's collection was amassed ...

Heraldry

Population

Education

Fécamp has four high schools: *

Anita Conti Anita Conti ( arm, Անիթա Գոնթի; ''née'' Caracotchian) (17 May 1899 – 25 December 1997) was a French explorer and photographer, and the first French female oceanographer. Biography Anita Caracotchian was born in Ermont in Seine-et-Ois ...

professional high school * Providence high school, a private high school situated in the city centre. * Descartes professional high school, situated in the school complex at Saint-Jacques *

Guy de Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, remembered as a master of the short story form, as well as a representative of the Naturalist school, who depicted human lives, destin ...

high school, also at Saint-Jacques

Civil architecture

* 12th – 14th century ruins of the ducal former palace enclosed in the abbey grounds – two towers and a wall section * Remains of the fort of Bourg-Baudouin, on the approach to Notre-Dame-du-Salut * Bénédictine Palace, ruined buildings of the Benedictine abbey. * Former mill of the 18th century. * The Town hall, a Louis XVI style building * Former hostelry of the du Grand Cerf, 16th century * Courtyard de la Maîtrise with 11th-12th century tower. * Old houses in the neighbourhood of the Hallettes, of which two houses are 16th century: Numbers 21 and 73 Rue Arquaise and 6, Rue de la Voûte (built with reclaimed materials from the abbey palace) * Water Tower 13th century * Épinay farm, 16th century, former country retreat of a religious order

Church architecture

* Church of the Trinity: Primitive Norman Gothic style, constructed from 1175 to 1220 with some Roman traces. Lantern tower from the 12th century; Façade - 18th century; Porch - 13th century; choir - 14th-15th century; Chapel of the Virgin 16th century with 13th century stained-glass windows; Organ from 1746, originating from the

Montivilliers Abbey Montivilliers Abbey (french: Abbaye de Montivilliers; la, Monasterium Villare) is a former Benedictine nunnery, founded between 682 and by Saint Philibert in the town of Montivilliers in Normandy, in the present department of Seine-Maritime, F ...

; Group of multi-coloured stone from the 15th century; 16th century balustrades and tombs of the Dukes of Normandy of the 13th-14th centuries. * Abbey of the Trinity: Traces of former buildings: cloisters, a former mill, tower de la Maîtrise * Saint-Étienne’s church: 16th century flamboyant Gothic porch and south transept from 1500, facade and tower from the 19th century; wooden statues and pulpit 17th-18th century. *Chapel Notre-Dame-du-Salut: Originally 14th century, on a cliff: Rebuilt in the 17th century; a gilded statue of the Virgin on the roof. * Chapel of the Precious Blood: Rebuilt in stone in the 17th century, covering the miraculous source of the "Precious Blood". * Three other religious communities *

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

Museums

* Municipal Museum: Earthenware, glassware, 18th and 19th century paintings, archeology, religious art and maritime folklore. * Benedictine Palace Museum: Objects of religious art from the 12th – 18th century (some of the collection originates from the former abbey); 14th – 18th century metalwork; Benedictine liquor manufacturing equipment for distillation etc. * Museum of Arts et de l'Enfance: Gallo-Roman objects found in the 19th century explaining man's beginnings in Fécamp. * Museum Terre-Neuvas et de la Pêche (Newfoundland and Fishing): Museum of Fécamp's glorious maritime past, inaugurated in 1988 but closed in 2012 to be integrated in the new "Musée des Pêcheries". The adventures of the cod-fishermen that left for long months in the icy waters of Newfoundland (boats, models, equipment), construction and naval repair, architectural model of the city, audio-visual events and exhibitions of painting (annual display of naval painting) * Musée du chocolat: Chocolate discovery museum * Visits to the watercress beds * Maison du patrimoine (Heritage house) Built and furnished as in the 16th century. Since 2005, the municipal archives have been stored here * Villa Émilie, Art Nouveau style house from the end of the 19th century * Musée des Pêcheries (inaugurated in December 2017) : Museum that gathers together the municipal collections. It includes: art and history items, ethnographic items linked to fishing and sailors, and the Doctor Dufour's childhood collection. The museum occupies a historical building, a former fish factory which have been partly transformed to welcome the collections. It has been completed with a roof extension that gives a 360 view on Fécamp's port.

Sites

* Panorama from Notre-Dame-de-Salut:

Orientation table A toposcope, topograph, or orientation table is a kind of graphic display erected at viewing points on hills, mountains or other high places which indicates the direction, and usually the distance, to notable landscape features which can be seen ...

