Nicknamed Monaco of the North because it is built on a rocky promontory, Granville forms a beautiful picture with the granite houses of its upper town surrounded by ramparts and fishing and sailing port below. Boasting a beach, a thalassotherapy centre and a casino, Granville is also a seaside resort.
Granville owes its name to its first occupants after the Vikings: the Grant family. William the Conqueror asked for his help in 1066 and, as a reward for his fidelity during the conquest of Great Britain, gave him land. In 1230, for lack of a male descendant, the Grant family united with the Lord of Argouges (de Gratot, near Coutances), who never lived at Granville.
In the 14th century, the British conquered Normandy except Mont-Saint-Michel, which they tried to invest from the port of Genets. Towards 1410, Genets is no longer safe enough and in 1439, English Sir Thomas Scales discovers the Roque de Lihou - the first name Granville - bought it from Jean d'Argouges and built a fortified enclosure. He also had a trench seven meters wide and eighteen meters deep and twenty meters deep at the base, so that the rising flow from the north would reach the Boscq and the sea on the south side. Granville then became an island larger than Mont-Saint-Michel.
In 1442, the defenders of Mont-Saint-Michel take the stronghold and hunt the English definitively. Charles VII, having understood the strategic interest of Granville, decided to make it a fortified city and signed in 1445 a charter granting coat of arms and exempting the inhabitants of taxes.
In 1492 the Jews expelled from Spain arrived at Granville. Forbidden to live in the city, they settle in the suburbs where they acquire the right to trade goldsmiths and lend money. It is thanks to this activity that the equipment of Granvillais grows. As early as 1450, Granville and surrounding vessels fish in Newfoundland.
Over the centuries, Granville becomes an important fishing port. Under Louis XIV, the boats also have the right to arm themselves to indulge in the race. Granville counts 70 to 80 and gives 15 admirals to France including Pleville-Lepelley, "the corsair with the wooden leg".
Under Louis XIII, the fortifications are modified to take into account the progress of the artillery. The east gate is moved south. This is the current Great Gate, protected on its left by the "bastion of the work".
In 1688, Louvois, the Minister of War of Louis XIV, thinking that he could not face an attack by sea of the English and, on the ground, Protestants, shaved the parapet of the inner enclosure, remove the second enclosure and the outdoor palisade.
In 1688, Louvois, the Minister of War of Louis XIV, thinking that he could not face an attack by sea of the English and, on the ground, Protestants, shaved the parapet of the inner enclosure, remove the second enclosure and the outdoor palisade.
In 1695, the British bombed the city again: 80 houses were affected and 27 were rebuilt. In 1793, during the Vendée attack, there was only a hillock and a palisade to protect the door at the foot of the rampart. Seeing the door ajar, the Vendeans entered when, from the ramparts, women hurled cider barrels over them. The place of the Isthmus was saved.
From the 1850s, the bathing season attracts more and more summer visitors. For three months, Granville, turns into an "elegant district of Paris". The casino to entertain and seduce its audience, organizes balls every night, concerts three or four times a week and some theatrical performances during the summer. Stendhal, Jules Michelet and Victor Hugo stay at Granville, enjoying the picturesque city and the activity of the port. The first barracks were completed in 1750, the second in 1780 and the last are from the end of the 19th century. To these military works, the Germans added blockhouses of the "Atlantic Wall", from the Isthmus to the point of the Rock. Released without a fight on July 31, 1944, Granville was invested for a few hours on March 9, 1945 by the Germans from Jersey still occupied.
Short video in French: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOag8zoCfcA
