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La Rochelle

La Rochelle (,, ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: La Rochéle) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With 78,535 inhabitants in 2021, La Rochelle is the most populated commune in the department and ranks fourth in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region after Bordeaux, the regional capital, Limoges and Poitiers.

Situated on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean the city is connected to the Île de Ré by a 2.9 km bridge completed on 19 May 1988. Since the Middle Ages the harbour has opened onto a protected strait, the Pertuis d'Antioche and is regarded as a "Door océane" or gateway to the ocean because of the presence of its three ports (fishing, trade and yachting). The city has a strong commercial tradition, having an active port from very early on in its history.

The city traces its origins to the Gallo-Roman period, attested by the remains of important salt marshes and villas. The Dukes of Aquitaine granted it a charter as a free port in 1130. With the opening of the English market following the second marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152, the presence of the Knights Templar and the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem quickly made this small town the largest port on the Atlantic.

To this day, the city still possesses a rich historical fabric, including the Saint-Nicholas tower, and an urban heritage. The capital of Aunis, it has become the most important coastal city between the Loire and Gironde estuaries. La Rochelle's urban activities are many in number and strongly differentiated, being a city with port and industrial functions that are still important, but also including a predominantly administrative and tertiary sector that is reinforced by the university and a rapidly developing tourism industry. In the early 21st century, the city has consistently been ranked among France's most liveable cities.

Antiquity

The Romans subsequently occupied the area, where they developed salt production along the coast. Roman villas have been found at Saint-Éloi and at Les Minimes. Salt evaporation ponds dating from the same period have also been found.

Foundation
The name was first recorded in 961 as Rupella, from a Latin diminutive meaning 'little rock'. It was later known as Rocella and Roscella before the name took on its current form. The establishment of La Rochelle as a harbour was a consequence of the victory of Duke Guillaume X of Aquitaine over Isambert de Châtelaillon in 1130, and the subsequent destruction of his harbour of Châtelaillon. In 1137, Guillaume X to all intents and purposes made La Rochelle a free port and gave it the right to identify as a commune.

Fifty years later Eleanor of Aquitaine upheld the communal charter promulgated by her father. For the first time in France, a city mayor was appointed for La Rochelle, Guillaume de Montmirail. Guillaume was assisted in his responsibilities by 24 municipal magistrates, and 75 nobles who had jurisdiction over the inhabitants.

Plantagenet rule (1154–1224)
Eleanor married Henry Plantagenet in 1152, who became king of England as Henry II in 1154, thus putting La Rochelle under Plantagenet rule, until Louis VIII captured it in the 1224 siege of La Rochelle. During the Plantagenet control of the city in 1185, Henry II had the Vauclair castle built, remains of which are still visible in the Place de Verdun.

The main activities of the city were in the areas of maritime commerce and trade, especially with England, the Netherlands and Spain. In 1196, wealthy bourgeois Alexandre Auffredi sent a fleet of seven ships to Africa seeking wealth. He went bankrupt awaiting the return of his ships; they returned seven years later bearing riches.

Knights Templar
The Knights Templar had a strong presence in La Rochelle since before the time of Eleanor of Aquitaine, who exempted them from duties and gave them mills in her 1139 Charter. La Rochelle was the Templars' largest base on the Atlantic Ocean, and where they stationed their main fleet. From La Rochelle, they were able to act as intermediaries in trade between England and the Mediterranean. A popular thread of conspiracy theory originating with Holy Blood, Holy Grail has it that the Templars used a fleet of 18 ships which had brought Jacques de Molay from Cyprus to La Rochelle to escape arrest in France. The fleet allegedly left laden with knights and treasures just before the issue of the warrant for the arrest of the Order in October 1307.

Hundred Years' War
Royal property since 1271, the 1293 sacking of La Rochelle by the Bayonnais during an outbreak of reciprocal piracy between English and French (particularly Norman) sailors was one of the main charges of King PhilipIV against King EdwardI when he declared the Duchy of Aquitaine forfeit to the French crown, prompting the 1294–1303 Gascon War whose peace terms produced the marriage that led to EdwardIII's later claims to the French crown.

