La Rochelle

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La Rochelle

La Rochelle is a city in western France

France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay

Bay of Biscay

The Bay of Biscay is a Headlands and bays of the North Atlantic Ocean. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest, France south to the Spain border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Punta de Estaca de Bares, and is named for the Spanish province of Biscay....
, a part of the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres . It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface....
. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime

Charente-Maritime

Charente-Maritime is a departments of France on the west coast of France named after the Charente River....
department.

The city is connected to the Île de Ré

Île de Ré

Bridge

A bridge is a structure built to span a gorge, valley, road, Rail tracks, river, body of water, or any other physical obstacle, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle....
- the longest in France - completed on May 19, 1988. Its harbour opens into a protected strait, the Pertuis d'Antioche

Pertuis d'Antioche

The Pertuis d'Antioche is a strait on the Atlantic coast of Western France, located between the two islands ?le de R? and Oleron and the continental coast, between the cities of La Rochelle and the naval arsenal of Rochefort, Charente-Maritime....
.

History
Antiquity
The area of La Rochelle was occupied in antiquity

Classical antiquity

Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome....
by the Gaul

Gaul

Gaul is the name used for the region of Western Europe comprising part of present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the River Rhine....
tribe of the Santones

Santones

The Santones were a tribe of ancient Gaul located in the modern region of Saintonge and around the city of Saintes, city to which they gave they name. The Romans occupied the territory of the Santones from the 1st century BC....
, who gave their name to the nearby region of Saintonge

Saintonge

Saintonge is a small region on the Atlantic Ocean coast of France within the d?partement Charente-Maritime, west and south of Charente in the administrative region of Poitou-Charentes....
and the city of Saintes

Saintes

Saintes is a Communes of France in western France, in the Charente-Maritime Departments of France of which it is a sous-pr?fecture....
.

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Encyclopedia

La Rochelle is a city in western France

France

Bay of Biscay

Atlantic Ocean

Charente-Maritime

Charente-Maritime is a departments of France on the west coast of France named after the Charente River....
department.

The city is connected to the Île de Ré

Île de Ré

Bridge

Pertuis d'Antioche

History

Antiquity

The area of La Rochelle was occupied in antiquity

Classical antiquity

Gaul

Santones

Saintonge

Saintes

Saintes is a Communes of France in western France, in the Charente-Maritime Departments of France of which it is a sous-pr?fecture....
. The Romans then occupied the area, where they developed salt production along the coast as well as wine production, which was then reexported throughout the Empire. Roman villas were found at Saint-Éloi and at Les Minimes

Les Minimes

Les Minimes is the largest marina in France for pleasure boats. It is located in the city of La Rochelle.Its named is derived from the establishment of a convent of the Fr?res Minimes in this area during the Middle Ages....
, as well as salt evaporation pond

Salt evaporation pond

Salt evaporation ponds are shallow man-made ponds designed to produce salt from sea water. The seawater is fed into large ponds and water is drawn out through natural evaporation which allows the salt to be subsequently harvested....
s dating to the same period.

Foundation

La Rochelle was founded during the 10th century, and became an important harbour from the 12th century. In 1137, Guillaume X, Duke of Aquitaine

William X of Aquitaine

File:Guillaume_X_Duc_de_Bordeaux_890mg.jpgWilliam X , called the Saint, was Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, and Count of Poitou between 1126 and 1137....
essentially made La Rochelle a free port and gave it the right to establish itself as a commune

Medieval commune

Communes in Europe during the Middle Ages were sworn allegiances of mutual defense among the citizens of a town or city. They took many forms, and varied widely in organization and makeup....
. Fifty years later Eleanor of Aquitaine

Eleanor of Aquitaine

Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages.Eleanor succeeded her father as suo jure Duchess of Aquitaine and Countess of Poitiers at the age of fifteen, and thus became the most eligible bride in Europe....
upheld the communal charter promulgated by her father, and for the first time in France, a city mayor was named for La Rochelle, Guillaume de Montmirail

