Saint-Jean-de-Monts

Saint-Jean-de-Monts
Town centre of Saint-Jean-de-Monts. Town centre of Saint-Jean-de-Monts.
Coat of arms of Saint-Jean-de-Monts Coat of arms
Saint-Jean-de-Monts
Location within Pays de la Loire region Saint-Jean-de-Monts
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Pays de la Loire
Department	Vendée
Arrondissement	Les Sables-d'Olonne
Canton	Saint-Jean-de-Monts
Intercommunality	Océan marais de Monts
Government
• Mayor (2001–2008)	André Ricolleau
Area1	61.72 km2 (23.83 sq mi)
Population (2006)2	7,837
• Density	130/km2 (330/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	85234 /
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

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

Geography

File:Église de Saint-Jean-Baptiste (edit).jpg

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 lively center to the west.

Saint-Jean-de-Monts is renowned 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, a vast town planning operation taking over five years to complete. The successful result now means a network of footpaths and cycle tracks are enhanced by an array of plants, flowers and shrubs.

The predominantly flat terrain has allowed for the development of a vast 500 km² 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, 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

Year	1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2006
Population	4715	5146	5540	5435	5959	6886	7837
From the year 1963 on: No double counting—residents 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.

Gallery

• Saint-Jean-de-Monts.jpg

  Seafront at Saint-Jean-de-Monts

• Saint-Jean-de-Monts - Beach 2.jpg

  Seafront

• France - Saint-Jean-de-Monts - estacade.jpg

  Pier

• Saint-Jean-de-Monts - Beach 1.jpg

  Apartments

• Saint-Jean-de-Monts - Beach 3.jpg

  Beach

• Saintjeanrenewal.jpg

  Pre-restoration seafront

See also

• Communes of the Vendée department

References

• INSEE

External links

• Official website (French)
• Tourisme Saint-Jean-de-Monts (French)