The Cité de la Mer ("city of the sea") is a

maritime museum A maritime museum (sometimes nautical museum) is a museum specializing in the display of objects relating to ships and travel on large bodies of water. A subcategory of maritime museums are naval museums, which focus on navy, navies and the m ...

Cherbourg Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The museum is in the cruise terminal of Cherbourg. This monument was built in 1933; it is one of the bigger art-deco monuments of today.

History

The former transatlantic maritime station is the largest French monument in the art deco style. It was built by René Levavasseur from 1928, in collaboration with the engineers Chalos and Fleury, in reinforced concrete, light bricks and concrete stones imitating granite. Nicknamed Notre-Dame des Queens, in reference to the

Cunard Line The Cunard Line ( ) is a British shipping and an international cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its four ships have been r ...

liners, it was inaugurated on July 30, 1933, by the President of the Republic

Albert Lebrun Albert François Lebrun (; 29 August 1871 – 6 March 1950) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1932 to 1940. He was the last president of the Third Republic. He was a member of the centre-right Democratic Republica ...

. The whole was made up of the 240 m train hall, and the transatlantic hall – surmounted by a 70 m bell tower – (with a hall for lost steps, company offices, shops, etc.) and the covered gallery of 'boarding. Four trains and two ocean liners could be accommodated simultaneously. It was dynamited by the Germans on the night of June 23, 1944, partially rebuilt from 1948 before being re-inaugurated in 1952 in the presence of

Antoine Pinay Antoine Pinay (; 30 December 1891 – 13 December 1994) was a French conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1952 to 1953 and French Foreign Minister from 1955 to 1956. Life Antoine Pinay was born on 30 December 1891 ...

. Abandoned in the 1970s, the transatlantic ferry terminal was partially demolished, before being listed as a historical monument in 1989 and then in 2000. The idea of a museum around the Redoutable, the first French nuclear submarine, dates from the launch of the submarine's dismantling at the end of the 1980s. The president of the urban community of Cherbourg (CUC), and also Minister of Tourism, Olivier Stirn, launched a study for the design of such a museum, but the sized discouraged elected officials. However, in 1995 a few active associations succeeded in having the municipal councils of the agglomeration register the transfer of competence to the CUC for the design, construction and management of a naval museum, within the transatlantic station. Supported by Bernard Cauvin, president of the CUC, the project is also part of the rehabilitation of the former maritime station of René Levavasseur, the largest "art deco" monument in France, entrusted to the architect Jean-François Milou. Celebrating the maritime ambition of the Cherbourg conurbation, La Cité de la Mer has been a success since its opening, becoming the second most visited paid tourist site in the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

, after the

Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey The Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey is an abbey located within the city and island of Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, in the department of Manche. The abbey is an essential part of the structural composition of the town the feudal society constructed. ...

. At the end of 2012, it welcomed its 2,500,000th visitor and its 3,000,000th on May 5, 2015. The 4,000,000th mark was crossed in September 2019.

Collection

It was opened in 2002 as a scientific and historical museum, around four axes: * the '' Redoutable'', first

SSBN A ballistic missile submarine is a submarine capable of deploying submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) with nuclear warheads. These submarines became a major weapon system in the Cold War because of their nuclear deterrence capabil ...

submarine of the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

, now a museum and the largest submarine in the world open to the public * a permanent exposition * a cylindrical aquarium, 8 metres wide and 10 metres high, which displays the successive marine life forms according to the depth * a great hall where temporary expositions are held * a new underwater expedition in a virtual, digitised building.

External links

*
Official Cité de la Mer museum website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cite de la Mer Maritime museums in France Museums in Manche Cherbourg-Octeville Buildings and structures completed in 2002 Museums established in 2002 2002 establishments in France 21st-century architecture in France