Following the Treaty of Brétigny during the Hundred Years' War, La Rochelle again came under the rule of the English monarch in 1360. La Rochelle however expelled the English in June 1372, following the naval Battle of La Rochelle, between Castilian-French and English fleets. The French and Spanish decisively defeated the English, securing French control of the Channel for the first time since the Battle of Sluys in 1340. The naval battle of La Rochelle was one of the first cases of the use of handguns on warships, which were deployed by the French and Spanish against the English. Having recovered freedom, La Rochelle refused entry to Du Guesclin, until Charles V recognized the privileges of the city in November 1372.

In 1402, the French adventurer Jean de Béthencourt left La Rochelle and sailed along the coast of Morocco to conquer the Canary Islands.

Until the 15th century, La Rochelle was to be the largest French harbour on the Atlantic coast, dealing mainly in wine, salt and cheese.

French Wars of Religion
During the Renaissance, La Rochelle adopted Protestant ideas. Calvinism started to be propagated in the region of La Rochelle, resulting in its suppression through the establishment of Cours présidiaux tribunals by Henry II. An early result of this was the burning at the stake of two "heretics" in La Rochelle in 1552. Conversions to Calvinism however continued, due to a change of religious beliefs, but also to a desire for political independence on the part of the local elite, and a popular opposition to royal expenses and requisitions in the building projects to fortify the coast against England.

On the initiative of Gaspard de Coligny, the Calvinists attempted to colonise the New World to find a new home for their religion, with the likes of Pierre Richier and Jean de Léry. After the short-lived attempt of France Antarctique, they failed to establish a colony in Brazil, and finally resolved to make a stand in La Rochelle itself. Pierre Richier became "Ministre de l'église de la Rochelle" ("Minister of the Church of La Rochelle") when he returned from Brazil in 1558, and was able to considerably increase the Huguenot presence in La Rochelle, from a small base of about 50 souls who had been secretly educated in the Lutheran faith by Charles de Clermont the previous year. He has been described, by Lancelot Voisin de La Popelinière, as "le père de l'église de La Rochelle" ("The Father of the Church of La Rochelle").

La Rochelle was the first French city, with Rouen, to experience iconoclastic riots in 1560, at the time of the suppression of the Amboise conspiracy, before the riots spread to many other cities. Further cases of Reformation iconoclasm were recorded in La Rochelle from 30 May 1562, following the Massacre of Vassy. Protestants pillaged churches, destroyed images and statues, and also assassinated 13 Catholic priests in the Tower of the Lantern.

From 1568, La Rochelle became a centre for the Huguenots, and the city declared itself an independent Reformed Republic on the model of Geneva. During the subsequent period, La Rochelle became an entity that has been described as a "state within a state". This led to numerous conflicts with the Catholic central government. The city supported the Protestant movement of William of Orange in the Netherlands, and from La Rochelle the Dutch under Louis of Nassau and the Sea Beggars were able to raid Spanish shipping.

In 1571 the city of La Rochelle suffered a naval blockade by the French Navy under the command of Filippo di Piero Strozzi and Antoine Escalin des Aimars, a former protagonist of the Franco-Ottoman alliance. The city was finally besieged during the siege of La Rochelle (1572–1573) during the French Wars of Religion, following the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in August 1572, and occurred at the same time as other sieges of Protestant cities such as the siege of Sancerre. The conflict ended with the 1573 Peace of La Rochelle, which restricted the Protestant worship to the three cities of Montauban, Nîmes and La Rochelle. Pierre Richier died in La Rochelle in 1580.

Huguenot rebellions

Under Henry IV, and under the regency of his son Louis XIII, the city enjoyed a certain freedom and prosperity. However, La Rochelle entered into conflict with the authority of the adult Louis, beginning with a 1622 revolt. A fleet from La Rochelle fought a royal fleet of 35 ships under Charles, Duke of Guise, in front of Saint-Martin-de-Ré, but was defeated on 27 October 1622, leading to the signing of the Peace of Montpellier.

