Oléron Island
thumb|Boyardville in 1910 (port in the north of Oléron island) The Isle of Oléron or Oléron Island (, ; Saintongese: ''ilâte d'Olerun''; , ) is an island off the Atlantic coast of France (due west of Rochefort), on the southern side of the Pertuis d'Antioche strait. 1686 map of Oléron|left|frameless It is the second largest island of metropolitan France, after Corsica, with a length of and a width of . It has an area of 174 km (67 sq. mi.) and more than 21,000 permanent inhabitants.
Key facts
- Islands.area_km2
- 174
- Islands.length_km
- 30
- Islands.width_km
- 8
- Islands.name
- Isle of Oléron
- Islands.image_name
- Île d'Oléron aerial view.jpg
- Islands.image_caption
- Aerial photograph of Oléron
- Islands.image_map
- Vert bois - 2016a.jpg
- Islands.image_size
- 250px
- Islands.map
- France Poitou-Charentes
- Islands.map_caption
- Vert bois Beach in the southwest of the island
- Islands.location
- Atlantic Ocean
- Islands.elevation_m
- 34
Article
8 sectionsContents
- History
- Geography and climate
- Administration
- Transportation
- Tourism
- Notes
- Sources
- External links
thumb|Boyardville in 1910 (port in the north of Oléron island) The Isle of Oléron or Oléron Island (, ; Saintongese: ''ilâte d'Olerun''; , ) is an island off the Atlantic coast of France (due west of Rochefort), on the southern side of the Pertuis d'Antioche strait. 1686 map of Oléron|left|frameless It is the second largest island of metropolitan France, after Corsica, with a length of and a width of . It has an area of 174 km (67 sq. mi.) and more than 21,000 permanent inhabitants.
==History== Oléron has been known since the 1st century, where Pliny the Elder refers to it in his Natural History as Uliaros ("in aquitanico sinu Vliaros"). thumb|upright=1.3|Château Fournier, located in Saint-Georges d'Oléron, bears witness to the island's wine-growing past. Today, it has been transformed into a retirement home.|center Towards the end of the 3rd century, the Roman emperor Probus extended the privilege of owning vineyards and producing wine to all Gauls, and this led to a culture of winemaking developing on the island. This lasted until the end of the 19th century, when the arrival of phylloxera decimated almost all the vines. The vineyards did not recover, and grape production today is mainly for Cognac bois ordinaires.