Guillaume de Montmirail

Guillaume de Montmirail was a French nobleman, who was elected the first mayor of La Rochelle in 1199. He was also the first mayor of French history....
. Guillaume was assisted in his responsibilities by 24 municipal magistrates, and 75 notables who had jurisdiction over the inhabitants. Under the communal charter, the city obtained many privileges, such as the right to mint its own coins, and to operate some businesses free of royal taxes, dispositions which would favour the development of the entrepreuneurial middle-class (bourgeoisie

Bourgeoisie

Bourgeoisie is a classification used in analyzing human societies to describe a social class of people. Historically, the bourgeoisie comes from the middle or merchant classes of the Middle Ages, whose status or power came from employment, education, and wealth, as distinguished from those whose power came from being born into an aristocrati...
).

The main activities of the city were in the areas of maritime commerce and trade, especially with England

England

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
and Spain

Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
. In 1196, a wealthy bourgeois named Alexandre Auffredi

Alexandre Auffredi

Alexandre Auffredi was a wealthy bourgeois of the city of La Rochelle in France, who in 1196 sent a fleet of seven ships to Africa to tap the riches of the continent....
sent a fleet of seven ships to Africa to tap the riches of the continent. He went bankrupt and went into poverty as he waited for the return of his ships, but they finally returned seven years later filled with riches.

Until the 15th century, La Rochelle was to be the largest French harbour on the Atlantic coast, dealing mainly in wine, salt and cheese.

Hundred Years War

, a "double d'or", minted in La Rochelle in 1420. Cabinet des Médailles

Cabinet des Médailles

The Cabinet des M?dailles, or Cabinet de France, more formally known as Le d?partement des Monnaies, M?dailles et Antiquit?s de la Biblioth?que Nationale, is a department of the Biblioth?que nationale de France in Paris, housed in its former premises in rue de Richelieu....
.]] The naval Battle of La Rochelle

Battle of La Rochelle

The naval Battle of La Rochelle took place on 22 June 1372 between a Castilian-French and an English fleet. The Castilians had 22 galerian ships while the English had 50 atlantic vessels....
took place on 22 June 1372 during the Hundred Years War between a Castilian-French and an English fleet. The Spanish had 60 ships and the English 40. They also had more knights and men than the English. The French and Castilians decisively defeated the English, securing French control of the Channel

English Channel

The English Channel is an Arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest, to only in the Strait of Dover....
for the first time since the Battle of Sluys

Battle of Sluys

The decisive naval Battle of Sluys was fought on 24 June 1340 as one of the opening conflicts of the Hundred Years' War. It is historically important in that it resulted in the destruction of most of France's fleet, making a French invasion of England impossible, and ensuring that the remainder of the war would be fought mostly in France....
in 1340.

Sieges of La Rochelle

During the Renaissance

Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe....
, La Rochelle adopted Protestant ideas, and from 1568 became a centre for the Huguenots. The city was besieged

Siege of La Rochelle (1572-1573)

The Siege of La Rochelle was a military siege of the Huguenot-held city of La Rochelle by Catholic troops during the fourth phase of the French Wars of Religion ....
during the French Wars of Religion

French Wars of Religion

The French Wars of Religion is the name given to a period of civil war and military operations, primarily between France Roman Catholic Church and Protestantism , which also involved the factional struggles between the aristocratic houses of France such as the House of Bourbon and House of Guise ....
. Under Henry IV the city enjoyed a certain freedom and prosperity until the 1620s, but the city entered in conflict with the central authority of the King Louis XIII

Louis XIII of France

Louis XIII reigned as List of French monarchs and List of Navarrese monarchs from 1610 to 1643....
, when cannon shots were exchanged on September 10 1627 with Royal troops. This resulted in the Siege of La Rochelle

Siege of La Rochelle

File:Plan Of The Siege Of La Rochelle in 1628.jpgThe Siege of La Rochelle was a result of a war between the French royal forces of Louis XIII of France and the Huguenots of La Rochelle in 1627-1628....
in which Cardinal Richelieu blockaded the city for 14 months, until the city surrendered and lost its mayor and its privileges. The growing persecution of the Huguenots culminated with the revocation of the Edict of Nantes

