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.[business incubator and has three areas of activity or industrial areas: Le Mesnil, La Parfonterie and Le Prétôt. The largest employers in the commune are the centre of thalassotherapy ''Le Normandy'', the Compagnie Générale des Eaux and the biscotte factory of LU- opened in 1973. In 2017, the ]unemployment
Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the refere ...
rate was 11.5% for a rated active population of 4,514 people. 44.5% of the main residences were inhabited by their owners (2017), and the commune hosts 1,617 companies (2015). Granville was a garrison town with the presence of a contingent of the 1st RIMa until 1984. A market
Market is a term used to describe concepts such as:
*Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand
*Market economy
*Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market
Geography
*Märket, an ...
is held every Saturday on the ''Cours Jonville''.
Port of Granville
The port of Granville dates back to the 16th century. It is managed by the and includes boating activities, fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...
, commercial and passenger traffic.
This part of the Channel is known for its many rocks off the coast, not always visible above sea level, and for the dangerous flows caused by tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another.
Tide tables ...
s. The bay of Mont Saint-Michel experiences one of the greatest tidal ranges in the world, and this causes strong currents that generate dangerous flows into the international sea routes, adding to the normal tidal flow that goes along the Channel. The area also often experiences fog as well as easterly winds which can create dangerous storms during autumn and winter.
The waters off Granville are regularly affected by pollution caused by modern shipwrecks, or by illegal fuel tank discharges into the sea. There is now an international agreement between France and the UK, as well as other European countries bordering the Channel, to severely punish ship-owners when such pollution can be proven. The area is constantly under surveillance by aircraft and radar operated by civil and military authorities. Granville harbour hosts a small maritime emergency rescue team.
The number of rocks and shipwrecks in the area creates an environment rich in seafood, which can be exploited from the small harbour of Granville. Fishing is dangerous in the area, and many small fishing boats have been involved in collisions with large commercial vessels such as container ships and oil supertankers.
In 2005, Granville was placed at 32nd in the national rank with 197,000 tonnes of handled cargo
Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including trans ...
and 44,100 passengers. It is also a permanent station of the SNSM which has a lifeboat (registered SNS 074) and two RIBs.
A cod fishing and oyster
Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not ...
port in the 19th century, it became:
* There are some sea services to England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and to 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, ...
. This traffic is relatively light from Granville, as Saint-Malo
Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast.
The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...
and Cherbourg offer more industrialised facilities for passenger and cargo traffic. Manche Iles Express operates a ferry from Granville to St Helier, away. A port for the carriage of passengers with the ferries ''Douce France'', ''Jolie France II'' and ''Joly France I'' destined for the Chausey
Chausey () is a group of small islands, islets and rocks off the coast of Normandy, in the English Channel. It lies from Granville and forms a ''quartier'' of the Granville commune in the Manche ''département''. Chausey forms part of the Chan ...
and 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, ...
. Although there are no regular passenger sea services between Granville and Chausey. French and British security forces operate permanently in this very dangerous and narrow area of the Channel, which is one of the busiest sealanes in the world.
* A trading port with the capacity to accommodate ships of wide, long and five to six thousand tons of capacity, primarily for shipments of scrap metal, sand and gravel equipped with two cranes that can lift one hundred to three hundred tons per hour, and with a conveyor belt with a capacity of 750 tons per hour. The maximum permissible draught in Granville harbour is 11.60 with a tidal coefficient of 100.
* The first Norman fishing port of shellfish ( clams, whelks, dog cockles, Saint-Jacques scallops), crustacean
Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group can ...
s ( lobsters, brown crabs, small crabs, spider crabs) and 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 ...
(bream
Bream ( ) are species of freshwater and marine fish belonging to a variety of genera including '' Abramis'' (e.g., ''A. brama'', the common bream), '' Acanthopagrus'', ''Argyrops'', '' Blicca'', '' Brama'', '' Chilotilapia'', ''Etelis'', '' L ...
, rays
Ray may refer to:
Fish
* Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea
* Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin
Science and mathematics
* Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point
* Ray (gra ...
, shark
Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...
s, soles, pollock
Pollock or pollack (pronounced ) is the common name used for either of the two species of North Atlantic marine fish in the genus ''Pollachius''. '' Pollachius pollachius'' is referred to as pollock in North America, Ireland and the United Kingd ...
, bass, red mullet
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...
