Charente-Maritime

Gare de Rochefort is a railway station serving the town Rochefort, Charente-Maritime department, southwestern France.

Rochefort (French pronunciation: [ʁɔʃfɔʁ] ; Occitan: Ròchafòrt), unofficially Rochefort-sur-Mer (French pronunciation: [ʁɔʃfɔʁ syʁ mɛʁ]; Occitan: Ròchafòrt de Mar) for disambiguation, is a city and commune in Southwestern France, a port on the Charente estuary. It is a subprefecture of the Charente-Maritime department, located in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine (before 2015: Poitou-Charentes).

The Raid on Rochefort (or Descent on Rochefort) was a British amphibious attempt to capture the French Atlantic port of Rochefort in September 1757 during the Seven Years' War. The raid pioneered a new tactic of "descents" on the French coast, championed by William Pitt who had taken office a few months earlier. After a number of delays the expedition reached the French coast, capturing the offshore island of Île d'Aix. With the army commander Sir John Mordaunt refusing to attempt a landing, the force sailed for home. The raid ended in failure, but it was followed by several similar operations in the subsequent years.

The canton of Rochefort is an administrative division of the Charente-Maritime department, western France. It was created at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in Rochefort. It consists of the following communes: Rochefort

The Corderie Royale International de la mer is a vast museum complex located in the heart of the maritime Arsenal de Rochefort. The building built in 1666 has been classified as a historic monument since 1967, and currently a candidate for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Since 1986, the part open to visitors has permanent and temporary exhibitions dedicated to the maritime world and the history of the Arsenal de Rochefort.

Communauté d'agglomération de Saintes is the communauté d'agglomération, an intercommunal structure, centred on the town of Rochefort. It is located in the Charente-Maritime department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, southwestern France. Created in 2014, its seat is in Rochefort. Its area is 421.4 km2. Its population was 63,480 in 2019, of which 23,584 in Rochefort proper.

The arrondissement of Rochefort (French: arrondissement de Rochefort) is an arrondissement (district) in the Charente-Maritime department in the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. It has 78 communes. Its population is 189,875 (2016), and its area is 1,534.6 km2 (592.5 sq mi).

The Arsenal de Rochefort was a French naval base and dockyard in the town of Rochefort. It was founded in 1665 and it was closed in 1926. In December 1665 Rochefort was chosen by Jean-Baptiste Colbert as a place of "refuge, defense and supply" for the French Navy. Its military harbour was fortified by Louis XIV's Commissary of Fortifications Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban. Between 1666 and 1669 the King had the Corderie Royale (then the longest building in Europe) constructed to make cordage for French ships of war. The making of cordage ceased in 1867 and in 1926 the Arsenal de Rochefort was closed.

The Musée national de la Marine in Rochefort is one of the main naval museums of France. Rochefort Naval museum is part of the Musée national de la Marine, which is organised around its main location in Paris, and it antennas in Rochefort, Toulon, Brest and Port-Louis.

Vergeroux (French pronunciation: [vɛʁʒəʁu]) is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department, southwestern France.

The Conservatoire du Bégonia (1,000 m2) is a botanical garden specializing in begonias. It is located at 1 rue Charles Plumier, Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France, and open for guided tours several days per week in early spring and late fall; an admission fee is charged.

Rochefort-Martrou Transporter Bridge is a transporter bridge built between 1898 and 1900. It is located in Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France and connects the towns of Rochefort and Échillais without hindering the navigation of shipping serving the ports of Rochefort and Tonnay-Charente. It is the last transporter bridge in operation in France. Crossing the river Charente, it has a maximum height of 66.5 metres (218 ft) and a total length of 175.5 metres (576 ft). It is a technical invention accomplished by the French engineer Ferdinand Arnodin. It was abandoned in 1967 in favour of a vertical lift bridge, which was in turn demolished in 1991 a few months after the opening of a new dual-carriageway road bridge, the Martrou viaduct. However, the transporter bridge was refurbished by 1994 and is now a historical monument (1976). Crossing on foot or by bicycle or moped is still possible today from April to the end of October. Crossings last 75 seconds, excluding boarding and disembarking time.