Edict of Nantes

The Edict of Nantes was issued on 13 April 1598 by Henry IV of France to grant the Calvinism Protestants of France substantial rights in a nation still considered essentially Catholicism....
by Louis XIV

Louis XIV of France

Louis XIV ruled as List of French monarchs and of King of Navarre. He ascended the throne a few months before his fifth birthday, but did not assume actual personal control of the government until the death of his prime minister , the Italians Jules Cardinal Mazarin, in 1661....
. Many Huguenots emigrated, founding such cities as New Rochelle in the vicinity of today's New York

New York

The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
in 1689. La Rochelle, and the siege of 1627 form much of the backdrop of the later chapters of Alexandre Dumas, père

Alexandre Dumas, père

Alexandre Dumas, p?re , born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his numerous historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world....
's classic novel, The Three Musketeers
The Three Musketeers

The Three Musketeers is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, p?re. It recounts the adventures of a young man named d'Artagnan after he leaves home to become a Musketeers of the Guard....
.

La Rochelle and the New World

Because of its western location, which saved days of sailing time, La Rochelle enjoyed successful fishing in the western Atlantic and trading with the New World

New World

The New World is one of the names used for the non-Eurasian/non-African parts of the Earth, specifically the Americas and Australasia. When the term originated in the late 15th century, the Americas were new to the Europeans, who previously thought of the world as consisting only of Europe, Asia, and Africa ....
, which served to counterbalance the disadvantage of not being at the mouth of a river (useful for shipping goods to and from the interior). Its Protestant

Huguenot

The Huguenots were members of the Protestantism Reformed Church of France of France from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries....
shipowning and merchant class prospered in the Sixteenth Century until the Wars of Religion

Wars of Religion

Wars of Religion may refer to:*European wars of religion, the European religious conflicts of the 16th and 17th centuries*French Wars of Religion, the 16th century Catholic-Protestant conflicts in France...
devastated the city.

The period following the wars was a prosperous one, marked by intense exchanges with the New World (Nouvelle France

New France

The Viceroyalty of New France was the area French colonization of the Americas by France in North America during a period extending from the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River, by Jacques Cartier in 1534, to the cession of New France to Spain and Kingdom of Great Britain in 1763....
in Canada

Canada

Antilles

The Antilles Antillas in Spanish language; Antillen in Dutch language) refers to the islands forming the greater part of the Caribbean in the Caribbean Sea....
). La Rochelle became very active in triangular trade

Triangular trade

Triangular trade, or Triangle trade, is a historical term indicating trade among three ports or regions. The trade evolved where a region had an export commodity that was required in the region from which its major imports came....
with the New World, dealing in the slave trade with Africa, sugar trade with plantations of the Antilles

Antilles

The Antilles Antillas in Spanish language; Antillen in Dutch language) refers to the islands forming the greater part of the Caribbean in the Caribbean Sea....
, and fur trade

Fur trade

The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur....
with Canada

Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
. This was a period of high artistic, cultural and architectural achievements for the city.

The city eventually lost its trade and prominence during the decades spanning the Seven Years' War

Seven Years' War

The Seven Years' War lasted between 1756?1763 and involved all of the major European powers of the period. The war pitted Kingdom of Prussia and Kingdom of Great Britain and a coalition of smaller German states against an alliance consisting of Archduchy of Austria, Early Modern France, Russian Empire, Kingdom of Sweden, and Electorate of Sa...
, the French revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudalism for the aristocracy and Roman Catholic Church clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on Age of Enlightenment principles of cit...
and the Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of conflicts involving Napoleon I of France First French Empire and changing sets of European allies and opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815....
. During that period France lost many of the territorial possessions it had in the new World, and also saw a strong decrease in its sea power in the continuing conflicts with Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the List of islands by area, and the largest in Europe. With a population of 58.9 million people it is List of islands by population....
, ultimately diminishing the role of such harbours as La Rochelle.