, cod, cuttlefish and squid) for local consumption with a fish market
A fish market is a marketplace for selling fish and fish products. It can be dedicated to wholesale trade between fishermen and fish merchants, or to the sale of seafood to individual consumers, or to both. Retail fish markets, a type of wet ma ...
, a refrigerating terminal and a computerised sale of products. The tonnage landed (excluding farming) is of the order of 16,000 tonnes per year. An average of seventy-five equipped vessels with nearly 450 professional sailors attend the port. The marine cultures present on the islands of Chausey
Chausey () is a group of small islands, islets and rocks off the coast of Normandy, in the English Channel. It lies from Granville and forms a ''quartier'' of the Granville commune in the Manche ''département''. Chausey forms part of the Chan ...
produce nearly 250 tons of clam
Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve molluscs. The word is often applied only to those that are edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the seafloor or riverbeds. Clams have two shel ...
s, 5,000 tonnes of mussels and 100 tons of oyster
Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not ...
s.
* A marina, since 1975, of a thousand docking rings at the Hérel Basin. It hosts 3,500 vessels per year, with an average of three passengers per boat. They represent €787,000 of direct benefits, in addition to an annual turnover of €25 million for the 40 companies which work from the marina. Located a few minutes walk from the town centre, the Hérel Marina is one of the local economic lungs.
A port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...
redevelopment and expansion project will provide an additional seven hundred places for recreational boating, the excavation of basins and access channels
Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to:
Geography
* Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water.
Australia
* Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...
to extend access times and beaching capacity, the addition of a quayside for cruise ship
Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as ...
s and of exception, a new port city link, with the study of a railway extension project a redevelopment of the road routes, respecting and valuing the environmental and architectural heritage including the piers of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Granville-Mont-Saint-Michel Airport
The airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...
of Granville-Mont-Saint-Michel specialises in tourist and leisure aviation.
Tourism
The commune has been classified as a climate resort since 16 March 1926, and a tourist and seaside resort
A seaside resort is a town, village, or hotel that serves as a vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, such as in the Germ ...
since 12 March 1979. Tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...
is an important part of the local economy. The commune has a tourist office
A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center, tourist information center, is a physical location that provides tourist information to visitors.
Types of visitor center
A visi ...
which ensures the promotion of monument
A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...
s, museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...
s and natural sites, and has joined the association of the Most Beautiful Detours of France. It offers much infrastructure, including some certified by the label issued by the French Ministry for the Economy and Finance
The Ministry of Economics, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty (french: Ministère de l'Économie, des Finances et de la Souveraineté industrielle et numérique, pronounced ), informally referred to as Bercy, is one of the most impor ...
: Two three- star hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...
s, six two-star hotels and seven hotels not classified with a total of 213 rooms, two three-star campsites with a total of 145 pitches, communal gites on the Chausey Islands and guest rooms, a youth hostel, a thalassotherapy centre, thirty-three restaurants with a total of 1,931 seats.
For entertainment, the city offers an independent casino
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
, four museums, an aquarium, a rich architectural and environmental heritage, four beaches, and four Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wav ...
access points. 17.5% of Granville housing are second homes, with 54.1% of apartments. Several cruises start at the port of Granville, with destinations including Chausey, 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, ...
, the Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...
, the Isles of Scilly, and Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, including by the passenger ferries of Granville, the ' and '.
This organisation and the promotion of tourism provides an important attendance to the area, with 69,627 passengers to Chausey in 2006, 54,301 visitors for the , and 43,500 for the Aquarium du Roc in 2005.
File:le roc.JPG, The aquarium "Le Roc des harmonies"
Local culture and heritage
Environmental heritage
Granville is located near the protected site of the Bay of Mont Saint-Michel, the cliff
In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...
, the Haute-Ville and the Chausey Islands, are themselves included in the list of sites protected by the of 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 ...
. From north to south through the peninsula, the city is crossed by the hiking trail
A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. The ...
GR 223 which traverses Normandy from Honfleur
Honfleur () is a commune in the Calvados department in northwestern France. It is located on the southern bank of the estuary of the Seine across from le Havre and very close to the exit of the Pont de Normandie. The people that inhabit Honf ...
to Avranches along the coast.
