Porquerolles
| Porquerolles | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Waters | Mediterranean Sea | |
| Archipelago | Îles d'Hyères | |
| Geographical location | 43 ° 0 '2 " N , 6 ° 13' 38" E | |
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| length | 7.5 km | |
| width | 3 km | |
| surface | 12.54 km² | |
| Highest elevation | Sémaphore 142 m |
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| Residents | 200 (2004) 16 inhabitants / km² |
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| main place | Porquerolles | |
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The Île de Porquerolles is the largest island in the Hyères archipelago ( Îles d'Hyères or Îles d'or ). It is located off the French Mediterranean coast in the area of the Côte d'Azur near Toulon .
Porquerolles can be reached in a few minutes by ship from the Giens peninsula and other nearby ports. The island has a size of 1254 hectares and lies at the same latitude as the Cap Corse . This results in a particularly southern climate . The island is approx. 7.5 km long and approx. 3 km wide. The coast is around 30 km long. The highest point measures 142 m . On the north side of the island there is a small port and the island town (approx. 350 inhabitants) with restaurants and shops. The church dates from 1849-1851.
There are also some beautiful sandy beaches on the north side of the island: Plage d'Argent in the west, Plage de la Courtade on the east side of the town and Plage de Notre-Dame in the far east of the island. The south coast is rather unsuitable for swimming because the bank slopes steeply. At the southern tip, the Cap d'Arme, there is an old lighthouse .
The island was settled by former soldiers of Napoleon III. In the 20th century, until the late 1930s, the entire island belonged to the Belgian engineer Jean-Francois-Joseph Fournier . He gave it to his wife for the wedding . Fournier had become prosperous with the discovery of gold and silver mines in Mexico , wanted the island to be self-sufficient , built a power station , settled craftsmen of all kinds on the island and founded schools for their children.
In 1971 Madame Pompidou convinced her husband, the French President Georges Pompidou , to buy the island from Fournier's daughters on behalf of the state. It was placed under the protection of the Port-Cros National Park and the State Institute for Marine Botany ( Conservatoire Botanique National Méditerranéen de Porquerolles ). The island has therefore retained its original charm despite the streams of tourists rushing to it every day, especially in summer (up to 30 mainland visitors to each of the island's inhabitants) .
To protect against the uncontrolled spread of forest fires , a strip of land was cleared and leased to an Alsatian winemaker to plant vines. The Domaine de la Courtade made from these vines now enjoys an excellent reputation.
Some fortifications scattered across the island remind of the eventful past of the island . Fort Sainte-Agathe, enthroned above the island town , can be visited from June to September. Among other things, numerous ancient finds from the sea floor are shown here. Every year in July, the concert program of the Jazz à Porquerolles music festival takes place there on five consecutive days .
The novels Mein Freund Maigret (original title: Mon ami Maigret ) and The Holidays of Monsieur Mahé (original title: Le cercle des Mahé ) by Georges Simenon are set on the island.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ The island of Porquerolles off the Côte d'Azur. (No longer available online.) In: Radio Feature. HR Info, archived from the original on October 3, 2016 ; accessed on October 3, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