19th century

In 1864, the harbour of La Rochelle (area of the "Bassin à flot" behind the water locks), was the site for the maiden dive experiments of the first mechanically-powered submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below water. It differs from a submersible, which has only limited underwater capability....
in the World, Plongeur
Plongeur

Plongeur was a France submarine launched on 16 April 1863. She was the first submarine in the world to be propelled by mechanical power....
, commanded by Marie-Joseph-Camille Doré

Marie-Joseph-Camille Doré

Marie-Joseph-Camille Dor? was a captain in the French Navy in the 19th century. He was born in La Rochelle in western France on January 14, 1831....
, a native of La Rochelle.

Second World War

During the Second World War, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
established a submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below water. It differs from a submersible, which has only limited underwater capability....
naval base at La Pallice (the main port of La Rochelle), which became the setting for the movie Das Boot
Das Boot

Das Boot is a 1981 feature film directed by Wolfgang Petersen, adapted from a novel of the same name by Lothar-G?nther Buchheim. Hans-Joachim Krug, former first officer on Unterseeboot 219, served as a consultant, as did Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock, the captain of the real Unterseeboot 96 ....
. The U-Boat scenes in the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark

Raiders of the Lost Ark is a action film-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by George Lucas and starring Harrison Ford....
were also shot in La Rochelle.

A German stronghold, La Rochelle was the last French city to be freed at the end of the War. A siege took place between September 12, 1944, and May 7, 1945, in which the stronghold, including the islands of Ré

Île de Ré

Oléron

?le d'Ol?ron is an island off the Atlantic Ocean coast of France , on the southern side of the Pertuis d'Antioche strait. It is the second largest French island after Corsica ....
, was held by 20,000 German troops under a German vice-admiral Ernst Schirlitz

Ernst Schirlitz

Ernst Schirlitz was a Vizeadmiral with the Kriegsmarine during World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross....
. Following negotiations by the French Navy

French Navy

The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale , is the maritime arm of the French military. It consists of a full range of vessels, from patrol boats to guided missile frigates, and includes one nuclear aircraft carrier and ten nuclear submarines ....
frigate captain Meyer, and the general German capitulation on May 7th, French troops entered La Rochelle on May 8th.

Geography

Geology

The bedrock of La Rochelle and surrounding areas is composed of layers of limestone

Limestone

File:Limestone Formation In Waitomo.jpgLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geology record....
dating back to the Sequanian stage (upper Oxfordian stage

Oxfordian stage

The Oxfordian stage is the first faunal stage of the Late Jurassic epoch . It spans the time between 161.2 ? 4 annum and 155.7 ? 4 Ma .The stage takes its name from the city of Oxford in England....
) of the Jurassic

Jurassic

The Jurassic is a geologic period that extends from about annum to Ma, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous....
period (circa 160 million years ago), when a large part of France was submerged. These rocks were formed by the accumulation of organisms falling on the seabed, where they solidified. This happened at the time dinosaur

Dinosaur

Dinosaurs were the dominant vertebrate animals of Landform ecosystems for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic Period until the end of the Cretaceous Period , when most of them became extinct in the Cretaceous?Tertiary extinction event....
s were roaming the earth.

Many of these layers are visible in the white cliffs that border the sea, which encapsulate many small marine fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or trace fossil of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous Rock formations and sedimentary rock layers is known as the fossil record....
s. Layers of thick white rocks, formed during period of relatively warm seas, alternate with highly friable layers containing sands and remains of mud, formed during colder periods, and with layers containing various corals, that were formed during warmer, tropical times.

The limestone thus formed is traditionally used as the main building material throughout the region.

The area of La Pointe du Chay

La Pointe du Chay

La Pointe du Chay is a limestone promontory, about 5 kilometers from La Rochelle, France, between the seafront of Aytr? and Angoulins. It is a popular cliff area for leisurely archaeological surveys....
, about 5 kilometers from La Rochelle is a popular cliff area for leisurely archaeological surveys.

