Charleville-Mezieres

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Charleville-Mezieres
Coat of arms of Charleville-Mézières
Charleville-Mézières (France)
Charleville-Mezieres
region Grand Est
Department Ardennes ( prefecture )
Arrondissement Charleville-Mezieres
Canton Charleville-Mézières-1
Charleville-Mézières-2
Charleville-Mézières-3
Charleville-Mézières-4
Community association Ardenne metropolis
Coordinates 49 ° 46 '  N , 4 ° 43'  E Coordinates: 49 ° 46 '  N , 4 ° 43'  E
height 133-323 m
surface 31.44 km 2
Residents 46,428 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 1,477 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 08000
INSEE code 08105
Website www.charleville-mezieres.fr

Charleville-Mézières is the capital of the French Ardennes department and has 46,428 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017).

The city was in 1966 from the formerly independent cities Mezieres and Charleville together . The places Étion, Mohon and Montcy-Saint-Pierre were also incorporated.

geography

The city of Charleville-Mézières is located on the Meuse ( Meuse in French ), which, before entering its breakthrough valley through the Ardennes, created four loops of the river. The first and third of the peninsulas encircled by the loops were pierced with shipping canals. The developed Meuse is also known as the Canal de la Meuse and continues the Canal des Ardennes , which reaches the river 10 km upstream from Mézières at Dom-le-Mesnil through the valley of the Bar .

At the neck of the peninsula enclosed by the uppermost bend in the river, the fortress town of Mézières was created in a narrow space between the two sections of the right bank of the river . To the north and south on the two left banks of the river as well as upstream and downstream are their suburbs (French: faubourgs ). To the west on the outside of this loop, i.e. on the left bank, is the neighboring town of Warcq . The residential city of Charleville was built in the northern part of the following loop of the Maas, the core of which merges seamlessly into younger buildings. The historic border between the northern suburbs of Mézières and Charleville marks the railway line to Hirson . In the third loop is the incorporated Montcy-Saint-Pierre, in the fourth the neighboring town of Montcy-Nôtre-Dame .

history

Place Ducale
Attachment
Notre-Dame-d'Espérance basilica

Archaeological traces of settlement from both Gallo-Roman and early Carolingian times have been found under both parts of the city, as well as the remains of an arched bridge . The archaeologists are still divided on the evaluation of some finds.

Mézières is the older of the two cities. The Romans built a fort here on the road from Reims ( DVROCORTORVM ) to Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium , today's Cologne , which bore its function in its name, CASTRICVM . However, it should have expired later, because when the city was founded in 899, the place Maceriae was called 'rubble'. In the Middle Ages, Mézières became an important economic center. From the 16th century, the city became more important militarily, and its fortifications were modernized.

Charleville was founded on May 6, 1606 by Duke Carlo I. Gonzaga . The new ducal seat replaced the medieval village of Arches. He was immediately in competition with Sedan , another aristocratic seat, and above all with Mézières, a garrison town with a glorious past. The city was built on level ground with streets at right angles to each other. Its center is the splendid Place Ducale , which is similar to the Place des Vosges in Paris .

In 1748, on the proposal of Nicolas de Chastillon (1699-1765), the commander of the citadel of Charleville and Marc-Pierre de Voyer de Paulmy d'Argenson , the Secretary of State for War, the École royale du génie de Mézières was founded School for Pioneer Officers. It was mainly visited by young aristocrats, from whom the majority of the military engineers of the First French Republic (1792-1804) were later recruited.

From September 25, 1914, the great headquarters of His Majesty the Emperor and King resided in Charleville-Mézières. In April 1915 it moved to Schloss Pleß in Upper Silesia. From February 1916 to August 1916 it was back in Charleville-Mézières.

In May 1944, the city was targeted by American bombing raids in preparation for Operation Overlord . Nearby was an airfield used by the German Air Force ( Aérodrome de Charleville-Mézières ).

Population development

year 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2006 2014
Residents 55,543 60.176 58,667 57.008 55,490 51,997 48,615
Source: Cassini and INSEE

Culture

The international marionette festival has been held in Charleville-Mézières every three years since 1961 , most recently in September 2013.

and display information about the image
Panoramic view of the Place Ducale

Economy and Infrastructure

A component plant of the automobile manufacturer PSA Peugeot Citroën with 2,400 employees is located in Charleville .

The Charleville-Mézières station is located at the junction of the Charleville-Mézières – Hirson line from the Soissons – Givet line .

Personalities

Town twinning

Charleville-Mezieres maintains the following cities twinning :

Web links

Commons : Charleville-Mézières  - Collection of images, videos and audio files