Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Les Bains Pompéiens is a beach bath building built in Deauville at the beginning of the Mad Years, between 1921 and 1924. The project began in 1921 when the municipality, led by Mayor Eugène Colas, launched a competition to replace the old wooden cabins designed in 1912 by Georges Wybo. The Parisian architect Charles Adda won the competition with a bold Art Deco project, combining white concrete and polychrome mosaics evoking the tones of the sea. The ensemble, inaugurated on July 5, 1924, includes 250 luxurious cabins organized in islets around gardens and basins, complemented by shops, a café bar, steam baths and a swimming pool. Its immediate success led to an expansion in 1928.

During World War II, the baths were requisitioned and partially dismantled: the family cabins were turned into shelters, and the board of the promenade was used to support trenches. The reconstruction lasted until 1960, preserving the initial architectural unity despite extensions at the ends. The establishment, classified and registered for historical monuments in 2019 and 2025, embodies the golden age of Norman seaside resorts, frequented by All-Paris and international stars like Coco Chanel or Elizabeth Taylor.

The Promenade des Planches, adjacent to the Pompeian Baths, becomes a world symbol thanks to cinema. In 1966, a man and a woman by Claude Lelouch made cult scenes with Anouk Aimée and Jean-Louis Trintignant, contributing to the fame of the place. Since 1990, the bath booths have had the names of celebrities who marked the American Film Festival in Deauville, established in 1975. The architecture of Adda, combining modernity and ancient references, remains a unique testimony of the seaside innovation of the 1920s.

The materials used, such as imputrescible wood for boards, or coloured mosaics, reflect aesthetic and functional research. The establishment is part of a coherent urban complex, close to the casino, the racetrack and palaces like the Normandy Barrière. Today, the Pompeian Baths and their walk, 643 meters long (extended since), continue to attract visitors and cinematographers, perpetuating the legend of Deauville as capital of luxury and seventh art.

In 2019, the listing of historic monuments covers all baths, including mosaic decorations, basins and board railings. Two additional rankings, in 2024 and 2025, protect the institution's squares A, B and C, highlighting its heritage importance. The promenade, compared to the Croisette or the Planches de Nice, remains a popular place of strolling, where history, architecture and popular culture mix together.

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