Saint-Palais-sur-Mer

Saint-Palais-sur-Mer
region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department	Charente-Maritime
Arrondissement	Rochefort
Canton	La Tremblade
Community association	Royan Atlantique
Coordinates	45 ° 39 ′ N , 1 ° 5 ′ W Coordinates: 45 ° 39 ′ N , 1 ° 5 ′ W
height	0-50 m
surface	15.69 km 2
Residents	3,897 (January 1, 2017)
Population density	248 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code	17420
INSEE code	17380
	; Saint-Palais-sur-Mer - town center ( Place du Commerce )

Saint-Palais-sur-Mer is a southwestern French municipality with 3897 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) in the department of Charente-Maritime in the region Nouvelle-Aquitaine .

location

Saint-Palais-sur-Mer is located on the Côte de Beauté on the southwest bank of the Arvert peninsula in the historic cultural landscape of the Saintonge , which in turn is part of the Charente landscape . The city of Royan is only five kilometers southeast.

Population development

year	1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2006	2016
Residents	2192	2209	2127	2370	2736	3343	3769	3889

In 1800, Saint-Palais-sur-Mer had only 720 inhabitants. After that, the number of inhabitants grew steadily (1900: 695/1931: 1,207). In the last few decades the population has increased significantly again, which is mainly due to the creation of jobs as a result of the increase in tourism and, compared to the city of Royan, slightly lower rents and land prices.

economy

Centuries ago agriculture played the dominant role in the municipality's economic life. This belongs to the Bois ordinaires et communs of the Cognac wine-growing region , but because of the sales crisis for expensive brandies and even for wine, hardly any vines are planted; the farmers in the area have returned to 'normal' agriculture. Tourism has played an important role in the economic life of the place since the 1960s.

history

People lived in the area as early as prehistoric times, which can be proven by the many processed flint finds. The Romans left no traces on the municipality, but several small finds have been made from Gallo-Roman times. In a document from the 11th century, Saint-Palais ( Sanctus Palladius ) is mentioned as a parish that belonged to the manor ( seigneurie ) of the Abbey of Vaux-sur-Mer . The Romanesque church was built in the 12th century, the tower of which is still standing today. The Hundred Years War (1337-1453) left no traces, but the church of the small fishing village was badly damaged in the Huguenot Wars (1562-1598). According to a census from 1682, two-thirds of the families adhered to the Protestant faith preached by John Calvin in Angoulême in the 1530s and spread by his disciples in the south and south-west of France. The Edict of Fontainebleau (1685), with which the relative religious freedom enshrined in the Edict of Nantes (1598) and the Peace of Alès (1629) was finally abolished, prompted many Protestants to emigrate. Most, however, stayed in the country and practiced their faith in secret ( Église du Desert ). With Marshal and Governor Jean Charles de Saint-Nectaire , who was comparatively tolerant of religious issues, the situation for Protestants on the Arvert peninsula improved again around the middle of the 18th century. In 1752 - not without difficulties - the first Protestant temple was built in Saint-Palais. Also as early as the 18th century, but increasingly in the first half of the 19th century, the constant migration of the sand dunes was brought to a standstill by afforestation with maritime pines . From the middle of the 19th century, Saint-Palais also benefited from the beginning of beach tourism in Royan.

Attractions

Of the former Catholic parish church of Saint-Palais , only the Romanesque apse and the square below but octagonal tower remain - after the nave was destroyed in the religious disputes in the second half of the 16th century . The external design of the apse, which was stabilized by the subsequent addition of buttresses , is quite simple: the simply recessed windows are not accompanied by set columns, thick pilaster strips without capitals divide the structure vertically and protrude into an unadorned console frieze below the eaves ; a horizontal dividing element z. B. in the form of a cornice is missing. The former church building has been recognized as a monument historique since 1973 .

Not far from the old church is the neo-Romanesque church Notre-Dame du Platin , begun in 1909 and completed in 1911 , which with its triumphal arch scheme in the portal zone, the archivolt portal, the three-part facade elevation and the conspicuous arcade arches on the outer walls a multitude of elements of the Romanesque church building in the Saintonge picks up. Several perfectly crafted figurative capitals and console figures are remarkable. The single-nave church has a transept and is covered by a wooden roof truss. Ultimately, however, the church does not achieve the charm and charisma of the old Romanesque churches in the area (e.g. Ste-Radegonde de Talmont ).

The man-made park Raymond Vignes with its tree-lined lakeside is ideal for walks and boat trips.

The coast of Saint-Palais is rocky in places. The Pont du Diable, which is sometimes washed under by the sea, is a popular photo opportunity.

Saint-Palais has three beaches: Plage du Platin , Plage de Saint-Palais and the beach in the suburb of Nauzan, just a kilometer south-east .

Saint-Palais-sur-Mer
city Park
Coast with Pont du Diable
Neo-Romanesque Church
Former church
Saint-Palais beach

Partner communities

Steißlingen , Baden-Württemberg (since 1992)

literature

Le Patrimoine des Communes de la Charente-Maritime. Flohic Editions, Volume 2, Paris 2002, ISBN 2-84234-129-5 , pp. 781-786.

Web links

Commons : Saint-Palais-sur-Mer - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

^ Ancienne Église, Saint-Palais-sur-Mer in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)

[1] Ancienne Église, Saint-Palais-sur-Mer in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)