Saint-Jean-de-Luz – Introduction

Nestled close to the Southernmost border between Spain and France in the Basque area, Saint-Jean-de-Luz is a small city of some 15,000 inhabitant but with a big history. More about the history further on…

Saint-Jean-de-Luz is located South of Biarritz and on the Atlantic coast. It has a large and long beach, which is quite calm since the entrance to the beach enclave is dominated by big sea walls (and of course a fortress).

The city is pleasant, particularly if you like walking and discovering interesting buildings and streets. The inner city centre is pretty with compelling buildings.

The streets, many lined with outdoor terraces, vary between wide & spacious and narrow.

Buildings

The buildings in Saint-Jean-de-Luz are not tall, 1 or 2 floors high; so no skyscrapers to mar the view. The houses and buildings are mostly “old” since the city escaped the horrors of WWII bombardments.

Here for example is the City Hall (in French “Mairie” or “Hotel de Ville“), a building built in 1656 in the shape of a “U”. Rumours has it that it was built in such a way to spoil a widow’s view of the harbour, a widow who rejected the romantic advances of the then Mayor:

The widow, Maria Sol, lived in the house built in 1643 by her former husband and wealthy shipowner and buccaneer, Johannis de Lohobiague. The house, now called Maison Louis XIV, was renamed in 1660 to honor King Louis XIV (aka the “Sun King”) since the King had lived in this house for 40 days while negotiating a peace treaty with Spain to end a long and bloody war (more about that later on in this article):

Another special house is the “La Maison de l’Infante” named after Marie-Therese of Austria (who was the daughter of the King Philip IV of Spain… confused?), who was to be married to the King of France, who was his cousin. She stayed in this house in 1660 with the Queen Mother while the wedding was being prepared.

The house is now called “La Maison de l’Infante” (the House of the Infanta), but was built in 1640 by the Basque shipowner & buccaneer Joannot de Haraneder.

Other houses and buildings to be found (but not limited to)

One of the more important, and quite impressive, buildings to be found in Saint-Jean-de-Luz is the church; the Saint-Jean-Baptiste church.

Click here to read more about the church and its historic importance in one of our articles.

Fishing is an important part of Saint-Jean-de-Luz’s economy (next to tourism), so it’s no surprise that the harbour is packed with fishing boats. The harbour was used in previous centuries by corsairs (privateers or buccaneers, who were allowed to attack ships from other nations).

Like most places in France, there’s quite a large covered food market.

Of course, like almost all covered food markets in France, it’s called “Les Halles”. But here you can find some nice and fresh food, many of the Basque cuisine traditions.

Waterfront

The beaches of Saint-Jean-de-Luz are very much favoured by beachgoers in France. The reason for that is the sea walls that protect the city and harbour. Not only did they protect the city from raiding pirates and storms, but also make sure that water is calm for bathers.

Alongside the houses next to the beach is a tall and wide sea dyke. The dyke itself is also the promenade, allowing people to walk the length of the beach without getting sand in their shoes.

At the end of the sea walls, protecting the city from storms and raiders is a fortress called the “Fort de Socoa“. It’s not part of Saint-Jean-de-Luz but belongs to the neighbouring town of Ciboure.

Summary

Saint-Jean-de-Luz is a very nice place to visit and stay. It has been so for centuries. People tend to choose between Biarritz and Saint-Jean-de-Luz for their summer holidays, and when King Louis XIV came here, the city became a “must be seen” places for the gentry.

If you are into beaches, this is a great place to be thanks to the great climate and calm water.

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