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Saint-Lô
Prefecture and commune
Vue-Est-depuis-Notre-Dame-Saint-Lo
A view of Saint-Lô from the Notre-Dame church [fr]
Coat of arms of Saint-Lô
Coat of arms
Saint-Lô is located in France
Saint-Lô
Saint-Lô
Location in France
Saint-Lô is located in Normandy
Saint-Lô
Saint-Lô
Location in Normandy
Country France
Region Normandy
Department Manche
Arrondissement Saint-Lô
Canton Saint-Lô-1 and 2
Intercommunality Saint-Loise
Area
1
 23.19 km2 (8.95 sq mi)
Population
 (Jan. 2021)
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Time zone UTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
50502 /50000
Elevation 7–134 m (23–440 ft)
(avg. 14 m or 46 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Saint-Lô is a commune in north-western France, the capital of the Manche department in the region of Normandy.

Although it is the second largest city of Manche after Cherbourg, it remains the prefecture of the department. It is also chef-lieu of an arrondissement and two cantons (Saint-Lô-1 and Saint-Lô-2).

The commune has 18,931 inhabitants who are called Saint-Lois(es). The names of Laudois(es), Laudien(ne)s or Laudinien(ne)s are also cited. A martyr city of World War II, Saint-Lô was decorated with the Legion of Honour in 1948 and was given the nickname "Capital of the Ruins", a phrase popularised by Samuel Beckett.

Geography

Location

Map commune FR insee code 50502
Map of the commune
Plan de Saint-Lô
Plan of the city centre

Saint-Lô is located in the centre of Manche, in the middle of the Saint-Lois bocage, 57 km (35 mi) to the west of Caen, 78 km (48 mi) south of Cherbourg and 119 km (74 mi) north of Rennes.

The city was born under the name of Briovera on a rocky outcrop of schist belonging to the Armorican Massif, in the Cotentin Peninsula, between the confluences of the Vire – which dominates the city centre – with the Dollée and Torteron, two rivers channelled in their urban sections. This historic heart of the city became L'Enclos, a site well suited to passive defence.

The east of the territory is the former commune of Sainte-Croix-de-Saint-Lô, south of Saint-Thomas-de-Saint-Lô, absorbed in 1964.

Climate

Hydrographie Manche
Hydrography of Manche

Saint-Lô has a mild oceanic climate characterised by mild winters and temperate summers. It has an average annual rainfall of 800 to 900 mm (31 to 35 in) per year. Rainfall is quite frequent throughout the year but most abundant in autumn and winter, in connection with the disturbances coming from the Atlantic Ocean. Rarely intense, they often fall in the form of drizzle. The average temperature is 10 °C (50 °F). In winter, the average temperature ranges between 1 and 7 °C (34 and 45 °F). There are between 30 and 40 days of frost per year. In summer, the average temperature lies around 20 °C (68 °F).

Economy

Vue générale de Saint-Lô
View of Saint-Lô, from the slopes of the River Vire.

The city, at a crossroads between Caen, Cherbourg and Rennes, has a natural vocation of marketplace in the centre of the Manche bocage. A city of craftsmen and trade, which owes part of its prosperity to its status of prefecture, it has experienced a late industrialisation and attempts to assert its place, today, in the regional agri-food industry.

In 2008, Saint-Lô was equipped with fibre optic cable to allow companies and individuals to have very high speed internet (approximately 1 Gbps and 100 Mbit/s for individuals).

Sister cities

Saint-Lô is twinned with:


Images for kids

  • Remparts de Saint-Lô 12

    The main entrance to the town.

  • Saint-Lô (rue Saint-Georges)

    There remains no more than a few saved streets, such as Rue Saint-Georges, in old Saint-Lô.

  • Corot- La Vire à Saint-Lô

    Jean-Baptiste Corot, La Vire à Saint-Lô (1850–1855), Museum of the Louvre.

  • Vestige de la papeterie de Saint-Lô

    Only the chimney of the paper mill withstood the fire of 1930.

  • Remparts de Saint-Lô (grotte)

    The underground entrance to the ramparts.

  • Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1984-043-03, Frankreich, St. Lô, Zerstörungen

    Saint-Lô after U.S. bombing, July 1944

  • Saint-Lô Railway station destroyed

    The destroyed station of Saint-Lô.

  • Saint-Lô - Ancienne affiche Capitales des Ruines

    Saint-Lô, Capital of ruins

  • Saint-Lô - Porte de la prison

    The remains of the former prison

  • Baraques de Saint-Lô

    Many traces of wooden barracks remain.

  • Saint-Lô (première pierre)

    The first stone of the reconstruction

  • Saint-Lô (hall place)

    The belfry of the square

  • Château d'eau de Saint-Lô

    The Des Ronchettes water tower

  • Statue de la licorne de Saint-Lô

    Statue of the unicorn of Saint-Lô.

  • Saint-Lô - Bâtiment de l'entreprise CEV Group-Alios

    CEV Group-Alios

  • Saint-Lô - Bâtiment de l'entreprise Verbom

    Verbom

  • Facade tendance ouest

    The studio of Tendance Ouest.

  • Saint-Lô - Collège Louis Pasteur (2)

    Louis-Pasteur College

  • Saint-Lô - École Raymond Brulé

    Raymond-Brulé School

  • Saint-Lô - Antenne de l'IUT de Cherbourg-Manche

    The Saint-Lô branch of the IUT

  • Saint-Lô - Caserne Bellevue

    Bellevue barracks

  • Saint-Lô - Cinémoviking

    The Cinémoviking cinema

  • Saint-Lô - Fête de la musique 2013

    Fête de la musique 2013, in Saint-Lô.

  • Jean Teulé

    Jean Teulé, French novelist and native of Saint-Lô.

  • Stade Louis Villemer (tribune)

    The Louis-Villemer Stadium

  • Centre aquatique de saint lo

    Aquatic centre

  • Église notre dame

    An overall view of the church.

  • Saint-Lô - Temple protestant

    The Protestant temple

  • Remparts de Saint-Lô (Tour Beaux-Regards)

    Ramparts of Saint-Lô and the Beaux-Regards Tower.

  • Haras de Saint-Lô

    The Haras National of Saint-Lô.

  • Château de la Vaucelle

    Château de la Vaucelle

  • Musée des Beaux-Arts de Saint-Lô - Rotonde des tapisseries des amours de Gombaut et Macé

    Rotunda of the tapestries of the Amours de Gombault et Macée.

  • Chapelle de la Madeleine de Saint-Lô, 2013

    Memorial of La Madeleine and the chapel

  • La laitière à Saint-Lô

    La Laitière normande [The Norman dairywoman], of Arthur Le Duc.

  • Statue de la laitière normande

    La Laitière normande of Louis Derbré, from after Arthur Le Duc.

  • Saint-Lô - Val Saint-Jean - démolition d'immeuble

    Quarter of Val Saint-Jean during restructuring (March 2010).

  • Vue sur Saint-Lô (plage verte)

    The Plage Verte

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Saint-Lô para niños

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