Online Encyclopedia

Make a correction

Your email address will not appear on the site. Note, comments may take some time to be approved.

Back to article: ETRETAT

Your email: Article name: Article content:

ETRETAT, a watering-place of France, in the department of Seine-Inferieure, on the coast of the English Channel, 161 m. N. by E. of Havre by road. Pop. (1906) 1982. It is situated between fine cliffs in which, here' and there, the sea has worn archways, pinnacles and other curious forms. The small stream traversing the valley, at the extremity of which Etretat lies, flows underground for some distance but rises to the surface on the beach. A Roman road and aqueduct and other Roman and Gallic remains have been discovered. The church of Notre-Dame, a Romanesque building, with a nave of the 11th century and a central tower and choir of the 13th century, is a fine example of the Norman architecture of those periods. Fishing is carried on, though there is no port and the fishermen haul their boats up the beach; the old hulks (caloges) serve as sheds and even as dwellings. Etretat sprang into popularity during the latter half of the 19th century, largely owing to the frequent references to it in the novels of Alphonse Karr.