Transmissus

A JOURNEY THROUGH THE AGES

HISTORICAL ANIMATED FILM

Lion-sur-Mer has a rich history spanning centuries. From its unique cliffs, still full of “treasures” for scientists, archaeologists, and historians, to its built heritage such as its 11th-century church, its castle, and the splendor of its Belle Époque seaside villas, Lion-sur-Mer reveals its many assets.

Lion-sur-Mer has a rich history spanning centuries. From its unique cliffs, still full of “treasures” for scientists, archaeologists, and historians, to its built heritage such as its 11th-century church, its castle, and the splendor of its Belle Époque seaside villas, Lion-sur-Mer reveals its many assets.

This animated film is both an artistic and historical depiction of the town’s history — a journey through time, highlighting the key moments that shaped the commune.

A STORY & ANECDOTES

  • Did you say Lion?


The town has borne many names over the centuries, according to known archives: Leones, Lions, Leon, Lyon, Leo sur mare, Lions-Ultra-Cadomum, Liuns, Lyon-sur-la-mer, up to today’s name: Lion-sur-Mer.


Lion was long divided in two: Upper and Lower Lion, or “Land Lion” and “Sea Lion”. The sea folk lived by the rhythm of the tides, while those inland lived by the ticking clock.

Guide-Album of the Caen to Sea Railway – Archives of Calvados

  • Thousands of Years Ago


In ancient times, from the Neolithic to the Iron Age (1st century BC), the cliffs were the site of a sea salt extraction complex.

Archaeologists found traces of foundations, refuse pits, and burial sites.

  • The Greatest Shipwreck


On February 26, 1714, fifty sailors perished at sea — the deadliest tragedy known to Lion-sur-Mer residents.

Cliffs known as the “Confessionals” of Lion-sur-Mer – ©Transmissus

  • The Castle of Lion


In the 11th century, on the site of today’s castle stood a medieval fortress, likely built by the Moyon family. Their ancestor is honored among the warriors of the Battle of Hastings (1066), during William the Conqueror’s invasion of England.


In May 1811, Napoleon Bonaparte was hosted at the castle by Robert Armand Le Sens de Folleville.

The castle has evolved over time and is still visible from the path beside it in Upper Lion.

  • At the end of the 18th century: Frontispieces


These illustrated title pages placed at the beginning of books became a powerful revolutionary propaganda tool. Gone were royal portraits and biblical scenes—replaced by Liberty leading the people, republican fasces, and the Declaration of the Rights of Man.


In print shops of both Paris and the provinces, artists and engravers brought the new ideals to life in images: equality, fraternity, popular sovereignty. These frontispieces, both symbolic and beautiful, were published in brochures, almanacs, and constitutions. They marked a sharp break with the Ancien Régime and helped engrave the Revolution into the collective imagination—starting right from the book cover.


Often forgotten, these works were the first windows into revolutionary thinking, carrying powerful messages at a time when images began to speak to the people.

Frontispiece of official letters (cut-out) – Liberty of the seas: the Republic, armed with a trident, arrives on a ship like Venus, in a great shell; the prow features an angel blowing a trumpet, framed by seaweed and marine life.

Circa 1791–1793 | 17FI/1222 – Calvados Archives

  • Lion - Deauville’s Rival in the Belle Époque


In 1857, Mr. Pinchon was appointed “Grand Master of Bathing Cabins” and hot bath distributor. Heated sea water tubs were offered, making up for the cold temperatures of the coast.


In Deauville, they had wooden boardwalks; in Lion, they had the sea wall! Built at the beginning of the last century, it became a unique feature. Walking the seawall was a beloved activity among locals and socialites.

Official Guide-Album of the Caen to the Sea Railway and the Calvados Railways. Caen Beaches (Côte de Nacre). – 17FI 1492 2 – Lot 1 – Media 1 | ©Archives of Calvados

  • From Gyp to Anatole France


Countess de Martel, better known as “Gyp,” was a French playwright of the 19th and 20th centuries. Starting in 1855, she frequently stayed in Lion for over 40 years.

French writer Anatole France also left his mark on the town.

Letter to Gyp


“I’ve been held up in Paris by various matters, one of which involves Hungary, as people used to say. I’m handling a literary reproduction matter, Madam, with two giants bearing Tartar mustaches.

But what occupies me far more is The Garden of Epicurus and a small collection of Italian short stories that need me in order to take form and become something.

I do hope to return to Lion next week. Suzon is happy: she doesn’t write to me.

Send my regards to everyone, and believe me, dear Madam, in my sincere friendship.”


— Anatole France, September 12, 1894

  • The Occupation Years – Memories of Mr. Berjot, a Resistance Member


“June 1940 — The German occupiers were unsatisfied with the number of ‘non-locals’ and urged them to return to their winter homes.

Lion became a rest garrison for occupying forces: squadrons, batteries, companies, and uniformed female service units.”

“As the months went by, the Atlantic Wall slowly began to take shape: the barbed wire was installed fairly quickly, despite its considerable height and the width of its network.

Day after day, the houses in Lion that obstructed the line of sight of the artillery crews (gun batteries) were demolished at the request of their officers.”

Rocket launcher test, May 11, 1944, at Lion-sur-Mer Castle – ©Bundesarchiv

  • Maurice-Charles Renard & the First Tide After D-Day


At the first tide following D-Day, Mr. Renard, frustrated at not having fished for shrimp in five years, decided to head out to sea.

Extrait d’un article de Spécial Mer, mai 1950. 


“In the fever of this long-lost, finally regained paradise, I pushed my net again and again, never once thinking that the bourraque (a fishing net with a wooden handle, known as the pousseux or haveneau) might strike a submerged mine — and take the fisherman with it.

I barely had time to take in this new horizon, lined with the corpses of so many barges, and even the massive silhouette of a French battleship, sunk just off the rocky plateau near Hermanville.


Though my memory no longer recognized the wide, flat landscape of tides past, and my sense of smell failed to catch the invigorating scents of iodine — overpowered by the stench of gunpowder and smoke screens — my basket kept filling, and the shrimp piled up.

There were no less than five pounds of them when I finally returned to the short, grey cliffs of the shore.


But as soon as the court-bouillon was thrown into the pot, a disheartening odor of kerosene overtook the fragrances of the sea…

In my fishing frenzy, I hadn’t noticed the open water was covered in a treacherous layer of oil.”


Excerpt from an article in Spécial Mer, May 1950.


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