Dieppe is a town and commune in the Seine-Maritime département of Haute-Normandie (eastern Normandy), France.

Population of the city (commune) at the 1999 census was 34,653 inhabitants (Dieppois), whereas the whole metropolitan area (aire urbaine) had 81,419 inhabitants.

A port on the English Channel, famous for its scallops, with a regular ferry service to Newhaven, East Sussex, Dieppe also has a popular beach, a 15th century castle and the churches of St. Jacques and St. Remy.

Geography

Dieppe belongs to the Pays de Caux region.

History

First recorded as a small fishing settlement in 1030, Dieppe was an important prize fought over during the Hundred Years' War. Dieppe housed the most advanced French school of cartography in the 16th century, and was the premiere port of the kingdom in the 17th century. On July 23, 1632 300 colonists headed for New France departed Dieppe. At the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, Dieppe lost 3000 of its citizens, who fled abroad. Dieppe was an important target in wartime; the town was largely destroyed by Anglo-Dutch naval bombardment in 1694. Rebuilt after 1696, it was popularised as a seaside resort following the first visit in 1824 of the widowed Duchess of Berry, daughter-in-law of Charles X. She encouraged the building of the recently-renovated municipal theater, the Petit-Theatre (1825), associated above all others with Camille Saint-Saens.

On August 19, 1942, during the Second World War, it was the site of the Dieppe Raid, a bloody landing by Allied soldiers, mainly Canadian.

Sights

The Castle, which survived the 1694 bombardment, contains an exhibition space and a museum with a strong maritime collection, a rich collection of the 17th and 18th century ivory carvings, including lacy folding fans, for which Dieppe was known, and the furnishings and papers of Camille Saint-Saens. The castle's interior courtyard is picturesque.

External links

• Mairie de Dieppe
• The Dieppe Raid