The town was awarded three flowers in the Competition of flowery cities and villages thanks to its parks and gardens: The Christian Dior Garden, the Val-ès-Fleur Park of complete with a zoo, the squares of Marland, the Arsenal, Chartier, Bisquine, the Charles VII promenades, those of the harbour and of the Plat Gousset. The landscaped golf course
A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...
, on the territory of Bréville-sur-Mer, was designed by Harry Colt
Henry Shapland "Harry" Colt (4 August 1869 – 21 November 1951) was a golf course architect born in Highgate, England. He worked predominantly with Charles Alison, John Morrison, and Alister MacKenzie, in 1928 forming Colt, Alison & Morrison L ...
in 1912 and provides 27 holes of links golf.
The Chausey islands were proposed for integration into the Natura 2000 network in 1992, but the Council of the gave an unfavourable opinion in 2003, blocking the procedure to date. However, the Conservatoire du littoral has acquired the Pointe du Phare.
In addition, the town has on its territory a sewage treatment
Sewage treatment (or domestic wastewater treatment, municipal wastewater treatment) is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge to the surrounding e ...
plant and a waste processing plant for incineration
Incineration is a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of substances contained in waste materials. Industrial plants for waste incineration are commonly referred to as waste-to-energy facilities. Incineration and other high ...
and recycling
Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...
. It has also set up waste sorting
Waste sorting is the process by which waste is separated into different elements. Waste sorting can occur manually at the household and collected through curbside collection schemes, or automatically separated in materials recovery facilitie ...
and heads the Joint Association of Granville Coastal Areas for coastal protection against microbiological hazards.
Granville - Jardin de Dior.jpg, The Christian-Dior Garden
ValesFleurGranville (5).JPG, The Val-ès-Fleur Park
Architectural heritage
Granville heritage is rich of numerous religious buildings including the , The ancient church of Notre-Dame du Cap Lihou (1441–1796) it dominates the heights, constitutes an imposing granite building of the Romanesque / early Gothic style. It was built by the English during the Hundred Years' War. The choir
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...
is of 1641, the nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
of 1655, the apse chapel
An apse chapel, apsidal chapel, or chevet is a chapel in traditional Christian church architecture, which radiates tangentially from one of the bays or divisions of the apse. It is reached generally by a semicircular passageway, or ambulatory, ext ...
s in 1676 and 1688, and the sacristy is of 1771, a listed historical monument
A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...
since 1930, it is decorated with stained glass by Jacques Le Chevallier. As well as a thirteenth-century miraculous statue of Mary, visitors should note, on the eighteenth-century façade, the quatrain:
("If love of Mary is engraved on your heart, when passing do not forget to say Hail to her.") The same verses are to be seen on the façade of Notre-Dame de Bon-Secours in Montréal. There is also St. Paul's Church, the St. Nicholas
Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day Demre ...
Church and the Protestant temple.
The lower town was partly built on land reclaimed from the sea. Granville's military past remains, the upper part of the old town is surrounded with the consisting of the ramparts from the fifteenth century, the drawbridge (Grande'Porte), the bloody theatre of the "Siège des Vendéens" in 1793, built in the 15th century, destroyed and then raised in 1727, and listed as an historical monument since 2004. Inside the walls of the upper town are some beautiful houses of which several are concentrated on ''Rue Saint-Jean''. On the ''Pointe du Roc'' overlooking the town, the Bazeilles barracks built in 1758, the Gênes-Champagne barracks built in 1788 and the battery built in 1942 by the German occupiers have been listed monuments since 1987 and 1994.
The , built in the 15th century, registered as an historic monument since 1980, the Château de la Crête, and Saint-Nicolas' Manor, built in 1786 by the shipowner Nicolas Deslandes, have been registered monuments since 1986 and bear witness to the importance of certain families in the region.
The statue of Pléville le Peley at the port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...
celebrates the most illustrious character of the city.
The casino
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
of Art Nouveau and Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
style, built between 1910 and 1925 by architect , has been listed as an historic monument since 1992, the ''hotel des bains'' of 1926, the railway station of the 19th century, the , built in 1828, according to a study of Augustin Fresnel, high, , built in 1844, high, both classified as historical monuments, the on the rock of Sénéquet, off the coast and 27-hole golf course built in 1912 by Harry Shapland Colt all date from the beginning of the resort nature of the commune.
