Pertuis d'Antioche

The Pertuis d'Antioche (, Passage of Antioch) is a strait on the Atlantic coast of Western France, between two islands, Île de Ré and Île d'Oléron, on the one side, and on the other side the continental coast between the cities of La Rochelle and the naval arsenal of Rochefort. The Pertuis d'Antioche owes its name to the similarity of the contour of its coastline to that of the Mediterranean sea's north-eastern area between Cyprus, Syria and Turkey, which has the famous ancient city of Antioch at its center.