Coutances
Coutances is a commune with 9311 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2011) in the department of Manche in Basse-Normandie region. It is sub-prefecture of the same district, the chief town of a canton.
Geography
The small town is situated on the Cotentin peninsula 12 km from the west coast ( English Channel ) away. Cotentin derived from Coutances. After Saint- Lô inland there are 29 km away. The city center is situated on a promontory on which is perched the cathedral.
History
As capital of the Gallic tribe of the Veneller ( Uneller ) took the city 298 the name Constantia after the then emperor Constantius Chlorus, who had recaptured two years before Britain for the Roman Empire, at. The region, which was then pagus Constantinus called, is today the Cotentin Peninsula.
The town was destroyed by the Normans in 866, and it was not until the 11th century, namely until the arrival of Geoffroy de Montbrays, a comrade in arms of William the Conqueror and Bishop of Coutances, to allow the city to buy a new cathedral around again. 1204 Normandy was conquered by Philip II Augustus, after the Cathedral under Bishop Hugues de Morville ( 1208-1238 ), newly built in the French style, which is also due to the establishment of the hospital ( Hôtel- Dieu ).
During the Wars of Religion in 1562, the cathedral was pillaged by the Protestants. You captured the Bishop Arthur de Cossé and forced him vice versa riding on a donkey to ride the tail of the animal in hand, through the city. By the year 1569 the Bishop of Coutances was incumbent on the judiciary on the Channel Islands in the English Channel.
On 6 June 1944 Allied troops landed in Normandy ( Operation Overlord ). After the capture of Saint- Lô (→ Battle of Saint- Lô ) U.S. troops began simultaneously with the advances of the other Allies on 25 July an attempt to break out of their bridgehead sector ( → Operation Cobra ). This resulted in the following days in the West - at Avranches - to break out of the Cotentin Peninsula. On the morning of July 27 took three divisions of the 7th U.S. Army Corps launched an offensive against the German front line. The next day, the 4th Armoured Division came ( 4th Panzer Division ) 20 km ahead and conquered the heavily damaged Coutances ( by bombing 300 people had died ). Then the troops advanced southwards before after Pontaubault where the heck landscape ended.
The reconstruction of the city was under the leadership of Louis Arretche who also oversaw Saint- Malo.
Attractions
- The Cathedral Notre- Dame de Coutances.
- The town hall in the Hôtel de Cussy with the model of a nave in scale 1:5.
- The Jardin des Plantes.
- The Musée Quesnel Morinière.
- The church of Saint -Nicolas.
- The church of Saint -Pierre.
- The Lycée Charles -François Lebrun, the first imperial high school.
- The Parc L' Évêque, former bishop of the park with a hunting area, an ice cave and an iron-containing source.
- The Gratot castle, castle ruins, about four kilometers northwest of Coutances.
Church of Saint -Nicolas
Church of Saint- Pierre
Parc L' Évêque
Cathédrale de Coutances - windows
Events
- The annual end of May International Jazz Festival Jazz sous les pommiers ( Jazz under the apple trees ).
Personalities of the city
- Anne Hilarion de Tourville Costentin de (1642-1701), Admiral of France and Marshal of France
- François de Franquetot (1670-1759), Marshal of France
- Rémy de Gourmont (1858-1915), French writer