Climate

Although at the same latitude as Montreal

Montreal

Montreal, or Montr?al, is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada of Quebec and the List of largest cities and second largest cities by country List of the 100 largest municipalities in Canada by population....
in Canada

Canada

Kuril Islands

The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast region, is a volcanic archipelago that stretches approximately 1,300 km northeast from Hokkaido, Japan, to Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean....
in Russia

Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
, the area is quite warm throughout the year due to the influence of the Gulf Stream

Gulf Stream

The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension towards Europe, the North Atlantic Current, is a powerful, warm, and swift Atlantic Ocean ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico, exits through the Straits of Florida, and follows the eastern coastlines of the United States and Newfoundland and Labrador before crossing the At...
waters, and insolation

Insolation

Insolation is a measure of solar radiation energy received on a given surface area in a given time. It is commonly expressed as average irradiance in watts per square meter or kilowatt-hours per square meter per day ....
is remarkably high, on a par with the French Riviera

French Riviera

The C?te d'Azur , often known in English as the French Riviera, is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeastern corner of France, extending from Menton near the Italy border on the east to either Hy?res or Cassis in the west....
on the Mediterranean Southern coast of France.

Demographics

Today

The city has beautifully maintained its past architecture, making it one of the most picturesque and historically rich cities on the Atlantic coast. This helped develop a strong tourism industry.

La Rochelle possesses a commercial harbour in deep water, named La Pallice

La Pallice (harbour)

La Pallice is the industrial harbour of the city of La Rochelle, France. It is a commercial harbour in deep water, named after the French philosopher La Pallice....
. The large submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below water. It differs from a submersible, which has only limited underwater capability....
bunker built during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
still stands there, although it is not being used. La Pallice is equipped with oil unloading equipment, and mainly handles tropical wood. It is also the location of the fishing fleet, which was moved from the old harbour at the center of the city during the 1980s.

La Rochelle also maintains strong links with the sea by harbouring the largest marina for pleasure boats in Europe at Les Minimes

Les Minimes

Botanical garden

Botanical gardens grow a wide variety of plants primarily to categorize and document for scientific purposes. Botanists and horticulturalists tend the flora and maintain the garden's library and herbarium of dried and documented plant material....
(the Jardin des plantes de La Rochelle
Jardin des plantes de La Rochelle

The Jardin des plantes de La Rochelle is a small botanical garden located behind the natural history museum at 28 rue Albert Ier, La Rochelle, Charente-Maritime, Poitou-Charentes, France....
).

The Calypso
Calypso (ship)

Research vessel Calypso is a ship that Jacques-Yves Cousteau, one of the most important researchers in oceanography, equipped as a mobile laboratory for field research....
, the ship used by Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Jacques-Yves Cousteau was a France naval officer, exploration, ecologist, filmmaker, innovator, scientist, photographer, author and researcher who studied the sea and all forms of life in water....
as a mobile laboratory for oceanography, and which was sunk after a collision in the port of Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country microstate located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It lies 137 kilometres north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands....
(1996) is now displayed (sadly rotting) at the Maritime Museum of La Rochelle.

One of the biggest music festivals in France, "FrancoFolies," takes place each summer in La Rochelle, where Francophone musicians come together for a week of concerts and celebration. 2004 marked the 20th anniversary of this event.

La Rochelle is the setting for the best-selling series of French language

French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
textbook

Textbook

A textbook is a manual of instruction or a standard book in any branch of study. They are produced according to the demand of educational institutions....
s in the UK, titled Tricolore
Tricolore

The term tricolore can refer to:*Tricolore , a singing group taking part in the BBC's Eurovision Song Contest Making Your Mind Up programme in 2005....
. The central character, Martine Domme, lives with her family at the fictional address of 12, Rue de la République.

