Arvert () is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department and Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France.
The inhabitants of the commune are known as Alvertons or Alvertonnes.Les 34 communes de la Communauté d'agglomération Royan Atlantique
Geography Arvert is located some 14 km north-west of Royan and 8 km south of Marennes in the heart of the Peninsula of Arvert and the Royannnais Natural Region in the continental section of the Côte de Beauté and near the famous Marennes-Oléron Oyster basin between the Seudre, Gironde, and the Atlantic Ocean. There are two oyster ports in the commune: Coux and Grève à Duret.Géoportail, IGN, consulted on 3 May 2014
The commune is the centre of a conurbation comprising La Tremblade (the main urban centre), Étaules, and Chaillevette and could be considered part of the outlying "suburbs" of Royan which is the main urban centre and economic hub of the area. Administratively it is part of the canton of La Tremblade and the arrondissement of Rochefort.
Access to the commune is by the D14 main road running north-west to south-east connecting La Tremblade to Saujon and passing north-west of the town. Access to the town is by the D14E1 road from La Tremblade through the town to Étaules. The D141 also connects the town to the D14 and continues south-west to Les Mathes. The D25 starts in the commune and bypasses La Tremblade to the north and continues to Ronce-les-Bains. The D268 branches of the D25 in the commune and goes west to the beaches on the west coast.Google Maps
As a significant economic and tourism centre, Arvert is located close to several large urban centres: Royan (14.7 km SE), Rochefort (30 km NE), and Saintes (38 km E). To a lesser extent, La Rochelle (47 km N) and Bordeaux (110 km SSE) are large regional cities whose influence remains strong. Arvert is also close to many small centres of lesser importance: Étaules (2 km SE) and La Tremblade (3 km NW), which form a single urban area; Breuillet (8 km SE), Marennes (10 km N), and Bourcefranc-le-Chapus (12 km N) near the island of Oléron.
Arvert with the rest of the department belongs to the Southern France area - or more specifically "South Atlantic".Louis Papy, The South Atlantic, Atlas and Geography of modern France, Flammarion, Paris, 1984 The commune also lies within two major geographical areas: the Grand-Ouest and the Grand South-West. Arvert has an area of 2,622 hectares consisting largely of agricultural land, forests (the edge of the Forest of la Coubre) and reclaimed land (the city centre and the main villages of Piochet, Maine-Amouroux, Dirée, Villeneuve, le Boudignon, Avallon, and the oyster ports of Coux and Grève à Duret). The eastern part of the commune directly borders the Seudre estuary and is made up of oyster farms within the famous Marennes-Oléron basin. The countryside consists of humid green meadows and extensive gray-blue mudflats (the Seudre marshes) highlighted by golden lines of reeds, hedges, and aquatic plants with, in line of sight, the Marennes steeple forming a landmark.
The commune has a low relief, being formed of a Cretaceous plateau with a slightly wavy border against the Seudre marshlands. It is partially dry (Pré des Landes is a relic of the former Gulf of Arvert which became the Barbareu Pond in the Middle Ages) drained by small rivers (Le Grand Ecours). The highest point of the commune barely exceeds 25 metres. The plateau rises to 12 metres at Martichou, 17 metres in front of the church, 20 metres at Maine-Amouroux, and 22 metres near the school.
Places and Hamlets
Les Allains L'Anglade Arse Avallon Les Baudits La Beaune La Blague du Monde Blanchette Bois Volet Le Boudignon Les Boutinaudes Les Brassons Le Calme La Carolie Farm Cayenne La Champagne La Chapelaine Les Cinq Journaux Les Coutures Coux L'Etrade Fief de Bellevue Fief de Besse Le Fond d'Arse Les Fouilloux Le Fourniller Le Geay Grève à Duret La Guillate La Jument Les Justices Lerpine Maine Le Maine Amouroux Le Maine Gabaud La Metairie Montravail Farm Le Moulin Brute Le Moulin de Toinet Prise de Bremont Prise de Chateur Paire Prise de la Couronne Prise du Grand Jas de Coux Prise de la Peu Mignon Prise de la Roche Le Petit Pont Le Piochet La Pirouette Les Robinettes Les Romanes Savigny Treilebois Farm
Neighbouring communes and villages
Transport
Bicycle paths The commune has a network of bicycle paths as part of the "Pathways of Seudre" - a collaboration between the Department Council, the Agglomeration Community Royan Atlantique, and the Community of communes of the Marennes basin. The network has been operated since 2007 and allows the exploration of oyster farms and the Seudre Marsh landscape.
Public Transport The town is served by the Cara'Bus public transport network which connects to other communes in the Royannaise agglomeration. It was inaugurated on 2 January 2006 under the name " Très Royannais" and was originally composed of hybrid minibuses (electric and diesel). It has been operated since September 2008 by the Veolia Transport company and was renamed "Cara'Bus" since then.Changes in Royan, September 2008, Transbus website, consulted on 1 July 2009
A modernization of the urban transport network in the agglomeration on 5 January 2009 led to the purchase of Heuliez shuttle buses as well as increasing the number of regular routes from three to ten with three additional routes in summer.Cara'bus Network Map, Carabus transport website, consulted on 3 May 2014
Five Cara'Bus stops are located in the commune: Maine-Giraud, Arvert-Mairie, Les Fouilloux, L'Étrade, and Le Petit Pont at the exit from the town on the border of Les Mathes and La Tremblade. Three bus routes serve the commune: Route 42 starts at Étaules passing all the stops in the commune and going to La Tremblade, Ronce-les-Bains, and Marennes; *Route 41 starts from Ronce-les-Bains and goes to Cozes via La Tremblade, Arvert, Étaules, Chaillevette, Breuillet (Le Magarin stop), Saint-Sulpice-de-Royan (Fontbedeau stop), Saujon, Le Chay, and Grézac; Route 22 connects Ronce-les-Bains to the Royan multimodal railway station via La Tremblade, Arvert, Étaules, Chaillevette, Breuillet (Centre-Ville), Vaux-sur-Mer (Val Lumière shopping centre), and Royan.
