Granville | |||
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The harbour of Granville, with Notre-Dame church in the background
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Coordinates: 48°50′N 1°36′W / 48.84°N 1.60°WCoordinates: 48°50′N 1°36′W / 48.84°N 1.60°W | |||
Country | France | ||
Region | Normandy | ||
Department | Manche | ||
Arrondissement | Avranches | ||
Canton | Granville | ||
Intercommunality | Pays granvillais | ||
Government | |||
• Mayor (2008–2014) | Daniel Caruhel | ||
Area1 | 9.9 km2 (3.8 sq mi) | ||
Population (1999)2 | 12,687 | ||
• Density | 1,300/km2 (3,300/sq mi) | ||
Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
• Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
INSEE/Postal code | 50218 / 50400 | ||
Elevation | 0–67 m (0–220 ft) (avg. 37 m or 121 ft) |
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1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once. |
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
Granville (French pronunciation: [ɡʁɑ̃.vil]) is a commune in the Manche department and region of Normandy in north-western France. Chef-lieu of the canton and seat of the Community of communes of Granville, land and sea , it is a seaside resort and health resort of Mont Saint-Michel Bay at the end of the Côte des Havres , a former cod fishing port and the first shellfish port of France. It is sometimes nicknamed "Monaco of the north" by virtue of its location on a rocky promontory.
The town was founded by a vassal of William the Conqueror, on land occupied by the Vikings, in the 11th century. The old privateer city and fortification, for the defence of Mont Saint-Michel, became a seaside resort in the 19th century which was frequented by many artists, and equipped with a golf course and a horse racing course. Home of the Dior family of industrialists, an important commune which absorbed the village of Saint-Nicolas-près-Granville in 1962, port and airport of South Manche, it has also been a Douzelage city since 1991, twinned with twenty European cities. Administratively, the islands of Chausey, which include a small harbour, are part of the commune of Granville.