Tourism

La Rochelle's main feature is the "Vieux Port" ("Old Harbour"), which is at the heart of the city, picturesque and lined with seafood restaurants. The city walls are open to an evening promenade. The old town has been well-preserved. From the harbour, boating trips can be taken to the Île d'Aix and Fort Boyard

Fort Boyard

Fort Boyard is a fort located between the ?le-d'Aix and the Ol?ron in the Pertuis d'Antioche straits, on the west coast of France. It is 61 metres long, 31 metres wide, and its walls are 20 metres high....
(home to the internationally famous tv show of the same name). Nearby Île de Ré

Île de Ré

?le de R? is an island off the west coast of France near La Rochelle, on the northern side of the Pertuis d'Antioche strait.This island is completely flat; it is 30 km long and 5 km wide....
is a short drive to the North. The countryside of the surrounding Charente-Maritime is very rural and full of history (Saintes

Saintes

Saintes is a Communes of France in western France, in the Charente-Maritime Departments of France of which it is a sous-pr?fecture....
). To the North is Venise Verte, a marshy area of country, criss-crossed with tiny canals and a popular resort for inland boating. Inland is the country of Cognac

Cognac

Cognac is a commune in France in the France d?partement in France of Charente, of which it is a sous-pr?fecture. The inhabitants of the town are known as Cogna?ais....
and Pineau.

Personalities

Born in La Rochelle

Antoine Albeau
Antoine Albeau

Antoine Albeau is a French windsurfer who holds eleven Windsurfing World Championships in different disciplines since 1994.Born on June 17, 1972 in La Rochelle, France, Albeau set a new all?category WSSRC on March 5 , 2008 with 49.09 knots on a 500 meter course at Saintes Marie de la Mer, beating the previous record which had been set by...
, windsurfer
Jacques Nicolas Billaud-Varenne
Jacques Nicolas Billaud-Varenne

Jacques Nicolas Billaud-Varenne, also known as Jean Nicolas was a France personality of the French Revolution. Though not one of the most well known figures of the French Revolution, Jacques Nicolas Billaud Varenne was an instrumental figure of the period known as The Terror....
, politician and revolutionary
Aimé Bonpland
Aimé Bonpland

Aim? Jacques Alexandre Bonpland was a France List of explorers and botany.Bonpland's real name was Goujaud, and he was born in La Rochelle, a coastal city in France....
, botanist
William-Adolphe Bouguereau
William-Adolphe Bouguereau

William-Adolphe Bouguereau was a France Academic art. Bouguereau was a staunch traditionalist whose realistic genre paintings and mythological themes were modern interpretations of Classicism subjects with a heavy emphasis on the female human body....
, painter
Jean-Loup Chrétien
Jean-Loup Chrétien

Jean-Loup Jacques Marie Chr?tien, is a retired G?n?ral de Brigade of the Arm?e de l'Air and a former CNES astronaut who flew on several Franco-Soviet space missions and a NASA Space Shuttle mission....
, astronaut
John Theophilus Desaguliers
John Theophilus Desaguliers

John Theophilus Desaguliers was a natural philosopher born in France. He was a member of the Royal Society of London beginning 29 July 1714. He was presented with the Royal Society's highest honour, the Copley Medal, in 1734, 1736 and 1741, the 1741 award being for his "discovery of the properties of Electricity"....
, physician and mathematician
Guy-Victor Duperré
Guy-Victor Duperré

Guy-Victor Duperr? was a French people admiral, Pair de France and thrice List of Naval Ministers of France.Duperr? commanded the fleet at the Battle of Grand Port, where he was wounded....
, admiral
Jean Duvignaud
Jean Duvignaud

Jean Duvignaud was a French novelist and sociologist.Duvignaud was a secondary school teacher at Abbeville then at Etampes where he taught Georges Perec....
, writer
Eugène Fromentin
Eugène Fromentin

Eug?ne Fromentin was a France painter and writer.He was born in La Rochelle. After leaving school he studied for some years under Louis Cabat, the landscape painter....
, writer and painter
Nicolas Gargot de La Rochette, governor of Placentia
Placentia

