Saint-Lô
Saint-Lô is a town and
commune of
France, the
préfecture (capital) of the
Manche département, in
Normandy. Population (1999): 20,090.
Saint-Lô is the chief town of the
Arrondissement of Saint-Lô.
In the past called
Briovère (meaning "Bridge on the
Vire River" in
Gaulish), the city is built on, and around
ramparts. The name "Saint-Lô" originates from Saint Laud, bishop of Coutances in the 6th century.
Due to the city being a strategic crossroad, Saint-Lô was almost totally destroyed (95% according to common estimates) during the
Battle of Normandy in
World War II, earning the nickname of the
Capital of the Ruins; it was even actually questioned whether to rebuild it or to leave the ruins intact as a testimony of the bombing.
The
Vire River flows though the city. The old city is built on a rocky spur inside a loop on the river, whence it controlled the fluvial traffic.
Among the only standing buildings after the 1944 bombings was the Notre-Dame church, built in
Flamboyant Gothic style from the 13th to the 15th centuries; its roof and facade were destroyed, as well as one of its two towers and the top of the other one. The church was partially restored after the war: the facade was rebuilt as a plain green
schist wall. It most notably features an outdoor pulpit that
Victor Hugo protected from demolition planned for town renovation in 1863.
Saint-Lô is also home to the largest of the 23 national stud farms in
France.
As partial reparations for the destruction of the city,
Americans established the hospital memorial, where one can see a
fresco by
Fernand Léger. It was at that time the largest hospital in Europe.
In literature
Gravity's Rainbow by
Thomas Pynchon fictionalises the event of the discovery by American soldiers of stockpiles of
Champagne in the caves under the rocky outcrop on which the walled city sits.
In
1986,
West End Games published a
board game with the name St-Lô [
1].
Births
Saint-Lô was the birthplace of:
*
Urbain Le Verrier (
1811-
1877),
mathematician who specialized in
celestial mechanics, and one of the discoverers of the planet
Neptune;
*
Octave Feuillet (
1821-
1890),
novelist and
dramatist.
Twin towns
Saint-Lô is
twinned with:
*
Saint-Ghislain,
Belgium, since September 9, 1962
*
Aalen,
Germany, since June 3, 1979
*
Christchurch, Dorset,
United Kingdom, since April 20, 1985
*
Lorient,
France, since September 11, 1988
*
Roanoke,
United States, since June 19, 1999
*
Town council website
