Last modified: 2025-05-03 by olivier touzeau
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![[Flag]](../images/f/fr-50-sp.gif)
Flag of Saint-Pair-sur-Mer - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 3 March 2025
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Saint-Pair-sur-Mer (4,372 inhabitants, 1,442 ha) is a commune in the Manche department, near Granville.
The site of the current Saint-Pair has probably been occupied since the Gallic era. In the Middle Ages, the town, mentioned as Scissy, Scissi or Sessiac in ancient documentation, was evangelized from the 6th century. In the 9th century, Saint-Pair was probably affected by Scandinavian raids. After the signing of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte in 911, Scandinavians settled in the region and reinforced the maritime vocation of Saint-Pair. A castle was built there by the Dukes of Normandy. In the 11th century, it belonged to the abbot of Mont-Saint-Michel, following the donation of the barony of Saint-Pair to the abbey. In 1137, the castle was in the hands of Sylvanus, who reinforced it and used it as a base to commit raids in the vicinity. Killed during a fight with the troops of Étienne de Blois, his castle was razed. The lords of Saint-Pair were barons of Cotentin and participated in the sessions of the Exchequer of Normandy. The town lost its importance in the 15th century to the benefit of Granville. The English, in order to favor the latter, stripped Saint-Pair of its trade, its market hall, its market and even some of its homes.
Until the last quarter of the 19th century, Saint-Pair lived in the shadow of the corsair city, but its geographical location and its vast panorama of the sea allowed it to take off again in the context of the fashion for sea bathing. The coastal towns did not then fully appreciate the attraction that the dunes represented for the construction of seaside villas. The oldest of the seaside villas in Saint-Pair is said to be the Villa Sainte-Marthe, with its glass awning, built in the early 1860s. In 1865, a member of parliament from the Manche region, Louis Lempereur de Saint-Pierre, had the Villa Roche Saint-Pierre built. In the same years, the Villa Scissy was built, extended by a wing at the beginning of the 20th century, which was the residence of the historian Adolphe Tardif. In Saint-Pair, the first decree on the policing of sea bathing was signed on June 1, 1873. The enlargement of the church was discussed, justified by the influx of bathers: the Romanesque nave was razed between 1880 and 1881 and the new church consecrated in 1888. The first post office was inaugurated in 1885.
Olivier Touzeau, 3 March 2025
The flag of Saint-Pair-sur-Mer (photo) is white with the municipal logo.
Olivier Touzeau, 3 March 2025