# Sainte-Marie-sur-Mer

Sainte-Marie-sur-Mer (French pronunciation:; Breton: Lokmaria-Pornizh), officially Sainte-Marie, is a former commune in the Pays de Retz, situated in the Loire-Atlantique département and in the French région of Pays de la Loire. From 1973, it was absorbed by the neighbouring commune of Pornic and from 1 July 2007 it became a subdivision of this commune.
The commune forms a part of Brittany, in the traditional county of Retz and in the historical Pays Nantais.
The inhabitants of Sainte-Marie are known as the Sanmaritains and Sanmaritaines.

## Geography

Sainte-Marie-sur-Mer is a market town on the Côte de Jade, with a jagged coastline strewn with coves.

## History

At one time, during the French First Republic, Sainte-Marie was known as Roche-Peltier.
The commune of Sainte-Marie was attached to that of Pornic on 1 June 1973 (under the terms of the Marcelin law of 16 July 1971).
On 16 May 2006 the Sanmaritains voted for the complete amalgamation of the communes of Sainte-Marie-sur-Mer and Pornic with 50.83% of the vote in favour (with a difference of just 47 votes out of more than 2800 voters). In effect, from 1973, Sainte-Marie-sur-Mer possessed a status of associated commune with Pornic and removed the deputy mayor of Sainte-Marie, Jean-François Cossé who had opposed the amalgamation of the two communes.
On 1 July 2007, after the acceptance by the prefect of the amalgamation of the communes of Pornic and Sainte-Marie-sur-Mer, the latter lost its status as associated commune and became a subdivision of Pornic .

## List of mayors

* Abbé Beaudouin -1823
* Bodin des Plantes 1823-
* Edouard Thomas -1828
* François Raffin 1828- (maire provisoire)
* Edouard Thomas -1852
* René Laraison 1852-1870
* Michel Picot 1870-1884
* François Maurice 1884-1886
* Jules Galot 1886-
* Guillon Constant 1886-
* Souchlaud
* Bézier
* Rouhaud
After the amalgamation with the town of Pornic, Sainte-Marie-sur-Mer and the aforementioned Pornic came to represent a single electoral zone.

## Demographics

| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
| 1793 | 1,220 | — |
| 1800 | 1,097 | −1.51% |
| 1806 | 1,119 | +0.33% |
| 1821 | 1,286 | +0.93% |
| 1831 | 1,458 | +1.26% |
| 1841 | 1,459 | +0.01% |
| 1846 | 1,414 | −0.62% |
| 1851 | 1,501 | +1.20% |
| 1856 | 1,456 | −0.61% |
| 1861 | 1,484 | +0.38% |
| 1866 | 1,517 | +0.44% |
| 1872 | 1,532 | +0.16% |
| 1876 | 1,536 | +0.07% |
| 1881 | 1,522 | −0.18% |
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
| 1886 | 1,604 | +1.06% |
| 1891 | 1,715 | +1.35% |
| 1896 | 1,837 | +1.38% |
| 1901 | 1,850 | +0.14% |
| 1906 | 1,832 | −0.20% |
| 1911 | 1,792 | −0.44% |
| 1921 | 1,578 | −1.26% |
| 1926 | 1,652 | +0.92% |
| 1931 | 1,658 | +0.07% |
| 1936 | 1,638 | −0.24% |
| 1946 | 1,736 | +0.58% |
| 1954 | 1,869 | +0.93% |
| 1962 | 1,899 | +0.20% |
| 1968 | 2,059 | +1.36% |
Source: EHESS :

## Places and monuments

* Sainte-Marie church
* Le chateau de La Mossardière
* Commonwealth war graves in Ste. Marie Communal Cemetery

## People from Sainte-Marie-sur-Mer

* René Babonneau

## Resiting of the market

Since the end of March 2007 the market was moved creating a heated debate between tradesman, customers and the town hall. In the Courier of the Pays de Retz of 5 April 2007 the writer of the article spoke of a toxic atmosphere in the town.