Lessay
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Lessay () 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
Manche 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.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, ...
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 ...
. On 1 January 2016, the former commune of
Angoville-sur-Ay Angoville-sur-Ay () is a former commune in the Manche department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the commune of Lessay.Cotentin Peninsula The Cotentin Peninsula (, ; nrf, Cotentîn ), also known as the Cherbourg Peninsula, is a peninsula in Normandy that forms part of the northwest coast of France. It extends north-westward into the English Channel, towards Great Britain. To its w ...
,
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 ...
.


History

It was founded as a monastery but a town grew up around it over the years. The 10th-century
Lessay Abbey , image=LessayAbbaye3.JPG , caption=Lessay Abbey, 2008 , pushpin map=France , coordinates= , location=Lessay, Manche, Normandy , country=France , denomination=Roman Catholic , website= , religious order= Benedictines , parish=Sainte-Opportune , dio ...
is one of the greatest examples of
Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this lat ...
in Normandy. It was largely destroyed by fighting in the town during July–August 1944, but has been rebuilt.


Heraldry


Points of interest

*
LORAN-C transmitter Lessay Loran-C is a hyperbolic radio navigation system that allows a receiver to determine its position by listening to low frequency radio signals that are transmitted by fixed land-based radio beacons. Loran-C combined two different techniques to p ...
* La Foire: the Sainte Croix fair of Lessay is a trade fair established in the 11th century in order to develop commercial activity in the village. For three days in the second week of September, of Lessay is transformed into a marketplace, attracting over 400,000 visitors. The fair offers demonstrations of old and new trades, thousands of stalls selling a range of products from household equipment to animals, food, cars and garden and agricultural tools.''Lessay et son canton à travers les siècles'' by Michel Pinel * Lessay was the location for the studio for English language commercial radio station
Contact 94 Contact 94 was a radio station that broadcast from Lessay in Northern France to Normandy and the Channel Islands between September 1988 and November 1991. The station broadcast on various frequencies during its time on air, including 94.4 FM, 93 ...
which was aimed at the Channel Islands before they had commercial radio of their own. The station launched on 5 September 1988 and closed in 1991.


See also

*
Communes of the Manche department The following is a list of the 446 communes of the Manche department of France. The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2020):Communes of Manche