The covered market
Market is a term used to describe concepts such as:
*Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand
*Market economy
*Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market
Geography
*Märket, an ...
was labeled 'Heritage of the 20th century' by the DRAC. The residential tower ''"Le Charme"'' he Charmlocated on ''Rue Jean Rostand'' dominates the commune with its thirteen floors.
There is a museum located in one of the gates which preserves invaluable documents enabling visitors to discover the history of the town through the centuries.
Granville also is the home of the Christian Dior Museum, which is located in the fashion designer's childhood home, ''Villa Les Rhumbs''.
After a first bid at the beginning of the 1990s, Granville postulated in 2009 to be labelled Town of Art and History. Declared 1 July 2015, in the sub-prefecture of Avranches, the association law 1901 "Granville, country of the foreshore" which comprises the communes of Granville and Saint-Pair-sur-Mer, Jullouville and Carolles, is now the candidacy "Lands of Art and History" label.
Granvilleleporche.jpg, The gatehouse of the Haute-Ville
ChateauCreteGranville.JPG, The Château de la Crête
BanqueFranceGranville.JPG, The Bank of France building
HotelBainsGranville.JPG, The ''hôtel des bains''
MarcheCouvertGranville.JPG, The covered market
Festivities
The festive year of Granville revolves around various events. The takes place every year during the week before Mardi gras. It once celebrated the departure of the sailors who took advantage of the holiday before sailing for Newfoundland. In 2007, for its 134th edition, it hosted more than 130,000 spectators. The feast of the patron saint of the commune is organised at Pentecost. Each year, the third week of July is dedicated to the ''Rue Sorties de Bains'' festival, of which the fifth edition took place in 2007. Outdoor concerts are held during the tourist season. The procession of the ''Grand Pardon des Corporations et de la Mer'' tonement of the Corporations and the Seais traditionally held the last Sunday of July. The Night of Welders, a festival gathering metalworking artists, takes place during the first weekend of August. The same weekend the ''Journée du Livre'' ay of the Bookis organised, during which writers dedicate their works.
Two fairs are held on the second Saturday in April and the third Saturday of September, a flea market is organised during the weekend of 14 July and an antique fair during the weekend before 15 August. A collectors fair is scheduled for the last Sunday in October. In 2005, the commune celebrated the centenary of the birth of Christian Dior by organising, across the town, exhibitions and retrospectives on the work and life of the couturier. The Christian Dior Museum sometimes serves as a framework for events, as was the case in 2008 for the exhibition entitled "Dandy
A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance. A dandy could be a self-made man who strove to imitate an aristocratic lifestyle des ...
smes - 1808–2008, of Barbey d'Aurevilly
Jules-Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly (2 November 1808 – 23 April 1889) was a French novelist and short story writer. He specialised in mystery tales that explored hidden motivation and hinted at evil without being explicitly concerned with anythin ...
at Christian Dior".
Personalities linked to the commune
Several public figures were born, died or lived in Granville:
Born in Granville
* Louis-Georges de Bréquigny (1714–1795), historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...
and paleographer
Palaeography ( UK) or paleography ( US; ultimately from grc-gre, , ''palaiós'', "old", and , ''gráphein'', "to write") is the study of historic writing systems and the deciphering and dating of historical manuscripts, including the analysi ...
* Georges René Le Peley de Pléville (1726–1805), vice admiral, Minister of Marine and Colonies
* (1747–1816), mayor of Granville, member of the Council of Elders and the Tribunate
* Étienne-François Letourneur (1751–1817), Director of the First French Republic
* (1767–1837), frigate captain
Frigate captain is a naval rank in the naval forces of several countries. Corvette captain lies one level below frigate captain.
It is usually equivalent to the Commonwealth/US Navy rank of commander.
Countries using this rank include Argentin ...
during the Revolution and the Empire, he commanded the seventy-four ''L'Argonaute'' at the Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (180 ...
