THE BAY OF SAINT-JEAN DE LUZ
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A 240-hectare bay, protected by imposing cliffs thanks to the attacks of the sea that plunge the town to the brink of ruin.
Well protected by the imposing cliffs of Socoa and Sainte-Barbe, Saint-Jean-de-Luz was a prosperous town in the 17th century, thanks to its maritime activity. Over time, however, the sea, rain and wind undermined the town's natural protection, leaving it open to attack. The result was devastated neighborhoods, such as the "Barre", and the important Ursuline convent, with its harbor regularly silted up... By the mid-19th century, after two centuries of incessant struggle, the town was on the verge of ruin. A quarter of the town had been washed away, and the coastline was receding by between one and three meters a year! It was Napoleon III, in 1864, who authorized the work to close the bay, with the creation of three large dikes designed to recreate the natural defences - an essential project to preserve the bay and prevent its disappearance. But it took thirty years and 8,000 additional 50-tonne blocks to build the Artha dike, and another ten years for the Sainte-Barbe dike; elements which, as early as 1895, made it possible to safeguard the Grande Plage on this 240-hectare bay. Along with four other beaches - Erromardie, Lafitenia, Mayarko and Cenitz - the bay of Saint-Jean-de-Luz has withstood the ravages of nature to become one of the most visited sites in the Basque Country. Supervised beach with clubs in season.
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