Saint-Valery-sur-Somme (, literally ''Saint-Valery on Somme''; pcd, Saint-Wary),

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 Somme department, is a seaport and resort on the south bank of the

River Somme The Somme ( , , ) is a river in Picardy, northern France. The river is in length, from its source in the high ground of the former at Fonsomme near Saint-Quentin, to the Bay of the Somme, in the English Channel. It lies in the geological ...

estuary. The town's medieval character and ramparts, its Gothic church and long waterside boardwalk, make it a popular tourist destination.

Geography

The commune lies on the

Hauts-de-France Hauts-de-France (; pcd, Heuts-d'Franche; , also ''Upper France'') is the northernmost Regions of France, region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its Prefectu ...

coast by the Baie de la Somme and at the mouth of the

canalised River engineering is a discipline of civil engineering which studies human intervention in the course, characteristics, or flow of a river with the intention of producing some defined benefit. People have intervened in the natural course and be ...

river Somme. It is north west of

Abbeville Abbeville (, vls, Abbekerke, pcd, Advile) is a commune in the Somme department and in Hauts-de-France region in northern France. It is the chef-lieu of one of the arrondissements of Somme. Located on the river Somme, it was the capital of ...

and to the west of the battlefields of the Somme. Most of the commune lies adjacent to the sea and the Somme river on the Quai du Romerel, Quai Courbet, Quai Jeanne d'Arc, Quai Blavet and the Quai Perree. The oldest part of the commune lies on the northern coast to the north west of the main settlement. To the south is the main road, the CD940 between Abbeville and

Cayeux-sur-Mer Cayeux-sur-Mer (, literally ''Cayeux on Sea''; pcd, Tchéyeu-su-Mér) is a resort town in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. The town is part of the Baie de Somme - Picardie maritime regional natural park project. Its i ...

River Somme

The River Somme is canalised, with sea locks at the eastern end of the town. From Saint-Valery-sur-Somme to Abbeville, the

Canal de la Somme The Canal de la Somme is a canal in northern France. Its total length is 156.4 km with 25 locks, from the English Channel at Saint-Valéry-sur-Somme to the Canal de Saint-Quentin at Saint-Simon. History The Somme River was canalized begi ...

has been completely straightened, after which it follows a winding course to

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

and beyond. Although no longer a busy commercial waterway, it gives an attractive and calm introduction to the French canals and the greater European canal network, thereby avoiding the busy ferry ports of

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

and

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Bill & Laurel Cooper Until Bill's death, Bill & Laurel Cooper were a married couple who were successful co-authors of several nautical books and travelogues. For a record number of decades, they lived afloat on a succession of boats, including a ketch sailing boat, a ...

- Adlard Coles Nautical - 1991 -

Railway

130-T-15_Haine-St-Pierre_Saint-Valery_2016

Saint-Valery has a station (and out-of-season terminus) of the narrow gauge " Chemin de Fer de la Baie de Somme" (Somme Bay Railway), which is now largely a tourist attraction. Running around the entire length of the bay, this railway connects

Le Crotoy Le Crotoy () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. The inhabitants are known as ''Crotellois''. History Isabella of France, queen consort of England, and her son (later Edward III of England) embarked fro ...

with

Noyelles-sur-Mer Noyelles-sur-Mer (, literally ''Noyelles on Sea'') is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Noyelles-sur-Mer is situated on the coast, facing the English Channel, on the D11 and D40 junction, some ...

, and Saint-Valery; in the summer season trains also run from Saint-Valery to

and the sands at Brighton Plage.

Places of interest

*The abbey church * The sea

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

, controlling the flow of the Somme river * The stone tower, where, according to a tradition,

Jeanne d'Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...

was detained * The house where

Anatole France (; born , ; 16 April 1844 – 12 October 1924) was a French poet, journalist, and novelist with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters. He was a member of the Académie França ...

resided

History

The history of the commune dates back to before the era of the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

invasion when it was a small settlement inhabited by

Gauls The Gauls ( la, Galli; grc, Γαλάται, ''Galátai'') were a group of Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age and the Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). They s ...

. The Roman invasion encouraged the small hamlet to grow into a small village and after the Romans left France the village soon came under the power of the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...

. In 611, the monk Gualaric (Walric), also known as

Valery The French name Valery () is a male given name or surname of Germanic origin ''Walaric'' (see Walric of Leuconay), that has often been confused in modern times with the Latin name ''Valerius''—that explains the variant spelling Valéry (). The S ...

, arrived in the area. He installed himself as a hermit on the headland of the site of Leuconaus, now the Cap Hornu. His virtue and miracles quickly attracted disciples. These disciples formed a primitive abbey. The saint was then buried there in 622 and the "Chapelle des marins" was erected in 628 by Saint Blimont over his burial place.

Clotaire II Chlothar II, sometime called "the Young" ( French: le Jeune), (May/June 584 – 18 October 629), was king of Neustria and king of the Franks, and the son of Chilperic I and his third wife, Fredegund. He started his reign as an infant under the r ...

(King of Neustrie) provided the foundations of the new abbey in 627. The relics of the saint attracted many pilgrims to the abbey which had become known as Saint-Valery. During the 8th and 9th century, the abbey and village were plundered and devastated on several occasions by the

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

. The village grew during the 10th and 11th centuries and was historically significant as the site where

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

assembled his fleet before sailing to invade

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 ...

in 1066. During the many wars between the French and the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

the village passed between French, English and Burgundian ownership. The English destroyed the abbey and cloister in order to strengthen the nearby St Valery castle. In 1431,

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...

, captive of the

, was held prisoner in the local prison, whence she was then conveyed to

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 ...

and burnt at the stake. The cell in which she was held can still be found near part of the old village walls. The commune found peace and prosperity during the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. The abbey was rebuilt and still stands today. The activity of the port flourished, thanks to the export of the wines and the growth of the

herring Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae. Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, i ...

industry. It was near enough to

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

to be one of the earlier suppliers of the chasse marée merchants. The commune mirrors the history of France, becoming a site of religious conflict between

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 ...

s and

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 ...

s and later as a source of conflict during the

French revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

. The commune was popular during the 19th century with artists and writers and

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 ...

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

Alfred Sisley Alfred Sisley (; ; 30 October 1839 – 29 January 1899) was an Impressionist landscape painter who was born and spent most of his life in France, but retained British citizenship. He was the most consistent of the Impressionists in his dedicatio ...

and

Edgar Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints and drawings. Degas is es ...

all had villas here at one time or another.

Population

International relations

Saint-Valery-sur-Somme is twinned with: *

Battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

, United Kingdom *

Ronse Ronse (; french: Renaix, ) is a Belgian city and a municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality only encompasses the city of Ronse proper. History Early settlements to 14th century The hills around Ronse show clu ...

, Belgium

References

External links

Commune's official website

* ttp://www.werbeka.com/europa/frankr/stvalere.htm St.Valery-sur-Somme in the Werbeka Netshop {{DEFAULTSORT:Saintvalerysursomme Communes of Somme (department) Populated coastal places in France