* (1768–1841), captain of ''La Piémontaise'', was born and died in Granville
* Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley (1770–1829), vice admiral, he unsuccessfully commanded the vanguard of the line of Franco-Spanish vessels at Trafalgar; politician and Commander of the Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
* (1780–1858), royal courier
* (1787–1851), winner of the naval battle of Arromanches in 1811
* (1787–1847), rear admiral
* Michel Pierre Alexis Hébert (1799–1887), lawyer and politician
* (1807–1873), novelist, poet, politician, journalist and historian
* Louis Henri de Gueydon (1809–1886), vice admiral, governor of Algeria
* Fortuné du Boisgobey (1821–1891), writer
* (1824–1898), painter
* , (1841–1913), Auxiliary Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rouen, Bishop of Rouen
* (1841–1880), landscape painter and on porcelain
* (1853–1907), professor of anatomy at the
* Émile Paul Amable Guépratte, Émile Guépratte known as ''"point d'honneur"'' [point of honour], (1856–1939), admiral, Grand Croix of the Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
* (1867–1932), politician and industrialist
* Maurice Denis
Maurice Denis (; 25 November 1870 – 13 November 1943) was a French painter, decorative artist, and writer. An important figure in the transitional period between impressionism and modern art, he is associated with ''Les Nabis'', symbolism, a ...
(1870–1943), painter, engraver, theorist and historian of French art
* Léon Carré (1878–1942), Orientalism, Orientalist painter, winner of the Abd-el-Tif prize in 1909
* Léon Julliot de La Morandière, (1885–1968), Professor and Dean of the Paris Law Faculty, then at the Panthéon-Assas University, University Paris II Panthéon-Assas, also director of the Comparative Law Institute in Paris
* (1901–1999), actress
* Christian Dior (1905–1957), legendary couturier
* Denise Cocquerillat (1918-1999), archaeologist and Assyriologist, specialist in cuneiform texts
* (born 1932), journalist
* Pierre Pican (1935-2018), Bishop of Bayeux and Lisieux
* (born 1939), writer
* (born 1939), navigator
* Angèle Delaunois (born 1946), writer
* Bernard Chenez (born 1946), cartoonist
* Michel Santier (born 1947), Bishop of Luçon and of Créteil
* Jacky Robert (born 1950), chef
* (born 1955), politician
* Jacques Gamblin (born 1957), actor
* Christophe Auguin (born 1959), sailor, winner of the 1996–97 Vendée Globe yacht race
* Lucile Rogations (born 1984), writer who published her first book at twelve, winner of the Groupe Flammarion, Flammarion Youth Prize
Died in Granville
* (1791–1870), artist and songwriter
* (1878–1951), painter, died and is buried in Granville
* Jean Tissier (1896–1973), actor
* Eric Crozier (1914–1994), Libretto, librettist and theatrical director
* Guy Degrenne (1925–2006), businessman
Others
* Georges Bonheur, investor who was significant to the development of Granville as a seaside resort at the beginning of the 20th century
About the impact of his life and how it is still relevant in Granville today.
* Richard I de Grenville (died after 1142), Anglo-Norman knight
* Thomas de Scales (c. 1400–1460), List of Knights and Ladies of the Garter, Knight of the Garter, founded the citadel
* John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath, John Granville (1628–1701), 1st Earl of Bath, soldier of the English Civil War, lived in Granville
* George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne, George Granville (1666–1735), 1st Baron Lansdowne, England, English poetry, poet, playwright and politician, lived in Granville
* Robert Carteret, 3rd Earl Granville (1721–1776), 3rd Earl Granville, lived in Granville
* Louis Léon Jacob, Louis Jacob (1768–1854), politician and admiral, lived in Granville
* Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850), writer, stayed there in 1829. He evoked the headquarters in Granville in ''Le Réquisitionnaire'' in 1831
* (1837–1927), shipowner, politician, mayor of Granville from 1882 to 1888, lived in Granville
* (1859–1934), writer and poet, lived in Granville
* Maurice Orange (1867–1916), painter, lived in Granville
* (1883–1945), poet, stayed in Granville during his youth
* Maurice Marland (1888–1944), chief of the French Resistance, Resistance of Granville during World War II, a professor in the same town
* (1901–1987), writer and painter, lived at Chausey
* (1914–2009), first president of the Court of Auditors in 1978–1982, was mayor
* Bertrand Poirot-Delpech (1929–2006), journalist, writer and Académie française, academician, lived at Chausey
Stendhal, Jules Michelet, Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
, Adolphe Willette and Gustave Goublier also all stayed in Granville.
Heraldry
The coat of arms of Granville has changed several times during its history. The first, granted by Charles VIII of France, Charles VIII in 1487 was thus:
* ''Azure a dextrochère Or, issuant from a cloud of the same, which holds a sword argent mounted Or and placed between three stars of the same.''
The sword symbolising the patriotism of the city during the English occupation, the stars appearing on the night of 8 November 1442 when took over the city.
