Saint-Jean-de-Monts

Saint-Jean-de-Monts (pronounced [sɛ̃ ʒɑ̃ də mɔ̃]) is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France.

Saint-Jean-de-Monts
Town centre of Saint-Jean-de-Monts
Coat of arms
Location of Saint-Jean-de-Monts
Saint-Jean-de-Monts
Saint-Jean-de-Monts
Coordinates: 46°47′37″N 2°03′31″W
CountryFrance
RegionPays de la Loire
DepartmentVendée
ArrondissementLes Sables-d'Olonne
CantonSaint-Jean-de-Monts
IntercommunalityOcéan Marais de Monts
Government
  Mayor (20202026) Véronique Launay
Area
1
61.72 km2 (23.83 sq mi)
Population
 (2017-01-01)[1]
8,634
  Density140/km2 (360/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
  Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Geography

Church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste.

The town is situated in the west of the département, between Notre-Dame-de-Monts and Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez. It is split in two by a long plantation of pine trees, stretching from north to south along the coast. The centre-ville lies to the east of the cordon, while the seafront forms a center to the west.

Saint-Jean-de-Monts is known for its sandy beach, more than eight kilometres long. Due to its often low tides, it offers a great area for walkers, fishermen, and beach games.

The town is noteworthy for the recent restoration of its seafront,[2] a town planning operation taking over five years to complete. The result now means a network of footpaths and cycle tracks are enhanced by plants, flowers and shrubs.

The predominantly flat terrain has allowed for the development of a vast 500 km²[3] network of cyclepaths, known as the Sentiers Cyclables de la Vendée. These paths stretch from the island of Noirmoutier in the north, south past Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie.

History

Since 1867,[4] bathers have been coming to the beach at Saint-Jean-de-Monts in large numbers, and since 1892 it has been the inspiration for many artists. The original church still lies in the center of the old village.

Demographics

Historical population of Saint-Jean-de-Monts
Year1962196819751982199019992006
Population4715514655405435595968867837
From the year 1963 on: No double countingresidents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) are counted only once.

Places of interest

  • The pier on the beach (build in 1964) acts as a pontoon over the sea, and is a popular location for fishermen and walkers, although, unfortunately, during the storm of February 2010, the pier was significantly damaged. It has been completely deconstructed during the winter 2011. The new version of the pier is in progress, a part of it will be available for the summer 2012 and the entire pier will be finished in 2013.
  • A sculpture of two birds is in memory of Auguste Lepère and Charles Milcendeau.
  • A sculpture by Henry MURAIL (1932-2012), La Baigneuse, at the end of "avenue de la mer", in front of the sea (1999).
  • The national forest of 280 hectares, in the heart of the Breton / Vendée marshes, was planted under Napoléon III.

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.