Revolt of Soubise (1625)
In 1625, a new Huguenot revolt led by Duke Henri de Rohan and his brother Soubise led to the Capture of Ré island by the forces of Louis XIII. Soubise conquered large parts of the Atlantic coast, but the supporting fleet of La Rochelle was finally defeated by Montmorency, as was Soubise with 3,000 when he led a counter-attack against the royal troops who had landed on the island of Ré.

Siege of La Rochelle (1627–1628)

Following these events, Louis XIII and his Chief Minister Cardinal Richelieu declared the suppression of the Huguenot revolt the first priority of the kingdom. The English came to the support of La Rochelle, starting the Anglo-French War, by sending a major expedition under the Duke of Buckingham. The expedition however ended in a fiasco for England with the siege of Saint-Martin-de-Ré. Meanwhile, cannon shots were exchanged on 10 September 1627 between La Rochelle and Royal troops. This resulted in the siege of La Rochelle in which Cardinal Richelieu blockaded the city for 14 months, until the city surrendered and lost its mayor and its privileges.

The remaining Protestants of La Rochelle suffered new persecutions, when 300 families were again expelled in November 1661, the year Louis XIV came to power. The reason for the expulsions was that Catholics deeply resented a degree of revival of Protestant ownership of property within the city.

The growing persecution of the Huguenots culminated with the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV in 1685. Many Huguenots emigrated, founding such cities as New Rochelle in the vicinity of today's New York in 1689. La Rochelle, and the siege of 1627 form much of the backdrop to the later chapters of Alexandre Dumas, père's classic novel, The Three Musketeers.

La Rochelle and the New World

Because of its western location, which saved days of sailing time, La Rochelle enjoyed successful fishing in the western Atlantic and trading with the New World, which served to counterbalance the disadvantage of not being at the mouth of a river (useful for shipping goods to and from the interior). Its Protestant ship-owning and merchant class prospered in the 16th century until the Wars of Religion devastated the city. The British navy in wartime were alert that shore watchers at La Rochelle were employed.

The period following the wars was a prosperous one, marked by intense exchanges with the New World (Nouvelle France in Canada, and the Antilles). La Rochelle armateurs (shipowners) became very active in triangular trade with the New World, dealing in the slave trade with Africa, sugar trade with plantations of the West Indies, and fur trade with Canada. This was a period of high artistic, cultural and architectural achievements for the city. La Rochelle was also the port city from which the Carignan-Salieres Regiment departed for Nouvelle France. In 1664, based upon attacks by the Iroquois against the Quebec inhabitants and following the request of the New France Sovereign Council, the French finance minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert ordered the 24 companies composing the Carignan-Salières Regiment to duty in New France. Beginning with departures from the port of La Rochelle, France on 19 Apr 1665, five troop ships and one supply ship left the French coast. A sixth troop ship, Le Breze, began the journey from the Antilles island in the West Indies. All of the seven ships arrived at Quebec City during the three-month period between 19 Jun 1665 and 14 Sep 1665. They carried approximately 1,200 men of the regiment. Additionally, it was from this port city that many of the estimated 768 women known as the Filles du Roi (Daughters of the King), set sail for Quebec during the period of 1663 to 1673.

Robert de La Salle departed from La Rochelle, France, on 24 July 1684, with the aim of setting up a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi, eventually establishing Fort Saint Louis in Texas.

The city eventually lost its trade and prominence during the decades spanning the Seven Years' War, the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. During that period France lost many of the territorial possessions which it had had in the New World, and also saw a significant decrease in its sea power in the continuing conflicts with Britain, ultimately diminishing the role of such harbours as La Rochelle. After abolitionist movements led by such people as Samuel de Missy, the slave trade of La Rochelle ended with the onset of the French Revolution and the war with England in the 1790s, the last La Rochelle slave ship, the Saint-Jacques being captured in 1793 in the Gulf of Guinea. In February 1794, the National Convention passed the Law of 4 February 1794, which effectively freed all colonial slaves.

In 1809, the Battle of the Basque Roads took place near La Rochelle, in which a British fleet defeated the French Atlantic Fleet.

