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Villers-sur-mer | |
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 Avenue de la République | |
 Coat of arms | |
 Location of Villers-sur-mer | |
  Villers-sur-mer  Villers-sur-mer | |
| Coordinates:49°19′17″N0°00′18″W / 49.3214°N 0.005°W /49.3214; -0.005 | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Normandy |
| Department | Calvados |
| Arrondissement | Lisieux |
| Canton | Pont-l'Évêque |
| Intercommunality | CC Cœur Côte Fleurie |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2024–2026) | Chhun-Na Lenglart[1] |
Area 1 | 8.99 km2 (3.47 sq mi) |
| Population (2023)[2] | 2,440 |
| • Density | 271/km2 (703/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 14754 /14640 |
| Elevation | 3–136 m (9.8–446.2 ft) (avg. 38 m or 125 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Villers-sur-Mer (French pronunciation:[vilɛʁsyʁmɛʁ]ⓘ) is acommune in theCalvadosdepartment in Normandy, northwestern France. As of 2023, the population of the commune was 2,440.[3]
The commune is located on the French coast of theEnglish Channel, on theCôte Fleurie, betweenDeauville andHoulgate, approximately 200 km from Paris.
It is the northernmostFrench commune through which falls thePrime meridian of the world. The latter is represented on the seafront promenade with a blue mark on the ground and on the parapet. This mark is positioned 32 metres west of the actual meridian in use today, theIERS Reference Meridian.
Numerousfossils of vertebrates were found in theJurassic (UpperCallovian) Vaches-Noires cliffs in Villers-sur-Mer. Remains include marine reptiles, in particularteleosaurids (Steneosaurus heberti) andmetriorhynchids,coelacanths, a huge suspension-feeding fishLeedsichthys anddinosaurs.[4] A 2.5 m-long metriorhynchid skeleton, assigned toMetriorhynchus cf.superciliosus, is unique due to the preserved undigested food in its stomach: the remains of invertebrates and gill apparatus ofLeedsichthys. This content indicates that large fishes were not the main diet of these thalattosuchians and this individual likely devoured already deadLeedsichthys.[4] It is also widely known byammonite specialists.
Villers-sur-Mere is known for the large topiary dinosaurs facing the sea from the garden of the office of tourism. In certain years, a baby dinosaur is added to the garden. There is a small museum in the enclosure of the office of tourism, which has an outline of the resources and discoveries, along with the Paléospace l'Odyssée, which covers topics as varied as theGreenwich Meridian, the nature and history of the marshland surrounding the town, and fossils found in the nearby Vaches Noires cliffs.
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It seems that Villers-sur-Mer (then known asVillers) was more akin to a group ofhamlets[5] during the early 19th century. According to theCassini map (drawn in the 18th century), Villers at that time was made up of a church, two farms (La Motte andFontaine), and a castle.[6]
On the beach of Villers-sur-Mer (last stretch of rue Alfred Feine), the famous last scene of the first film byFrançois Truffaut was shot:Les Quatre Cent Coups ends with afreeze frame of its boy hero running towards the sea.
n 1978, Villiers-Sur-Mer was twinned with the English village ofWickham.
Villers-sur-Mer station is on the line fromDeauville toDives-sur-Mer. The station building is no longer open but train services operate year-round on weekends, and also on weekdays during the summer.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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