Coutances

Coutances
Coutances Cathedral
Coutances
Location within Lower Normandy region  Coutances
Administration
Country	France
Region	Lower Normandy
Department	Manche
Arrondissement	Coutances
Canton	Coutances
Statistics
Elevation	12–150 m (39–490 ft)
Land area1	12.51 km2 (4.83 sq mi)
Population2	9,546  (1999)
- Density	763 /km2 (1,980 /sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	50147/ 50200
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Coutances is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.

History

Capital of the Unelli, a Gaulish tribe, the town took the name of Constantia in 298 during the reign of Roman emperor Constantius Chlorus. The surrounding region, called in Latin the pagus Constantinus subsequently became known as the Cotentin Peninsula.

The town was destroyed by invading Normans in 866, who later established settlements and incorporated the whole peninsula into the Duchy of Normandy in 933.

On July 17, 1944, napalm was first used on the city.^{[citation needed]}

Heraldry

The arms of Coutances are blazoned : Azure, in fess 3 columns argent, and on a chief gules, a leopard Or armed and langued azure.

Sights

Coutances Cathedral is one of the major buildings of Norman architecture and contains a chapel and stained glass dedicated to Saint Marcouf. The bishop of Coutances exercised ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the Channel Islands until the Reformation, despite the secular division of Normandy in 1204. The final rupture occurred definitively in 1569.

Coutances houses a well-known botanical garden and an art museum.

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in France

Twin towns - Sister cities

Coutances is twinned with:

Ochsenfurt in Germany Troina in Sicily , Italy Ilkley in England , United Kingdom

Saint Ouen in Jersey , United Kingdom La Pocatière in Québec , Canada

External links

• Street map from Mapquest