Arcachon ( ; ) 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 southwestern French department of Gironde. It is a popular seaside resort on the

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 ...

coast southwest of

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 prefect ...

, in the

Landes forest The Landes forest (; La forêt des Landes in French) in the Landes de Gascogne (las Lanas de Gasconha in the Gascon language), in the historic Gascony natural region of southwestern France now known as Aquitaine, is the largest man-made woodland ...

. It has a sandy beach and a mild climate said to be favourable for invalids suffering from pulmonary complaints. Arcachon is twinned with five cities. Arcachon SPOT 1036

History

On 2 May 1857, Emperor Napoleon III signed an imperial decree declaring that Arcachon was now an autonomous municipality; coincidentally, the railway line extension from

to Arcachon had been completed that same year. At that time, Arcachon was scarcely more than a forest of pine trees, oaks and strawberry trees (

arbutus ''Arbutus'' is a genus of 12 accepted speciesAct. Bot. Mex no.99 Pátzcuaro abr. 2012.''Arbutus bicolor''/ref> of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae, native to warm temperate regions of the Mediterranean, western Europe, the Canary Islan ...

), with no road links and few real houses, with a population fewer than 400 people, mostly fishermen and peasants. In earlier years, when some hygienists began to recommend sea bathing, three sea establishments were laid out by investors to attract the Bordeaux bourgeoisie and other wealthy people. This was the beginning of a new lifestyle, and some of the locals got the opportunity to claim their independence from

La Teste-de-Buch La Teste-de-Buch (; oc, La Tèsta (de Bug) ) is a commune in the Gironde department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Southwestern France. It is located on the south shore of Arcachon Bay, lying in the southwestern part of Gironde. It is the largest of fo ...

, which owned their properties, in order to found a "free" new town, Arcachon. Until 1950, tuberculosis patients also visited Arcachon for fresh-air treatments. Arcachon is known for the "Arcachonnaise", the local name for an

Arcachon villa Arcachon is known for the Arcachonnaise, the local name for an Arcachon villa, which is the architectural style of many of the older houses built in France. It is a type of Victorian architecture. See also *Arcachon Bay *Communes of the Gironde d ...

, the architectural style of many of the older houses built there in the nineteenth century. The

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

established a naval air station on 8 June 1918 to operate

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their technological characteri ...

s during World War I. The base closed shortly after the

First Armistice at Compiègne The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, sea, and air in World War I between the Entente and their last remaining opponent, Germany. Previous armistices ...

Population

The historic populations of Arcachon from 1861 until 2017 are shown in the table below.

Geography

At its southern entrance from the Atlantic Ocean,

Arcachon Bay Arcachon Basin or alternatively Arcachon Bay (French: ''Bassin d'Arcachon'') is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean on the southwest coast of France, situated in Pays de Buch between the Côte d'Argent and the Côte des Landes, in the region of Aquitai ...

is crowned by Europe's largest sand dune, the Dune du Pilat, nearly long, wide, reaching in height, and moving inland at rate of a year. Arcachon is one of the largest towns within the

, alongside Arcachon, Dax, and Mont-de-Marsan. The bay provides excellent conditions for growing

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 and around 175 hectares of the bay is dedicated to

oyster farming Oyster farming is an aquaculture (or mariculture) practice in which oysters are bred and raised mainly for their pearls, shells and inner organ tissue, which is eaten. Oyster farming was practiced by the ancient Romans as early as the 1st century ...

. The city enjoys a mild climate thanks to the Gulf Stream, a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current originating from the gulf of Mexico.

Transport

The nearest airport is

Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport (french: link=no, Aéroport de Bordeaux-Mérignac) is the international airport of Bordeaux, in south-western France. It is situated in the ''commune'' of Mérignac, west of Bordeaux, within the ''département' ...

