Saint-Jean-de-Luz
History, Geography, & Points of Interest
Saint-Jean-de-Luz, town, Pyrénées-Atlantiques département, Nouvelle-Aquitaine région, southern France, on the Bay of Biscay. It lies on the right bank of the Nivelle River, near the Spanish frontier.
The town’s restored 13th-century church of St. John the Baptist, in which Louis XIV was married to Marie-Thérèse of Austria in 1660, has a single nave in Basque style surrounded by galleries. With its numerous hotels, casinos, promenades, and beaches, the town is a fashionable summer and winter resort. It also has a picturesque fishing port with an ancient maritime tradition. Its vessels were the first (1520) to fish off Newfoundland. The tuna fishing industry remains significant. Pop. (1999) 13,247; (2014 est.) 13,431.
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