Port D Olèron 

Until the beginning of the 19th century, La Cotinière is a natural paradise on the coast of Oléron, protected by a pair of locks. A 135-meter dam was built in 1843 to reinforce this small fishing port, which is still very modest: only seven boats are moored 13!

Near the coast, the villages of La Cotinière and Colombier are so characteristic of the traditional "towns" of Oleron, with their few houses on one level, in addition to a medieval chapel, now covered by windy sands. The pier was extended in 1862 and again in 1867. A pier of thirty meters was built at the same time. However, these efforts are ruined by a storm in 1870, which reduces all these works 13. It was not until 1890 that the complex was rebuilt and the lighthouse came to integrate these infrastructures. Meanwhile, the fish market was built in 1910, while the port is in full development. A canning factory is built at the same time; produces sardines, the "cotinardes" 14. The dynamism of the city makes it consider its erection in an independent commune in 1913, but the project remains a dead letter 15. The following year, a new storm begins dams.