Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total population of the greater Le Havre conurbation is smaller than that of Rouen. It is also the second largest subprefecture in France (after Reims). Its port is the second busiest in France (after that of Marseille).
Le Havre was provisionally renamed Franciscopolis in the documents, after King Francis I, who developed the city in 1517. A chapel known as Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (“Our Lady of Grace”) existed at the site before the city was established, and the denomination lent its name to the port, to be called Le Hable de Grâce (already in 1489, “the harbor of Grace”). The shortened name Le Havre, as used in modern times, simply translates as “the port” or “the harbour”.
While under German occupation, the city was devastated in 1944 during the Battle of Normandy in World War II; 5,000 people were killed and 12,000 homes destroyed, mainly by Allied air attacks. After the war, the centre was rebuilt in the modernist style by Auguste Perret. Le Havre was honoured with the Legion of Honor award on 18 July 1949. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.
Le Havre was once synonymous with urban gloom and greyness. The city’s inhabitants have done much to change this; as a result of substantial improvements, Le Havre is now spoken of as the Brasilia of France.
A ferry service to Portsmouth in the United Kingdom runs from the Terminal de la Citadelle. Crossing times are from five hours and thirty minutes to eight hours. Popular alternative routes going to areas close to Le Havre include Newhaven to Dieppe, and Poole to Cherbourg. The Port of Le Havre is the largest deep-water ocean port of France.
