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Arcachon




Coordinates: 44°39′10″N 1°10′09″W / 44.65278, -1.169186

Commune of Arcachon

Arcachon view taken from the Bassin

Location
Arcachon (France)
Arcachon
Administration
CountryFrance
Region Aquitaine
Department Gironde
Arrondissement Arcachon
Canton Arcachon
Mayor Yves Foulon
(2001-2008)
Statistics
Elevation 0 m–45 m
(avg. 8 m)
Land area¹ 7.56 km²
Population²
(1999) 		11,459
 - Density 1,515/km² (1999)
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code 33009/ 33120
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.
France

Arcachon is a commune of the Gironde department in southwestern France. It is a popular bathing location on the Atlantic coast in the southwest of the country, 34 miles southwest of Bordeaux and in the Landes forest. It has a fine beach, and a mild climate said to be favourable for invalids suffering from pulmonary complaints.

Arcachon is known for the "Arcachonnaise", the local name for an Arcachon villa, which is the architectural style of many of the older houses built there. It is a type of Victorian architecture, and was criticized for generations, but is now considered to be charming and deeply human.

Arcachon seen by Spot Satellite
Arcachon seen by Spot Satellite
The town of Arcachon is only 150 years old. Not long before the 2nd of May 1857, when Emperor Napoleon III signed its official "birth certificate", it was just a forest of pine trees, oaks and strawberry trees (arbutus), with no road links, and home - mostly when the weather was expected to be warm, and more in wood huts than in real houses - to fewer than 400 people, mostly fishermen and peasants. In earlier years, when some hygienists began to recommend sea bathing, three sea establishments were laid out by some entrepreneurs especially for the Bordeaux bourgeoisie and other wealthy people. This was the beginning of a new lifestyle, and some of the locals got the opportunity to claim their independence from La Teste-de-Buch, which owned their properties, in order to found a "free" new town, Arcachon.

At its southern entrance from the Atlantic ocean, Arcachon Bay is crowned by Europe's largest sand dune, the Dune de Pyla (or du Pilat), nearly 3 kilometres long, 500 metres wide, reaching 107 metres in height, and moving inland at rate of 5 metres a year.

The area is served by La Teste-de-Buch Airport and the TGV Atlantique.


[edit] Notable natives and residents

  • Yaruch Bann writer, musician and linguistic researcher

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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