La Rochelle - fortified city • All PYRENEES · France, Spain, Andorra. La Rochell is a town in the southwest of France, the historic capital of Aunis and the prefecture of the Charente-Maritime department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. With about 75,000 inhabitants in 2020, La Rochelle is the most populous municipality in the department, ahead of Saintes, Rochefort and Royan and occupies the fifth regional rank in New Aquitaine after Bordeaux (the regional capital), Limoges, Poitiers and Pau. Its inhabitants are called the Rochelaises and the Rochelais. Located on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, off the Pertuis d’Antioche, and protected from storms by the “barrier” of the islands of Ré, Oléron and Aix, the city has predominantly been a first-rate port complex since the twelfth century. It is, in fact, an “Ocean Gate” by the presence of its three ports (fishing, trade and tourism). Tourism and main attractions Fortified city on the sea and on the land, La Rochelle has many defence monuments, the best known of which are the medieval towers of the Old Port.