La Rochelle faience
La Rochelle became one of the French centres for faience at the end of the 18th century. Bernard Palissy was born in the region and had some bearing in this development. During the 18th century, its style was greatly influenced by Chinese themes and Japanese Kakiemon-type designs. Many of these ceramics can be viewed at the Musée d'Orbigny-Bernon.

19th century
In 1864, the harbour of La Rochelle (area of the "Bassin à flot" behind the water locks), was the site for the maiden dive experiments of the first mechanically-powered submarine in the World, Plongeur, commanded by Marie-Joseph-Camille Doré, a native of La Rochelle.

Second World War
During the Second World War, Germany established a submarine naval base at La Pallice (the main port of La Rochelle).

A German stronghold, La Rochelle was the last French city to be liberated at the end of the war. The Allied siege of La Rochelle took place between 12 September 1944 and 7 May 1945. The stronghold, including the islands of Ré and Oléron, was held by 20,000 German troops under German vice-admiral Ernst Schirlitz. Following negotiations by the French Navy frigate captain Meyer, the general German capitulation occurred on 7 May and French troops entered La Rochelle on 8 May.

The submarine base became the setting for parts of the movie Das Boot. The U-boat scenes in Raiders of the Lost Ark were also shot in La Rochelle. The base is featured in the computer game Commandos 2: Men of Courage. It was also chosen in 2018 for the location shooting of the German television series Das Boot (a sequel to the 1981 classic).

Geology
The bedrock of La Rochelle and surrounding areas is composed of layers of limestone dating back to the Sequanian stage (upper Oxfordian stage) of the Jurassic period (circa 160 million years ago), when a large part of France was submerged. Many of these layers are visible in the white cliffs that border the sea, which contain many small marine fossils. Layers of thick white rock, formed during period of relatively warm seas, alternate with highly fragile layers containing sand and remains of mud, formed during colder periods, and with layers containing various corals, that were formed during warmer, tropical times. The limestone thus formed is traditionally used as the main building material throughout the region.

The area of La Pointe du Chay about 5 km from La Rochelle is a cliff area visited for leisurely geological surveys.

Climate
Under Köppen's climate classification, La Rochelle features an oceanic climate. Although at the same latitude as Montreal in Canada or the Kuril islands in Russia, the area experiences mild weather throughout the year due to the influence of the Gulf Stream waters, the summers are relatively warm, and insolation is remarkably high—the highest in Western France, including sea resorts much further to the south such as Biarritz. La Rochelle seldom experiences very cold or very warm weather. These specific conditions – summer: dry and sunny, winter: mild and wet – have led to the establishment of a Mediterranean-type vegetation cohabiting with more continental and oceanic types of vegetation.

Population
Its inhabitants are called "les Rochelaises" and "les Rochelais" in French. The population data in the table and graph below refer to the commune of La Rochelle proper, in its geography at the given years. The commune of La Rochelle absorbed part of the former commune of Saint-Maurice in 1858 and Laleu in 1880.

Description
La Rochelle possesses a commercial deep water harbour, named La Pallice. The large submarine pens built during World War II still stand there, although they are not in use. La Pallice is equipped with oil unloading equipment, and mainly handles tropical wood. It is also the location of the fishing fleet, which was moved from the old harbour in the centre of the city during the 1980s.

La Rochelle also maintains strong links with the sea by harbouring the largest marina for pleasure boats in Europe at Les Minimes, and a rather rich boat-building industry which includes Amel Yachts.

La Rochelle has a very big aquarium, and a small botanical garden (the Jardin des plantes de La Rochelle).

The Calypso, the ship used by Jacques-Yves Cousteau as a mobile laboratory for oceanography, and which was sunk after a collision in the port of Singapore (1996) is now on display (rotting) at the Maritime Museum of La Rochelle.

The French Socialist Party has held its annual summer convention (Université d'été) in La Rochelle since 1983.

Culture
The Festival de la Fiction is a film festival that films screens new films in official competitions (French, European, and other Francophone countries), out of competition, and also in special screenings. The first ten years of the festival, from around 1998, took place in Saint-Tropez]], before moving to La Rochelle in around 2013 or 2014.

