La Cotinière,

traditional fishing village of Saint-Pierre-d’Oléron

Situated on the west coast of Oléron, just ten minutes from your campsite on the Ile d’Oléron, this village and its port welcome you in a unique atmosphere. A must-see destination for fish lovers, it combines the charm of the fishing villages of Charente Maritime with the grandiose landscapes of the Ile d’Oléron.

a natural cove on the ocean

A village steeped in the island’s history

At the beginning of the 19th century, La Cotinière was no more than a natural cove on the ocean, sheltering only a few small boats. Only two locks protected it before the construction of a dike in 1843 and a quay in 1867, which was unfortunately destroyed by a storm in 1870.

It was only 20 years later that the whole complex was rebuilt with the addition of a lighthouse, the one you can still see today, painted with its red and white rings.

The village dwellings of this period are typical of traditional island houses: a modest one-storey building with a fish pole attached to the façade for drying fish; an outside staircase leading to the attic for storing the harvest. In the grounds, a well and the customary cellar for storing wine from the vineyard.

The village was originally home to the Notre-Dame-de-Saint-Nicolas chapel, which was buried by the sands. After unsuccessful attempts to rebuild a new church on the same site, the town council decided to build a contemporary-style church in 1966, complete with stained-glass windows painted by the master Henri Martin-Granel.