Lorient - History

History

At the beginning of the 17th century, merchants who were trading with India had established warehouses in Port-Louis. They later built additional warehouses across the bay in 1628, at the location which became known as L'Orient (the Orient in French). Later, the French East India Company, founded in 1664 and chartered by King Louis XIV, established shipyards there, thus giving an impetus to the development of the city. In 1746 during the War of the Austrian Succession, Britain launched an unsuccessful Raid on Lorient to destroy French shipping.

In attempts to destroy German submarine pens (U-boat bases) and their supply lines, most of this city was destroyed by Allied bombing during World War II (see section below). Thus, today's Lorient reflects an architectural style of the 1950s.

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