Saint-Josse

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Coordinates: 50°28′07″N 1°39′56″E / 50.4686111111, 1.66555555556

Administration
Commune of Saint-Josse
Location

Country	France
Region	Nord-Pas-de-Calais
Department	Pas-de-Calais
Arrondissement	Montreuil
Canton	Montreuil
Intercommunality	Communauté de communes Mer et Terres d'Opale
Mayor	Juliette Flament (2001-2008)
Statistics
Elevation	2 m–64 m (avg. 8 m)
Land area^¹	21,1 km²
Population^² (1999)	1052
- Density	49/km²
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	62752/ 62170
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once.

Saint-Josse, or Saint-Josse-sur-Mer is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais département in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.

1 Geography
2 Population
3 History
4 Places of interest
5 See also
6 External links
7 Notes

[edit] Geography

A large village located 4 miles (6km) west of Montreuil-sur-Mer on the D144 road. Before the 8th century, the sea came right up to the village, but it is nowadays 4 miles (6km) to the west.

[edit] Population

Population Evolution
1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999
622	559	575	671	914	1052
Census count starting from 1962 : Population without double counting

[edit] History

In a place called Sidraga or Schaderias, Josse, a 7th century Breton prince, the son of King Juthaêl, arrived in northern France and sought the protection of Haymon, Count of Ponthieu, to live as a hermit and renounce the crown of Brittany. A small monastery was built in the 8th century at the place where Josse died. In 903, some monks, fleeing the Norman invasion took refuge in England. On their return, the abbey became a centre of pilgrimage, especially popular with the Germans in the 14th and 15th centuries.
The abbey was closed in 1772, sold and then destroyed in 1789, leaving no traces of the monumental building.

In the village church is the shrine of Saint Josse, containing relics. In this shrine, opened in 1922, was a piece of 10th century Oriental fabric, which was sent to the Louvre museum, referenced under ‘the shroud of Saint Josse’.

Saint-Josse-on-Sea is still a famous place of pilgrimage. A procession takes place on the Tuesday following Whitsun. The reliquary containing the relics of the saint is carried to the calvary at the top of Bavémont hill at Airon-Saint-Vaast.