Gray (Haute-Saône)
| Gray | ||
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| region | Bourgogne-Franche-Comté | |
| Department | Haute-Saône | |
| Arrondissement | Vesoul | |
| Canton | Gray (main town) | |
| Community association | Val de Gray | |
| Coordinates | 47 ° 27 ' N , 5 ° 35' E | |
| height | 187-249 m | |
| surface | 20.26 km 2 | |
| Residents | 5,512 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 272 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 70100 | |
| INSEE code | 70279 | |
| Website | www.ville-gray.fr | |
 Bridge over the Saône |
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Gray is a commune in the Haute-Saône department , in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region .
geography
Gray is located in the southwest corner of the Haute-Saône department, just on the border of the former regions of Franche-Comté and Burgundy ( French: Bourgogne ). The city is located on the canalized Saône River , which, in conjunction with the Rhone and the Canal des Vosges ( German: Vosges Canal ), creates a navigable connection from northeast France to the Mediterranean .
history
In the 9th century, the Counts of Burgundy built a fortification on the edge of a plateau. Soon afterwards, a town emerged below the castle, on the banks of the Saône. The development of Gray was driven by Otto IV, Count Palatine of Burgundy , and his wife, Mathilde von Artois . Her daughter, Joanna II of Burgundy , continued her father's work and had the city rebuilt after a fire in 1324. During the internal battles between the kings John II and Charles V and the Burgundian Duke Philip the Bold , the city was burned down twice, in 1360 and 1384. In 1479 the city and its protective walls were taken over by the French King Louis XI. destroyed.
The 16th century was a golden age for the city thanks to the dynamism of river trade and the continued presence of a political elite. The Renaissance art came on, the church was rebuilt and built the town hall. The German Emperor Charles V installed his Vogt Gauthiot d'Ancier in Gray .
In the 17th century, Gray was tried hard by the ravages of the Thirty Years' War and the Dutch Wars . On February 19, 1668 it opened its gates to the commanders of Louis XIV , conquered more by surprise than by force of arms. It was the last and at that time the most solid of those places in Franche-Comté that were occupied by the French within 14 days. In the Peace of Aachen (May 2, 1668) , France gave the entire Franche-Comté back to Spain because, on the one hand , it preferred to own the cities and fortresses in Hainaut , Flanders, etc., and on the other hand, because it was the successful future occupation of Franche-Comté deemed certain. In fact, King Louis XIV reopened hostilities against Emperor Leopold I as early as 1674 and had an army deployed into Franche-Comté. Gray was one of the first fortresses to be captured by the Duke of Novailles in April 1674. When Besançon surrendered in May and Dole on July 6th, the whole duchy was in French possession and remained so in the Peace of Nijmegen (February 5, 1679). Since then, Gray has belonged to France. However, soon after the city was conquered, Louis XIV had the fortifications razed and Gray became an open city.
Numerous monasteries settled in Gray. The statuette “Virgin and Child”, which was carved from a piece of oak, attracted numerous pilgrims. Pierre Fourier , founder of the Notre-Dame Congregation , whose loyalty to the Dukes of Lorraine required him to go into exile, came to Gray in 1636. He died here in 1640 and was beatified in 1730 and canonized in 1897. The following century, Gray brought back his lost prosperity with the resumption of river trade. The economic upswing took concrete shape in the establishment of the quays, wine and grain stores and mills. The development of culture was evident in the construction of the library and the theater. In the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71, Gray was important for the military operations on the southeastern arena.
See also
Attractions
- The town hall was built in the Renaissance style in 1567–1572.
- The Notre-Dame Basilica from the 15th-16th centuries Century was 1948 by Pope Pius XII. raised to the minor basilica .
- The theater, built between 1846 and 1849, was reopened in 2006 after being closed for ten years.
Renaissance facade of the town hall
Basilica - view from the riverside
Bridge over the Saône
Marina on the Saône
Town twinning
Personalities
- Jean-Baptiste Romé de L'Isle (1736–1790), French mineralogist
- Antoine-Augustin Cournot (1801–1877), French mathematician and economic theorist
- Edmond Bour (1832–1866), mathematician and engineer
Web links
- Official website of the city (French)
Remarks
- ↑ a b Otto Delitsch : Gray . In: Johann Samuelersch , Johann Gottfried Gruber (Hrsg.): Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste , 1st section, vol. 88 (1868), p. 363.