Royan

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Royan
Commune
The port of Royan
Coat of arms
Location of Royan
Royan Show map of France Royan Show map of Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Coordinates: 45°37′N 1°02′W / 45.62°N 1.03°W / 45.62; -1.03
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department	Charente-Maritime
Arrondissement	Rochefort
Canton	Royan
Intercommunality	CA Royan Atlantique
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Patrick Marengo[1]
Area 1	19.30 km2 (7.45 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[2]	19,029
• Density	990/km2 (2,600/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	17306 /17200
Elevation	0–35 m (0–115 ft) (avg. 20 m or 66 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Royan (French pronunciation: [ʁwajɑ̃]; locally [ʁwejɑ̃] in the Saintongeais dialect; Occitan: Roian) is a commune and town in the south-west of France, in the department of Charente-Maritime in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region.^[3] Capital of the Côte de Beauté, Royan is one of the main French Atlantic coastal resort towns, and has five beaches, a marina for over 1,000 boats, and an active fishing port. As of 2013, the population of the greater urban area was 48,982. The town had 19,029 inhabitants in 2021.

Royan is located on the peninsula of Arvert, at the mouth of the Gironde estuary on its eastern shore. Royan was once of strategic importance, coveted in particular by the Visigoths and the Vikings. During the Reformation the city became a Protestant stronghold, and was besieged and destroyed by King Louis XIII of France (ruled 1610–43). During the Bourbon Restoration (1814–1830), and especially during the Second Empire (1852–1870), Royan was celebrated for its sea baths. It attracted many artists during the Roaring Twenties.

Allied bombing between September 1944 and April 1945 destroyed the town. Known then as the "martyred city", it was declared a "Laboratory of research on urbanism", and it is now a showcase of the Modernist architecture of the 1950s. It was classified as a Town of Art and History (Ville d'Art et d'Histoire) in 2010.^[4] Royan today is a tourist and cultural hub, with some 90,000 visitors each summer season.^[5]