Placentia may refer to:* Palace of Placentia, an English Royal Palace* Placentia, California, United States* Placentia, Italy* Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada...
Bernard Giraudeau
Bernard Giraudeau

Bernard Giraudeau is a French actor, film director, scriptwriter, producer and writer....
, actor and director
Jean Guiton
Jean Guiton

Jean Guiton was born in La Rochelle where he followed the occupation of ship-owner. He became mayor of La Rochelle and, during the 1627-1628 Siege of La Rochelle, he organized an energetic resistance to the troops of king Louis XIII of France....
, mayor during the Siege of La Rochelle
Siege of La Rochelle

File:Plan Of The Siege Of La Rochelle in 1628.jpgThe Siege of La Rochelle was a result of a war between the French royal forces of Louis XIII of France and the Huguenots of La Rochelle in 1627-1628....
Guy Laroche
Guy Laroche

Guy Laroche was a France fashion designer and founder of the eponymous company.Laroche began his career in millinery and, from 1949, Laroche worked for Jean Desses and eventually became his assistant....
, fashion designer
Fabrice Neaud
Fabrice Neaud

Fabrice Neaud is a French comics artist. He got his baccalaureate in literature in 1986. He studied philosophy during two years. Then he entered an art school and studied there four years....
, artist and cartoonist
Paul Ramadier
Paul Ramadier

Paul Ramadier was a prominent France SFIO of the French Third Republic and French Fourth Republic Republics. Mayor of Decazeville starting in 1919, he served as the first Prime Minister of France of the Fourth Republic in 1947....
, politician and member of the French Resistance
French Resistance

File:Croix de Lorraine2.svgThe French Resistance is the collective name used for the French resistance movements which fought against the Nazi Germany German occupation of France in World War II and the collaborationist Vichy Regime during World War II....
René-Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur, scientist
Winshluss, artist and cartoonist
Melissa Lauren
Melissa Lauren

Melissa Lauren is a France pornographic actress and director.Lauren started off studying as a cook for three years and worked in Paris as a pastry chef....
, Adult Film Star

Lived in La Rochelle

Colette Besson
Colette Besson

Colette Besson was a former France athletics , the surprise winner of the 400 m at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.Prior to the 1968 Olympics, Besson was virtually unknown, and the fact that she qualified for the 400 m could already be considered a surprise....
, sprinter
Saint Louis de Montfort
Alcide d'Orbigny
Alcide d'Orbigny

Alcide Charles Victor Marie Dessalines d'Orbigny was a France Natural history. He made major contributions in many areas, including zoology, malacology, palaeontology, geology, archaeology and anthropology....
, botanist
Marie Louise Trichet
Marie Louise Trichet

Blessed Marie Louise Trichet also known as Marie-Louise de J?sus was a France Catholic figure who, with Saint Louis de Montfort, founded the Congregation of religious women called Daughters of Wisdom and since the age of seventeen devoted her life to caring for the poor and the sick....

Rochelle

Very few people are known to be named Rochelle but the name is becoming increasingly popular to use for females.

Sport

Atlantique Stade Rochelais
Atlantique Stade Rochelais

Stade Rochelais is a France rugby union club currently competing in the second level of the Ligue Nationale de Rugby, .They were founded in 1898 and play at Stade Marcel-Deflandre ....
- rugby union
Rugby union

Rugby union is a competitive outdoor contact sport, played with an oval ball, by two teams of 15 players. It is one of the two main codes of rugby football, the other being rugby league....
team

Gallery

External links

(English with PDF map and photos)
(near of La Rochelle)
Discovering La Rochelle with pictures...

La Rochelle

History

Antiquity

Foundation

Hundred Years War

Sieges of La Rochelle

La Rochelle and the New World

19th century

Second World War

Geography

Geology

Climate

Demographics

Today

Tourism

Personalities

Born in La Rochelle

Lived in La Rochelle

Rochelle

Sport

See also

Gallery

External links