Le Havre

Le Havre

LeHavre.jpg
Coat of arms of Le Havre
Le Havre is located in France
Le Havre
Administration
Country France
Region Upper Normandy
Department Seine-Maritime
Arrondissement Rouen
Intercommunality CODAH
Mayor Antoine Rufenacht (UMP)
(2008 - 2014)
Statistics
Land area1 46.95 km2 (18.13 sq mi)
Population2 179,751  (2007)
 - Ranking 12th in France
 - Density 3,829 /km2 (9,920 /sq mi)
Urban area 182.45 km2 (70.44 sq mi) (2006)
 - Population 246,195 (2006)
Metro area 615.39 km2 (237.60 sq mi) (2006)
 - Population 291,765 (2006)
Time zone CET (UTC +1)
Website www.ville-lehavre.fr
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.
Le Havre, the City Rebuilt by Auguste Perret*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party  France
Type Cultural
Criteria ii, iv
Reference 1181
Region** Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription 2005  (29th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List.
** Region as classified by UNESCO.

Le Havre (French pronunciation: [lə avʁ]) is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total population of the greater Le Havre conurbation is smaller than that of Rouen's. It is also the second largest subprefecture in France (after Reims). Its port is the second busiest in France (after that of Marseille). Since 1974 it has been the see of the diocese of Le Havre.

Le Havre was originally named Franciscopolis after King Francis I, who founded the city in 1517. A chapel known as Notre-Dame-de-Grâce ("Our Lady of Grace") existed at the site before the city was established, and the denomination lent its name to the port, to be called Le Havre (or Le Hable) de Grâce ("the harbor of grace"). The shortened name Le Havre, as used in modern times, simply translates as "the port" or "the harbor".

While under German occupation, the city was devastated in 1944 during the Battle of Normandy in World War II; 5,000 people were killed and 12,000 homes destroyed, mainly by Allied air attacks. After the war, the center was rebuilt in the modernist style by Auguste Perret. Le Havre was honored with the Legion of Honor award on 18 July 1949. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.

Le Havre was once synonymous with urban gloom and greyness. The city's inhabitants have done much to change this; as a result of substantial improvements, Le Havre is now spoken of as the Brasilia of France. .

Le Havre's home port code is LH.

Contents

History

The name Le Havre simply means the harbour or the port. Le Havre was founded as a new port by royal command, partly to replace the historic harbors of Harfleur and Honfleur which had become increasingly impractical due to silting-up. The city was founded in 1517, when it was named Franciscopolis after Francis I of France, and subsequently named Le Havre-de-Grâce ("Harbor of Grace") after an existing chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce ("our Lady of grace").

In the 18th century, Le Havre began to grow, as trade from the West Indies was added to that of France and Europe. In 1759 the city was the staging point for a planned French invasion of Britain - thousands of troops, horses and ships being assembled there - only for many of the barges to be destroyed in the Raid on Le Havre and the invasion to be abandoned following the naval defeat at Quiberon.

On 19 November 1793, the city changed its name to Hâvre de Marat and later Hâvre-Marat in honor of the recently deceased Jean-Paul Marat, who was seen as a martyr of the French Revolution. By early 1795, however, Marat's memory had become somewhat tarnished, and on January 13, 1795, the town's name became simply Le Havre.

During the 19th century, it became an industrial centre.

The German-occupied city was devastated during the Battle of Normandy in World War II: 5,000 people were killed and 12,000 homes were totally destroyed, mainly by Allied air attacks. Despite this, Le Havre became the location of one of the biggest Replacement Depots, or "Repple Depples" in the European Theatre of operations in WWII. Thousands of American replacement troops poured through the city before being deployed to combat operations.[1] After the war, the centre was rebuilt in modernist style by Auguste Perret. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005. UNESCO declared the city center of Le Havre a World Heritage Site on 15 July 2005, in honoring the "innovative utilization of concrete's potential." The 133-hectare space that represents, according to UNESCO, "an exceptional example of architecture and town planning of the post-war era," is one of the rare contemporary World Heritage Sites in Europe.