* Pebble beach * Cliffs

People associated with Fécamp

Lepoittevin--portrait by Nadar--1861-69--J Paul Getty Museum

* Jean Accart, World War II fighter pilot – born in Fécamp *

David Belle David Nicholas Williams Belle (born 29 April 1973) is a French actor, film choreographer and stunt coordinator. He is deemed the founder and leading pioneer of the physical discipline parkour, coining it based on his training and the teachings fr ...

(1973), creator of Parkour * Pierre Carron (1932), sculptor and painter *

Louis-Armand Chardin Louis-Armand Chardin, called Chardiny (1755 – 1 October 1793) was an 18th-century French composer. Biography Born in Fécamp, Chardin made his debut at the Paris opera in 1780 as baritone and was finally received the following year. He s ...

(1755–1793), baritone and composer *

Étienne Chicot Étienne Chicot (5 May 1949 – 7 August 2018) was a French actor and composer.Remigius de Fécamp Remigius de Fécamp (sometimes Remigius; died 7 May 1092) was a Benedictine monk who was a supporter of William the Conqueror. Early life Remigius' date of birth is unknown, although he was probably born sometime during the 1030s, as canon la ...

, first bishop of

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

Raoul Dufy Raoul Dufy (; 3 June 1877 – 23 March 1953) was a French Fauvist painter. He developed a colorful, decorative style that became fashionable for designs of ceramics and textile as well as decorative schemes for public buildings. He is noted ...

(1877–1953), Fauvist painter * Guy Dupré (born 1928), writer - born in Fécamp *

Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066. Edward was the son of Æth ...

, exiled to Fécamp. * Gustave Lambert, explorer * Alexandre Legrand, industrialist, “rediscovered” Bénédictine * , inventor, born in Fécamp *

Eugène Lepoittevin Eugène Lepoittevin (31 July 1806 – 6 August 1870), also known as Poidevin, Poitevin, and Le Poittevin, was a French artist who achieved an early and lifelong success as a landscape and maritime painter. His work ranged from erotic caricatures t ...

, painter * Louis Levacher (1934–1983), sculptor and painter *

Jean Lorrain Jean Lorrain (9 August 1855 in Fécamp, Seine-Maritime – 30 June 1906), born Paul Alexandre Martin Duval, was a French poet and novelist of the Symbolist school. Lorrain was a dedicated disciple of dandyism and spent much of his time amongs ...

, writer was born in Fécamp (9 August 1855) * , ship owner *

, once lived in Fécamp. *

Tony Parker William Anthony Parker Jr. (born 17 May 1982) is a French-American former professional basketball player and majority owner of ASVEL Basket in LNB Pro A. Himself the son of a basketball pro, Parker started his career at Paris Basket Racing in ...

, French basketball player (played one year with Fécamp) * , resistance member, murdered in Auschwitz * (1954), writer *

(933-996) * , politician *

Wace Wace ( 1110 – after 1174), sometimes referred to as Robert Wace, was a Medieval Norman poet, who was born in Jersey and brought up in mainland Normandy (he tells us in the ''Roman de Rou'' that he was taken as a child to Caen), ending his car ...

, writer – stayed in Fécamp. *

William of Volpiano Saint William of Volpiano (Italian: ''Guglielmo da Volpiano''; French: ''Guillaume de Volpiano'', also of Dijon, of Saint-Benignus, or of Fécamp; June/July 962 – 1 January 1031) was a Northern Italian monastic reformer, composer, and founding ...

, religious reformer - buried in Fécamp in 1031

Twin towns - sister cities

Mouscron Mouscron (; Dutch and vls, Moeskroen, ; Picard and Walloon: ''Moucron'') is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Hainaut, along the border with the French city of Tourcoing, which is part of the Lille metropol ...

, Belgium *

Putnok Putnok is a town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Northern Hungary. It lies away from Miskolc, between the Bükk Mountains and the river Sajó. History The area has been inhabited since Neolithic times. Until 1283 it was royal property, part (l ...

, Hungary * Rheinfelden, Germany *

Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg ), often referred to as The Vale, is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf to the north, and the Bristol C ...

, Wales, United Kingdom

References

External links

Fécamp on the Quid website

Galerie d'images de Fécamp

Tourisme à Fécamp

Recherches historiques médiévales sur Fécamp

Site de la chapelle du Précieux-Sang de Fécamp

Site de la Radio Résonance 1 Radio Indépendante de Normandie
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fecamp Communes of Seine-Maritime Fishing communities in France Port cities and towns on the French Atlantic coast Ports and harbours of the English Channel Seaside resorts in France Caletes