One of the biggest music festivals in France, Les Francofolies de La Rochelle, takes place each summer in La Rochelle, where Francophone musicians come together for a week of concerts and celebration. 2004 marked the 20th anniversary of this event.

Tourism
La Rochelle's main feature is the "Vieux Port" ("Old Harbour"), which is at the heart of the city, picturesque and lined with seafood restaurants. The city walls are open to an evening promenade. The old town has been well preserved. Three medieval towers are a prominent tourist attraction at the entrance to the harbor: The Chain Tower, The Lantern Tower and Saint Nicolas Tower. From the harbour, boating trips can be taken to the Île d'Aix and Fort Boyard (home to the TV show of the same name). Nearby Île de Ré is a short drive to the North. The countryside of the surrounding Charente-Maritime is very rural and full of history (Saintes). To the North is Venise Verte, a marshy area of country, crisscrossed with tiny canals and a resort for inland boating. Inland is the country of Cognac and Pineau. The nearby Île de Ré is accessible via a bridge from La Rochelle.

Transport
La Rochelle and its region are served by the international La Rochelle - Île de Ré Airport, which has progressively developed over the last 5 years. The train station Gare de La Rochelle offers connections to Bordeaux, Nantes, Poitiers, Paris and several regional destinations.

OFP La Rochelle is a freight railway serving the port.

La Rochelle launched one of the first successful bicycle sharing systems in 1974.

Education
The city has more than 10,000 students each year. The University of La Rochelle was established in 1993. Together with the Excelia Group (La Rochelle Business School), they are the largest institutions of higher education of La Rochelle (7,000 and 3,500 students respectively).

Landmarks

 * Orbigny-Bernon Museum
 * Muséum d'histoire naturelle de La Rochelle
 * Saint-Louis Cathedral

In popular culture
La Rochelle is the setting for the best-selling series of French language textbooks in the UK, titled Tricolore. The central character, Martine Dhome, lives with her family at the fictional address of 12, rue de la République.

Born in La Rochelle

 * Antoine Albeau, windsurfer
 * François-Maurice Allotte de La Fuÿe, numismatist
 * Matthieu Androdias, world champion rower
 * Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, author of Beauty and the Beast
 * Jacques Nicolas Billaud-Varenne, politician and revolutionary
 * Aimé Bonpland, botanist
 * William-Adolphe Bouguereau, painter
 * Jean-Loup Chrétien, astronaut
 * John Theophilus Desaguliers, physicist and mathematician
 * Guy-Victor Duperre, admiral
 * Jean Duvignaud, writer
 * Eugène Fromentin, writer and painter
 * Nicolas Gargot de La Rochette, governor of Placentia
 * Bernard Giraudeau, actor and director
 * Jean Guiton, mayor during the siege of La Rochelle
 * Grégory Havret, professional golfer
 * Jacques-Léopold Heugel, music publisher
 * Sébastien Hurtaud, classical cellist
 * Guy Laroche, fashion designer
 * Samuel de Missy, abolitionist
 * Fabrice Neaud, artist and cartoonist
 * Pierre-Jean-Baptiste Nougaret (1742–1823), author and playwright
 * Victor Prevost, photographer
 * Paul Ramadier, politician and member of the French Resistance
 * René-Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur, scientist
 * Winshluss, artist and cartoonist
 * Jean-Louis Raduit de Souches, German Imperial Field Marshal
 * Clément Saunier, French classical trumpeter
 * Étienne Truteau, ancestor of Canadian Prime Ministers Pierre Trudeau and Justin Trudeau

Lived in La Rochelle

 * Colette Besson, sprinter
 * Victor Henri, physical chemist and physiologist
 * Saint Louis de Montfort, Roman Catholic priest
 * Alcide d'Orbigny, botanist
 * Jean-Paul Sartre, philosopher and novelist
 * Georges Simenon, author and novelist
 * Marie Louise Trichet, nurse beatified by Pope John Paul II

Sport
Stade Rochelais are a professional rugby union team in the Top 14 league. They play their home matches at Stade Marcel-Deflandre.

