Sister Cities – Twinning
Annapolis Royal has two sister cities – Annapolis, Maryland and Royan, France.
Both sister cities share strong historic and cultural ties with Annapolis Royal, and the formalization of twinning ensures these ties will remain strong for years to come.
Annapolis Royal’s twinning is lead by elected members and volunteers through the Twinning Committee, a sub-committee of the Marketing and Economic Development Committee.
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis, Maryland and Annapolis Royal were both named after Queen Anne and share a rich military history, with Annapolis, Maryland home to the United States Naval Academy and Annapolis Royal to Fort Anne.
Annapolis, Maryland was once the capital of the United States while Annapolis Royal was the original capital of Nova Scotia.
Both communities share a strong maritime tradition and a commitment to heritage, culture, and the arts.
Visit the website for Annapolis, Maryland to learn more.
Royan, France
Royan, France is now a popular resort town on France’s Atlantic coast. In the early 17th century, however, it was a place of departure for French colonization of New France and Acadia. The twinning of Royan, France, and Annapolis Royal officially acknowledges the special historical link connecting our two communities.
Royan is, in fact, the birthplace of Pierre Dugua, sieur de Mons, a merchant explorer who received exclusive colonization rights and a fur trade monopoly from Henry IV in 1603. Annapolis Royal is the present-day incarnation of Dugua’s first successful settlement, Port-Royal, established in 1605 by Dugua and his cartographer, Samuel Champlain. (Incidentally, Champlain was born not far from Royan, in Brouage).
The twinning of the two municipalities is motivated by a desire to increase awareness of the contribution of Dugua de Mons to Canadian and French history, to strengthen ties of friendship between peoples, to promote mutual understanding that supersedes linguistic and cultural boundaries, and to increase the contact between our two communities.
Visit the website for Royan, France to learn more.
La ville de Royan, en France, est aujourd’hui une station balnéaire très courue sur la côte atlantique. Au xviie siècle, en revanche, elle fut le lieu de départ d’expéditions de colonisation vers la Nouvelle-France et l’Acadie. Le jumelage entre la ville française de Royan et la ville canadienne d’Annapolis Royal marque officiellement le lien historique important entre ces deux communautés.
Royan est, en fait, la ville natale de Pierre Dugua, sieur de Mons. Celui-ci fut le marchand-explorateur qui reçut du roi Henri IV, en 1603, le monopole de la traite de fourrures en Amérique du Nord. La ville d’Annapolis Royal est l’incarnation moderne de l’« Habitation » de Port-Royal, établie en 1605 par le sieur de Mons et par son cartographe, Samuel Champlain, natif de Brouage, non loin de Royan.
Le jumelage de nos deux communes est motivé par le désir de mieux souligner, tant ici au Canada qu’en France, le travail de Dugua de Mons, de resserrer nos liens d’amitié, d’aider les deux communautés à mieux se connaître et se comprendre, en dépit des différences de langue et de culture, et de déboucher sur une augmentation des visites entre nos deux villes.
Pour en savoir plus, consultez le site Web de Royan, en France.
Twinning Visit 2023
