seaside resort, market and harbour town, Manche département, Basse-Normandie région, western France. It is located south of Cherbourg and west of Paris. The old walled upper town stands on a promontory jutting out above the harbour and the lower town, which has a bathing beach and promenades. Granville is a centre for yachtsmen and tourists and has a boat service to the Channel Islands of Great Britain. It is also a fishing port and has a thalassotherapy (medicinal use of sea water and sea products) centre. Of the town's various small industries, food processing is the most important. Pop. (1999) 12,687; (2005 est.) 12,900.