Since 1991 the city has annually hosted the Marathon de La Rochelle, the second-most popular marathon of France and an international-level race which featured 10,000 participants in 2010.

ES La Rochelle is the local football club.

In 2022, Stade Rochelais Basket promoted to the LNB Pro B. The team plays its home games at the	Salle Gaston-Neveur.

Twin towns – sister cities
La Rochelle is twinned with:
 * 🇺🇸 New Rochelle, New York, United States, since 1910
 * 🇮🇱 Acre, Israel, since 1972
 * 🇷🇺 Petrozavodsk, Karelia, Russia, since 1973
 * 🇩🇪 Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, since 1988
 * 🇲🇦 Essaouira, Morocco, since 1999
 * Santiago de Figueiró, Portugal, since 2003

title: La Rochelle


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Rochefort, Charente-Maritime

Rochefort (Ròchafòrt), unofficially Rochefort-sur-Mer (Ròchafòrt de Mar) for disambiguation, is a city and commune in Southwestern France, a port on the Charente estuary. It is a subprefecture of the Charente-Maritime department, located in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine (before 2015: Poitou-Charentes).

Geography
Rochefort lies on the river Charente, close to its outflow into the Atlantic Ocean. It is about 30 km southeast of La Rochelle. Rochefort station has rail connections to La Rochelle, Nantes and Bordeaux.

History
In December 1665, Rochefort was chosen by Jean-Baptiste Colbert as a place of "refuge, defence and supply" for the French Navy. The Arsenal de Rochefort served as a naval base and dockyard until it closed in 1926.

In September 1757, Rochefort was the target of an ambitious British raid during the Seven Years' War.

Another infrastructure of early Rochefort from 1766 was its bagne, a high-security penal colony involving hard labour. Bagnes were then common fixtures in military harbors and naval bases, such as Toulon or Brest, because they provided free labor. During the Jacobin period of the French Revolution (1790–95), over 800 Roman Catholic priests and other clergy who refused to take the anti-Papal oath of the "Civil Constitution of the Clergy" were put aboard a fleet of prison ships in Rochefort harbour, where most died due to inhumane conditions.

Off Rochefort, from the island of Île-d'Aix where he had spent several days hoping to flee to America, Napoleon Bonaparte surrendered to Captain F. L. Maitland aboard HMS Bellerophon, on 17 July 1815, ending the "Hundred Days".

Rochefort is a notable example of 17th-century "ville nouvelle" or new town, which means its design and building resulted from a political decree. The reason for building Rochefort was to a large extent that royal power could hardly depend on rebellious Protestant La Rochelle, which Cardinal Richelieu had to besiege a few decades earlier. Well into the 20th century, Rochefort remained primarily a garrison town. The tourist industry, which had long existed due to the town's spa, gained emphasis in the 1990s.

Sights
Noteworthy buildings of the original naval establishment include:
 * a hospital, incorporating a School of Naval Medicine (now a museum)
 * the Arsenal with a monumental gateway and the National Navy Museum (Musée National de la Marine)
 * the Rope Factory (corderie), at over 370 metres long for centuries the longest manufacturing building in the world
 * three dry docks (radoubs) for shipbuilding and repair
 * a cannon foundry (not open to the public)

Other sights include:
 * a rare transporter bridge (pont transbordeur), consisting of a high level bridge containing a transport mechanism from which a ferry platform is suspended. This bridge, the Rochefort-Martrou Transporter Bridge, built in 1900, is the only remaining one in France and one of only eight still in service world-wide
 * the municipal theatre (la Coupe d'Or)
 * the railway station
 * Saint-Louis church
 * Pierre Loti's house (closed indefinitely pending completion of renovation work)
 * Museums of Naval Aeronautics, old-time trades (Commerces d'Autrefois), and local archaeology (la Vieille Paroisse)
 * Conservatoire du Bégonia, the world's largest begonia collection
 * L'Hermione, a replica of a 1779 frigate completed in the town in 2014

Notable inhabitants
Rochefort was the birthplace of:
 * Louis-René Levassor de Latouche Tréville (1745–1804), French admiral.
 * Charles Rigault de Genouilly (1807–1873), French admiral, conqueror of Vietnam.
 * Pierre Loti (1850–1923), a French naval officer and novelist. His house is now a museum.
 * Amédée William Merlaud-Ponty (1866-1915), Governor General of French West Africa.
 * Pauline Réage (1907–1998), pseudonym of Anne Desclos, author
 * Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908–1961), philosopher
 * Pierre Salviac, (born 1946), a French journalist, former rugby-match commentator and since then polemicist.