Heraldry

Arms of Le Havre

The arms of Le Havre are blazoned :
Gules, a salamandre argent crowned and on flames Or, on a chief azure, 3 fleurs de lys Or, and on a franc-canton sable a lion Or armed and langued gules

Arms of Le Havre under the 1st Empire.

The Arms of Le Havre under the 1st Empire.

Geography

Le Havre is the second largest subprefecture in France, and the administrative center of the district bordering the Sainte-Adresse commune.

Location

View of the beach of Le Havre and a part of the rebuilt city

Le Havre is situated in the southwest of the Pays de Caux region. The city is bordered by the seashore of the English Channel to the west, the mouth of the Seine to the south, and the coast to the north. Historically, the Seine marked a natural boundary between Haute-Normandie and Basse-Normandie; the city of Honfleur has often been referred to by the Havrais as being "on the other coast." As a port city on an exposed marshy coast, Le Havre has long suffered from poor land links. New road connections have been built since; among the most notable is the Pont de Normandie, which connects the two banks of the Seine and reduces traveling time between Honfleur and Le Havre to less than 15 minutes.

Geography

Le Havre is naturally separated into two areas by a cliff.

A road tunnel and funicular railway ease transport between the lower and upper cities.

Climate

Climate data for Le Havre
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 6
(43)
6
(43)
8
(46)
10
(50)
13
(55)
16
(61)
18
(64)
18
(64)
17
(63)
13
(55)
9
(48)
7
(45)
12
(54)
Average low °C (°F) 3
(37)
3
(37)
5
(41)
7
(45)
10
(50)
12
(54)
15
(59)
15
(59)
13
(55)
11
(52)
7
(45)
5
(41)
9
(48)
Source: [2]

Demographics

The population of the Le Havre commune had 190,905 inhabitants in 1999, which makes it the 12th most populous city in France and the most populous in Haute-Normandie (although the total population of the greater Le Havre conurbation is smaller than that of Rouen's). It has seen a drop in population, particularly from 1975 to 1982; during these years of industrial crisis the population fell by 18,494. During the 1980s the population continued to decrease, though less rapidly. Le Havre's city limit had a population of 248,547 in 1999 (25th in France) and the urban area had a population of 296,773. With 20% of the population less than 20 years old, the city of Le Havre is relatively young, even though the population is shrinking. The foreign-born population is estimated at 8,208, 4.3% of the population, also with a tendency to diminish. Due to the economic changes that had affected the city, the CSP greatly evolved in the 1980s; between 1982 and 1999, the number of blue-collar workers decreased by a third (10,593). At the same time, the number of office workers and professionals increased by 24.5%, which partly explains the creation and development of the University of Le Havre.

Main sights

An old house in Le Havre, now Musée du Vieux Havre
Musée des Beaux-Arts André Malraux, Le Havre
Downtown Le Havre
The Abbey of Graville, Le Havre
Le Havre/Seine/Honfleur

Le Havre was heavily bombed during the Second World War. Many historic buildings were lost as a result.

Churches

Museums

Others

Transportation

Le Havre has well developed national road, rail and air links (Octeville airport) and is two hours by train from Paris, with services running to the Gare du Havre. Local transport is based primarily on an extensive bus network. The city has plans for a tram network. A ferry service to Portsmouth in the United Kingdom runs from the Terminal de la Citadelle. The service is operated by LD Lines.

The Port of Le Havre is the largest deep water ocean port of France.

Sports

The town is home to the Le Havre AC football team, who as of 2009-10 play in Ligue 2, the 2nd tier of French football. It also hosted the sailing events for the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics, respectively.

Twin towns

Le Havre is twinned, or has a sister city relationship with:[3]

People

Le Havre was the birthplace of:

References

Sources

Notes

  1. Ambrose, Stephen. Citizen Soldiers, p 274-277.
  2. "Weatherbase". http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=082070&refer=. Retrieved 2007-11-10. 
  3. "Le Havre Website - Twin Towns". lehavre.eu. http://www.lehavre.eu/#Twin_towns. Retrieved 2008-11-29. 
  4. "Saint Petersburg in figures - International and Interregional Ties". Saint Petersburg City Government. http://eng.gov.spb.ru/figures/ities. Retrieved 2008-11-23. 

External links