Last modified: 2025-01-11 by olivier touzeau
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![[Flag]](../images/f/fr-17-pm.gif)
Flag of Saint-Palais-sur-Mer - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 12 May 2024
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Saint-Palais-sur-Mer (9,918 inhabitants in 2021; 1,569 ha) is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department, near Royan.
The site of the current commune of Saint-Palais seems to have been occupied for a long time (remains of underground passages dating from the Neolithic, remains from the Gallo-Roman period), but it was only from the 11th century that we found a first written trace of the town, through the mention of the Saint-Pallais church (Sanctus Palladius), seat of a parish dependent on the abbey of Vaux. At that time, Saint-Palais-de-Bren formed a scattered habitat, made up of several hamlets, distributed both by the sea, in the middle of the dunes, and inland. The village became a lordship in the 14th century. As in a large part of the Arvert peninsula, the Reformed religion became predominant in Saint-Palais, and from 1682, a survey revealed that more than 2/3 of the households in the parish adhered to Protestantism.
The village became a pilot station, while fishing developed. Numerous
lighthouses and beacons were built on the territory of the parish,such as the Terre-nègre lighthouse, dating from 1770, while many trees
were planted to try to fix the dunes.
At the beginning of the 19th century, part of the village was deserted
because of the threat of the dunes, and it was not until an imperial
decree, published in 1810, then an increased campaign of planting
maritime pines, between 1824 and 1830, that the depopulation of the
commune finally ceases.In the second half of the century, the craze
for sea bathing transformed the town, which until then was a simple
village focused on fishing, and the seat of a customs office since
1840. This customs office will also give its name to the commune,
renamed Bureau-les-Bains. The beaches were developed and the first
seaside villas built.
Benefiting from the reputation of the fashionable town of Royan, a
few kilometers away, the village experienced a demographic explosion.
From around 1880, and in the space of a few years, the peaceful
village became a seaside resort in its own right, attracting more and
more people, and requiring more and more developments. In 1897, the
town, until then relatively landlocked, was connected to Royan by
tramway. As in Royan, architectural “follies” were carried out.
In 1911, the town officially took the name Saint-Palais-sur-Mer. The city was home to important political figures, artists and film stars until the Second World War. Trotsky, then in exile, took refuge in Saint-Palais for some time before leaving for Mexico: he met André Malraux there on several occasions. In 1924, a tidal wave occurred that would leave its mark on the minds of the time: the sea level rose by 5 meters, causing terrible damage to the town's infrastructure. This is likely a winter storm that affected the entire coast. In 1940, Saint-Palais was occupied by Nazi troops. The occupier fortified the commune. On Hitler's direct order, the Todt organization was responsible for the construction of numerous blockhouses, several remains of which can be seen, notably near the Grande-Côte, while the bell tower of the old church was used as a watchtower. Nevertheless, the city suffered little from the Allied bombings and the battles of the Liberation, unlike its unfortunate neighbor, Royan.
From the 1960s, a major real estate project was implemented which would profoundly transform the city center, and which would give rise to many controversies. The decision was made to demolish the market halls, the village hall and almost all of the shops on Avenue de la République, to replace them with modernist buildings, giving the center of the city its current appearance. The city is today a seaside resort integrated into the Royan metropolitan area, appreciated for its beaches and its nightlife.
Olivier Touzeau, 12 May 2024
The flag of Saint-Palais sur Mer is white with the logo adopted in 2019: photo (2020).
The emblem brings together several constituent elements of the Saint-Palais DNA: villas (heritage), stone pine (vegetation), sailing (maritime and water sports), sun (life, events, fireworks) and the coast (coastal path). [source: official website].
Olivier Touzeau, 12 May 2024
![[Flag]](../images/f/fr-17-pm1.gif)
Former flag of Saint-Palais-sur-Mer - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 12 May 2024
The former flag of Saint-Palais-sur-Mer, observed in 2019, was white with the previous logo: photo (2019).
Adopted in 2003, it had been modernized in 2013.
Olivier Touzeau, 12 May 2024