International relations
Rochefort is twinned with:
 * 🇪🇸 Torrelavega, Cantabria, Spain
 * 🇩🇪 Papenburg, Lower Saxony, Germany

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Rochefort, Charente-Maritime


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Arras

Arras (, ; Aros; historical Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of the Artois region, with a Baroque town square, Arras is in northern France at the confluence of the rivers Scarpe and Crinchon.

The Arras plain is on a large chalk plateau bordered on the north by the Marqueffles fault, on the southwest by the Artois and Ternois hills, and on the south by the slopes of Beaufort-Blavincourt. On the east it is connected to the Scarpe valley.

Established during the Iron Age by the Gauls, the town of Arras was first known as Nemetocenna, which is believed to have originated from the Celtic word nemeton, meaning 'sacred space'.

Saint Vedast (or St. Vaast) was the first Catholic bishop in the year 499 and tried to eliminate paganism among the Franks. By 843, Arras was seat of the County of Artois which became part of the Royal domain in 1191. The first mention of the name Arras appeared in the 12th century. Some hypothesize it is a contraction of Atrebates, a Belgic tribe of Gaul and Britain that used to inhabit the area. The name Atrebates could have successively evolved to become Atrades, Atradis, Aras, and finally Arras. Others believe it comes from the Celtic word Ar, meaning 'running water', as the Scarpe river flows through Arras or simply the name of Abraham's wife Sarra spelled backwards.

Arras is Pas-de-Calais' third most populous town after Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer. The town counted 43,693 residents in 2012, with the Arras metropolitan area having a population of 124,200. Arras is located 182 km north of Paris and can be reached in 2 hours by car and in 50 minutes by TGV. It is the historic centre of the former Artois province. Its local speech is characterized as a patois. The city of Arras is well known for its architecture, culture, and history. It was once part of the Spanish Netherlands, a portion of the Low Countries controlled by Spain from 1556 to 1714. Louis XIII reconquered Arras in 1640; the town officially became part of France in 1659.

Arras attracts thousands of visitors every year, who commonly explore the city's architecture and historic buildings. Some attractions include the Town Hall and its Belfry (listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 15 July 2005), the "Boves" (a maze 10 m beneath the city), the Squares (La Place des Héros and La Grand'Place), the Art District (the Theatre of Arras and the Hôtel de Guînes), the Abbey District (The Saint-Vaast Abbey and the Cathedral of Arras), the Vauban Citadel, and the Nemetacum site (the ancient town founded by the Romans 2000 years ago). The Canadian National Vimy Memorial is just outside the town.

Prehistory
Archaeologists found evidence of prehistoric human settlements in the Scarpe basin. The archaeological sites of Mont-Saint-Vaast in Arras and Biache-Saint-Vaast were Stone Age settlements of the Mousterian culture. They were evidenced by the finds of stone tools. These tools show signs of the Levallois technique, a name given by archaeologists to a distinctive type of stone knapping, developed by forerunners to modern humans during the Paleolithic period 170,000 years ago.

Very little was found to document the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age in the Arras area.

Antiquity/Foundation
Arras was founded on the hill of Baudimont by the Belgic tribe of the Atrebates, who named it Nemetocenna in reference to a nemeton that probably existed there.

In the Scarpe valley, archaeologists' excavations and data recovery revealed Late Iron Age settlements. These buildings, believed to be farms, were found near the municipalities of Arras, Hamblain-les-Prés and Saint-Pol.

The town was later renamed Nemetacum/Atrebatum by the Romans, under whom it became an important garrison town. No traces of any amenities such as a forum, theatre, or basilica have been identified. One discovery has been "one of the rare sanctuaries devoted to the oriental god Attis in France".