The second coat of arms was established in 1697:
* ''Azure with dextrochère armed Or issuant from a cloud of the same and holding a sword argent, the guard and handle Or, surmounted by a Sun of the same.''
The Sun replaced the stars, this new coat of arms symbolised the importance of Granville in the monitoring of the coast of the Bay.
In 1793, the influence of the Revolution
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
changed the azure to gules, but the arm is no longer armed and the sword became an honorary, which gives:
* ''Gules an arm stretched argent emerging from a cloud azure, holding a sword argent of a guard Or in Pale (heraldry), pale.''
In 1811, the First French Empire, First Empire offered new arms to the town, Napoleon adding distinctive towns of second-order signs, a quarter charged with a capital N and a gold star and the exterior ornament of a mural crown:
* ''Azure on a cloudy fess argent, together with three stars Or, two in Chief (heraldry), chief and one in point, dextrochère armed, Sable (heraldry), sable, moving from sinister side of the shield and holding a sword high Or, quarter and trappings of the towns of second order.''
Finally, in 1816 under the Restoration, the town returned to its coat of arms from 1697, unable to pay the registration fee to return to the original coat of arms. This coat of arms is now of the commune, the azure and Sun symbolising its seaside character, the sword recalling its military past of garrison town.
The Granville arms appear on the locomotives nos. X4791 and 8719C of the SNCF under the sponsorship of the commune.
The commune also has a logo.
The commune also has a flag representing a quarterly of blue and white, with a white Crosses in heraldry, cross encircled in blue and charged with a representation of the coat of arms in the centre. It is notably used on the commune's yawls.
Gastronomy
Granville is renowned for its marine products, including Granvillaise galette with Pecten maximus, scallops sprinkled with cream, sea bream
Bream ( ) are species of freshwater and marine fish belonging to a variety of genera including '' Abramis'' (e.g., ''A. brama'', the common bream), '' Acanthopagrus'', ''Argyrops'', '' Blicca'', '' Brama'', '' Chilotilapia'', ''Etelis'', '' L ...
in salt crust with virgin sauce ( mussels, shrimps, sea snails and whelks), and the Granvillaise Sole (fish), sole accompanied with mussels and prawns. A speciality of the island quarter of Chausey
Chausey () is a group of small islands, islets and rocks off the coast of Normandy, in the English Channel. It lies from Granville and forms a ''quartier'' of the Granville commune in the Manche ''département''. Chausey forms part of the Chan ...
is also linked: The . On Saturday, a market is held in the town centre to purchase local produce. Finally, the Maurice Marland de Granville Hotel School guarantees the dissemination of knowledge of .
Granville dialect
Beyond the Norman dialect, there a dialect of the Granville area with its expressions. An example expression is ''"achitrer"'' which means "to land a punch".
Granville in the arts and culture
Granville is the subject of several paintings including ''Bateaux à Granville'' [Boats at Granville] painted in 1889 by Maurice Denis
Maurice Denis (; 25 November 1870 – 13 November 1943) was a French painter, decorative artist, and writer. An important figure in the transitional period between impressionism and modern art, he is associated with ''Les Nabis'', symbolism, a ...
, ''Les brisants à la pointe de Granville'' [The breakers at the tip of Granville] painted around 1852 by Paul Huet and kept in the Louvre, ''Plage de Granville'' [Beach of Granville] painted in 1863 by Eugène Isabey.
Myths and legends
* The Chausey Islands are part of the ancient , a former place of Paganism, pagan worship, which covered the bay and which reportedly disappeared in 709AD under the waves.
* According to a popular belief, the Chausey Islands consist of 52 islands at high tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another.
Tide tables ...
and 365 at low tide, as the number of weeks and days in a year, respectively.
Gallery
Granville.jpg, A general view of Granville from the ramparts
Granville 02.JPG, The Plat-Gousset beach
Granville7.jpg, The façade of a Granville house on the rampart, ''Rue du Midi''.
See also
* Communes of the Manche department
* Douzelage
* Gare de Granville
* Granville (disambiguation)
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Notes
References
Bibliography
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External links
Granville town council website
* Georges Vérez. sculptor of Granville War Memorial.
{{authority control
Communes of Manche
Ports and harbours of the English Channel
Populated places established in the 12th century
Seaside resorts in France