The commune is also served by the Les Mouettes departmental transport company, more specifically by the routes 409, 410, and 411 which connect Breuillet to Bourcefranc-le-Chapus via Étaules, La Tremblade, and Marennes. This service links to the main cities of the department.
Air transport The nearest airport is that of Rochefort Saint-Agnant, about 25 kilometres north. The La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport, 50 kilometres north, has services to some major French cities such as Paris and Lyon as well as the British Isles and Northern Europe. About 100 kilometres south-east of the commune, Bordeaux - Merignac Airport is an international airport with connections to many countries.
The Royan – Médis Aerodrome, about 17 kilometres south-east, is reserved for light aviation.
Toponymy The name Arvert comes from the Latin artum meaning a "narrow place" and viride meaning "green".
History Arvert has been inhabited since Neolithic times, the site of the present commune of Arvert was formerly limited to a narrow strip of land between two ocean bays. Although a first village appeared in Roman times, it was only from the 12th century that it grew in importance and a monastic community was established built using a grant from the Lord of Mornac.
Shortly afterwards Arvert became an independent lordship with many parishes under its jurisdiction: those of Trembledam (now La Tremblade), Notre-Dame de l'Isle (now Étaules), Chaillevette, Les Mathes, and the parish of La Roche which no longer exists.
In 1534 Calvin made speeches at Angoulême and Poitiers that young Saintonge monks from heard. Reform was soon preached in all of the Arvert peninsula and by 1550 the majority of the population was Protestant. In 1546 and again in 1553 a total of three monks were condemned to the stake for having preached reform in Arvert.Protestantism in Royannais country
In 1568 the church was burned and almost completely destroyed. In the same year the first Protestant church was built in the village.
In 1598 the Edict of Nantes was promulgated. All means were tried to convert the Protestants. In 1644 the Protestant denomination was prohibited in Arvert.Protestant Memoir.
In 1682 King Louis XIV ordered the destruction of the Protestant church. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 accelerated the exodus of Protestants from the peninsula despite the ban on leaving France imposed on them. Fugitives were arrested and sent to the galleys. On 21 February 1687 three boats loaded with fugitives leaving Mornac, Chaillevette, and La Tremblade were immobilized by soldiers on the Seudre.Revocation of the Edict of Nantes
Despite the arrests, the peninsula was emptied of its people. Those who remained created an underground church they called the Church of the Desert. Clandestine meetings were held in the dunes, woods, or in barns. Jean-Louis Gibert, pastor of the Desert, fitted out the barns as "Houses of Prayer" from 1751. There were two near Arvert: one at AvallonHouse of Prayer at Avallon and one at Chaillevette. In 1754 the pastor was sentenced to death and went into exile in America.Protestant Resistance The Gibert Brothers
Arvert was a barony under the ancien régime, belonging to Cardinal Richelieu before moving to the Senectère family. In 1790 Arvert was made into a commune. Shortly after a quarrel erupted between the representatives of the communes of La Tremblade and Arvert: each trying to become the capital of the canton. For economic reasons it was La Tremblade who finally obtained that privilege.
Occupied by German troops during the Second World War, the village was the scene of heavy fighting during the liberation of the Royan pocket in April 1945.
Policy and Administration
Municipal administration From 1789 to 1799, under the Act of 14 December 1789, the municipal agents (equivalent to mayors) were directly elected for 2 years and re-elected by the working citizens of the town aged 25 years or more who paid a tax of at least 3 days of work in the commune. Those who were eligible paid a tax equivalent to at least ten working days.
From 1799 to 1848, under the constitution of 22 Frimaire Year VIII (13 December 1799), mayors were appointed by the prefect for communes with less than 5,000 inhabitants. The Restoration established the appointment of mayors and councillors. After the 1831 organic law mayors were appointed (by the king for communes with more than 3,000 inhabitants, by the prefect for smaller) but councillors were elected by censal suffrage for six years.
From 3 July 1848 to 1851 mayors were elected by the municipal council for communes with fewer than 6,000 inhabitants.
From 1851 to 1871 mayors were appointed by the prefect for communes with less than 3,000 inhabitants and for 5 years from 1855. After 1871 mayors were elected again except in the capital towns (of departments, arrondissements, or cantons).
It was on 28 March 1882 that the current law on municipal organization was passed which governed the principle of election of the mayor and the deputy by the council whatever the size of the commune (except for Paris). The law of 5 April 1884 fixed the term to four years, a duration increased to six years on 10 April 1929.Decentralisation, Assemblée nationale website
According to its size, the commune has a council of 23 members (Article L2121-2 of the General Code of local authorities).Number of members of communal municipal councils, Legifrance
List of Successive Mayors
From To NameList of Mayors of France Party 1989 2001 René Morillon PCF 2001 2020 Michel Priouzeau DVG 2020 2026 Marie-Christine Peraudeau
Canton