Royan

Royan
The port of Royan
The port of Royan
Coat of arms of Royan
Location of Royan
Map
Royan is located in France
Royan
Royan
Royan is located in Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Royan
Royan
Coordinates: 45°37′N 1°02′W / 45.62°N 1.03°W / 45.62; -1.03
CountryFrance
RegionNouvelle-Aquitaine
DepartmentCharente-Maritime
ArrondissementRochefort
CantonRoyan
IntercommunalityCA Royan Atlantique
Government
 • Mayor (2020–2026) Patrick Marengo[1]
Area
1
19.30 km2 (7.45 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)[2]
19,029
 • Density990/km2 (2,600/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
17306 /17200
Elevation0–35 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]

  1. ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Populations légales 2021" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
  3. ^ Commune de Royan (17306), INSEE
  4. ^ "Royan sacrée ville d'Art et d'histoire".
  5. ^ "Royan en chiffres".