Saint-Martin-de-Ré (French pronunciation: ​[sɛ̃ maʁtɛ̃ də ʁe], literally Saint-Martin of Ré; Saintongeais: Sént-Martin-de-Ré) is a commune in the western French department of Charente-Maritime.

This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (December 2008) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the French article. Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at [[:fr:Saint-Martin-de-Ré]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template {{Translated|fr|Saint-Martin-de-Ré}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Saint-Martin-de-Ré
Commune
The quays
Coat of arms
Location of Saint-Martin-de-Ré
Saint-Martin-de-Ré Show map of France Saint-Martin-de-Ré Show map of Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Coordinates: 46°12′11″N 1°22′02″W
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department	Charente-Maritime
Arrondissement	La Rochelle
Canton	Île de Ré
Intercommunality	Ile-de-Ré
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Patrice Déchelette[1]
Area 1	4.70 km2 (1.81 sq mi)
Population  (Jan. 2019)[2]	2,215
• Density	470/km2 (1,200/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	17369 /17410
Elevation	0–17 m (0–56 ft) (avg. 8 m or 26 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

It is one of the ten communes located on the Île de Ré.

The fortifications in Saint-Martin-de-Ré, drawn up by Vauban between 1681 and 1685, were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2008 for their testimony to Vauban's work and its influence on military strategy and architecture over the subsequent 200 years.[3]

History

Fortifications

Saint-Martin-de-Ré has extensive fortifications, reflecting the strategic importance of the Île de Ré. During the Huguenot Rebellions of the 1620s, Cardinal Richelieu ordered that the island be fortified as a counterweight to the nearby Protestant city of La Rochelle on the French mainland. This included a citadel at Saint-Martin. After La Rochelle had been subdued, Saint-Martin's fortifications were largely demolished to remove its potential threat to royal power.

In 1627, an English invasion force under the command of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham attacked the island in order to relieve the Siege of La Rochelle. After three months of combat in the Siege of Saint-Martin-de-Ré against the French under Marshal Toiras, the Duke was forced to withdraw in defeat.

Later, in the 1670s, the French engineer, Vauban was commissioned to review and overhaul the island's defences and, as a result, Saint Martin was enclosed by extensive and modern walls and embankments. This was done in three major phases ending in 1702 and the end result was an enclosed town capable of housing the island's population for a long siege.

Prison to the penal colonies

Between 1873 and 1938, the prison in Saint-Martin-de-Ré kept prisoners before they were shipped to the penal colonies in French Guiana or New Caledonia. See penal colonies on Ré Island (in French).

Population

The population of the commune has remained steady since 1800, although it was considerably larger during the French Revolution and dipped below 2000 from the 1920s to the 1940s.

The commune is the third-largest town on the island. With La Flotte, it forms a small urban area with 5531 inhabitants in 2008, which places it as the 11th-largest metropolitan area in Charente-Maritime and the largest on the island.

Gallery

• 
  Map of Saint-Martin-de-Ré, with fortress and city, 17th century, before the enlarged fortifications of Vauban.
• 
  Map of Saint-Martin-de-Ré, after the fortifications of Vauban, 1722.
• 
• 
  City gate in Saint-Martin
• 
  Âne en culotte donkey

Personalities

• Nicolas Baudin, sailor and explorer

See also

• Ernest Cognac Museum
• Communes of the Charente-Maritime department

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saint-Martin-de-Ré.

• Saint-Martin-de-Ré Tourism Office
• Île de Ré and Ernest Cognacq museums
• Vauban fortifications
• Fortified-places.com

На других языках

[de] Saint-Martin-de-Ré

[es] Saint-Martin-de-Ré

[ru] Сен-Мартен-де-Ре