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 Ouistreham (or Ouistreham-Riva-Bella) is a seaside resort and large marina that serves as a port for the city of Caen in the French province of Normandy. Since the Middle Ages, Ouistreham and its harbor has been used as a trading port. And the town’s beach, the “Riva Bella”, has been a popular swimming and bathing beach since the turn of the 20th century.
Ouistreham was also the scene of the D-Day landings by the British on Sword Beach, the code name for the eight kilometer stretch from Ouistreham to Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer. The British were met with minimal resistance from the German forces, suffering less than 700 casualties.
Besides Sword Beach, Ouistreham has a few other tourist sites including the Museum of the Atlantic Wall, the Museum of Disembarkment, and the Grand Bunker, which is an old WWII German bunker that was captured by the British in their Normandy invasion. The St. Samson’s church is worth visiting as well. This is an old fortress-church which was altered in the 12th and 19th centuries. It has an especially fine gabled façade and a chancel that is narrower than the nave. |