Arcachon station Arcachon station (French: ''Gare d'Arcachon'') is a railway station located in Arcachon, Gironde, south-western France. The station is located on the Lamothe–Arcachon railway. The train services are operated by SNCF. Train services *High sp ...

is daily served by the

TER Nouvelle-Aquitaine TER Nouvelle-Aquitaine is the regional rail network serving the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It is operated by the French national railway company SNCF. It was formed in 2017 from the previous TER networks TER Aquitaine, TER ...

trains from Bordeaux and also by the

TGV Atlantique The TGV Atlantique (TGV-A) is a class of high-speed trains used in France by SNCF; they were built by Alstom between 1988 and 1992, and were the second generation of TGV trains, following on from the TGV Sud-Est. 105 bi-current sets, numbered ...

from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

on weekends. Public transportation is operated by buses. Boat excursions around

are provided for tourism, and boat shuttles offer transport to Cap ferret, Dune du palat, Le Canon, Le Moulleau, Andernos and Banc D'Arguin. Arcachon Gare R01.jpg, Arcachon railway station Photo bus Baïa Arcachon ligne 1.jpg, City buses

People

Humbert Balsan Humbert Jean René Balsan (21 August 1954 – 10 February 2005) was a French film producer and chairman of the European Film Academy. He was known for securing financing and distribution for diverse and often challenging films. In February 2005 ...

- film producer, was born in Arcachon in 1954. * Carmen Bernos de Gasztold - poet, was born in Arcachon in 1919. * Sylvie Caster writer and journalist, was born in Arcachon in 1952. * Alexandre Dumas - writer, once lived in Arcachon's Ville d'Hiver. *

Ramón Emeterio Betances Ramón Emeterio Betances y Alacán (April 8, 1827 – September 16, 1898) was a Puerto Rican independence advocate and medical doctor. He was the primary instigator of the Grito de Lares revolution and is considered to be the father of the Pu ...

- Puerto Rican politician, spent close to six months at Arcachon shortly before his death in 1898. *

Jean Périsson Jean Périsson (6 July 1924 in Arcachon – 18 February 2019) was a French Conducting, conductor. Career A pupil of Jean Fournet, he won the first prize at the Besançon conducting competition in 1952. He was assistant to Igor Markevitch at the Sa ...

- composer, was born here in 1924 * Louise Talma - composer, was born here in 1906. *

Charles Tournemire Charles Arnould Tournemire (22 January 1870 – 3 or 4 November 1939) was a French composer and organist, notable partly for his improvisations, which were often rooted in the music of Gregorian chant. His compositions include eight symphoni ...

- composer-organist, died here in 1939. On the other side of the Bassin d'Arcachon is

Cap Ferret Cap Ferret (English: ''Cape Ferret'') is a headland, situated at the south end of the ''commune'' of Lège-Cap-Ferret in the French ''department'' of Gironde and ''region'' of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The headland takes the form of a spit, which sepa ...

, a popular resort for celebrities including

Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He most recently coached Spanish club Real Madrid and is one of the mos ...

and Jean Pierre Pernaut, who have holiday homes.

Twin towns – sister cities

Arcachon is twinned with: *

Aveiro, Portugal Aveiro ( or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. In 2021, the population was 80,880, in an area of : it is the second most populous city in the Centro Region of Portugal (after Coimbra). Along with the neighbouring city of Ílhavo, Aveiro ...

Gardone Riviera Gardone Riviera ( Gardesano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy. It is situated on the western shore of Lake Garda. Twin towns Gardone Riviera is twinned with: * Arcachon, France, since 1980 * Pescara, Italy, s ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Goslar Goslar (; Eastphalian: ''Goslär'') is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Goslar and located on the northwestern slopes of the Harz mountain range. The Old Town of Goslar and the Mines ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Pescara Pescara (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Pescàrë; nap, label= Pescarese, Piscàrë) is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 119,217 (2018) residents (and approxim ...

* Amherst, Massachusetts,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

References

External links

Official web site

Dune du Pyla site

Air photography of Arcachon

{{Authority control Communes of Gironde Subprefectures in France Port cities and towns on the French Atlantic coast