The Esplanade stretches for almost two kilometres. At the end of the 19th century, urbanisation of the seafront was at its height, and as early as 1896, plans were made to build a gravel embankment for the promenade. Financed by the owners of the seafront cottages, it was built in 1905.
During the Second World War, its northern section was destroyed to allow the Atlantic Wall to be built. Bombing raids in 1942 and 1944 destroyed almost all of it. The seafront we know today is the work of town planner Paul Dufournet and modernist architect Clément Tambuté. The individual villas were replaced by a row of two- and three-storey buildings inspired by the work of Le Corbusier.
Anonyme, Berck, façade maritime, ca 1900, coll. Musée Opale Sud
