Window shutters in a French town La Rochelle by Bopper Balten

About "Window shutters in a French town La Rochelle"

by Bopper Balten

About the artwork

I came across this pretty street during my walk in this beautiful port city of La Rochelle, the flapping curtains just makes this photo so nice.

Originating in the 10th century as a fishing village, La Rochelle became an important port from the 12th century onwards, controlling trade between the Loire and Gironde regions. In 1130, William X of Aquitaine destroyed the fortifications of Châtelaillon, after which La Rochelle had the empire alone. In 1137, the duke made La Rochelle a free port. Fifty years later, Guillaume de Montmirail was appointed mayor there. He was the very first mayor of France.

Until the fifteenth century, La Rochelle remained the largest port on the Atlantic coast. It mainly traded wine from Aunis and Saintonge as well as salt with merchants from the Hanseatic League, which had a trading post here.

The city has preserved the buildings of yesteryear well and is one of the most picturesque cities on the Atlantic coast, rich in urban beauty, which has helped promote tourism. In 2013, the 14th-century town hall, the oldest in France, was hit by a fire that destroyed the roofs and wooden joinery. A three-year restoration process followed.[5]

La Rochelle also still has links to the sea. Les Minimes is home to the largest pleasure yacht port in Europe, and the city has a lot of yacht building. The old research ship Calypso, which Jacques-Yves Cousteau used to use as a mobile laboratory for ocean research until it sank in 1996 after a collision in the port of Singapore, was on display in La Rochelle's maritime museum. Today, she lies languishing in a shipyard in Concarneau.