The history of the town
of La Faute-sur-Mer

The history of the town of La Faute-sur-Mer

The town of La Faute-sur-Mer was a rural area of the commune of La Tranche and became a commune at the end of 1953. La Faute-sur-Meris a French town in the Vendée department in the region of Pays de la Loire. It is located in the mid-west of France. La Faute-sur-Mer is a small stretch of coastal land in the south of the Vendée. With approximately 1000 inhabitants, the town is experiencing a decline in population density. It covers an area of 726 hectares.

Where does the nameLa Faute come from ?

There are various stories about the origins of the name La Faute. No one knows if these stories are based on real facts or if they are legends. Here are a few that may shed some light on the origins of the name La Faute :

One account reports that Romans (sailors) named this area “les Pictons Pôs”. The Gauls used the word “Pôs”, which was distorted into “Fôs”. Over time, this expression was transformed into “Faute”, hence the name of the town ;
Another legend tells that the lord of Talmont, after having had a romance with a young girl, gave for dowry to the future baby a large portion of land that constitutes the village. He wondered why the fault ? Whose fault was it ? Thus, the name “La Faute” was given to the village;