Before the Middle Ages
In the 4th century, Nemetacum was renowned for its arts and crafts as well as textiles trade throughout the whole empire. Between 406 and 407, the city was taken and destroyed by Germanic invaders. In 428, the Salian Franks led by Clodion le Chevelu took control of the region including the current Somme department. Roman General Aetius then chose to negotiate for peace and concluded a treaty (fœdus) with Clodion that gave the Franks the status of «foederati» fighting for Rome.

The town's people were converted to Christianity in the late 4th century by Saint Innocent, who was killed in 410 during a barbarian attack on the town. In 499, after the conversion of Clovis I to Catholicism, a diocese (évêché in French) was created in Arras, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Arras, and given to Saint Vaast (also known as Saint Vedast in English), who remains the diocesan patron saint. Saint Vaast then established an episcopal see and a monastic community. It was suppressed in 580 to found the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cambrai, from which it would reemerge 5 centuries later.

Early Middle Ages
In 667 Saint Aubert, bishop of Cambrai, decided to found the Abbey of Saint Vaast, which developed during the Carolingian period into an immensely wealthy Benedictine abbey. The modern town of Arras initially spread around the abbey as a grain market. During the 9th century, both town and abbey suffered from the attacks of the Vikings, who later settled to the west in Normandy. The abbey revived its strength in the 11th century and played an important role in the development of medieval painting, successfully synthesizing the artistic styles of Carolingian, Ottonian and English art.

High Middle Ages

In 1025, a Catholic council was held at Arras against certain Manichaean (dualistic) heretics who rejected the sacraments of the Church. In 1093, the bishopric of Arras was refounded on territory split from the Diocese of Cambrai. In 1097 two councils, presided over by Lambert of Arras, dealt with questions concerning monasteries and persons consecrated to God. In this time, Arras became an important cultural centre, especially for the group of poets who came to be known as trouvères. One particular society of such poets was later called the Puy d'Arras.

The wool industry and trade
The town was granted a commercial charter by the French crown in 1180 and became an internationally important location for banking and trade. The wool industry of Arras, established in the 4th century, became of great importance during the Middle Ages. Already in the 3rd century Romans had lauded about the quality of wool from Tournai and Arras. By the 11th century Arras was the leading city and trading hub of the wool industry. This prominence would eventually shift towards areas north of Arras, and cities such as Lille, Douai and Saint-Omer, followed by Ypres and eventually Bruges would become the centres of the wool industry and trade. However, by the 14th century Arras still was renowned and drew considerable wealth from the cloth and wool industry, and was particularly well known for its production of fine tapestries—so much so that in English and Italian the word Arras (Arazzi in Italian) was adopted to refer to tapestries in general. The patronage of wealthy cloth merchants ensured that the town became an important cultural centre, with major figures such as the poet Jean Bodel and the trouvère Adam de la Halle making their homes in Arras.

Late Middle Ages
The ownership of the town was repeatedly disputed along with the rest of Artois. During the Middle Ages, possession of Arras passed to a variety of feudal rulers and fiefs, including the County of Flanders, the Duchy of Burgundy, the Spanish branch of the House of Habsburg and the French crown. In 1430, Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc in French), was imprisoned in the region of Arras. The town was the site of the Congress of Arras in 1435, an unsuccessful attempt to end the Hundred Years' War that resulted in the Burgundians breaking their alliance with the English. After the death of Duke Charles the Bold of Burgundy in 1477, King Louis XI of France took control of Arras but the town's inhabitants, still loyal to the Burgundians, expelled the French. This prompted Louis XI to besiege Arras in person and, after taking it by assault, he had the town's walls razed and its inhabitants expelled, to be replaced by more loyal subjects from other parts of France. In a bid to erase the town's identity completely, Louis renamed it temporarily to Franchise. In 1482, the Peace of Arras was signed in the town to end a war between Louis XI and Maximilian I of Austria; ten years later, the town was ceded to Maximilian. It was eventually bequeathed to the Spanish Habsburgs as part of the Spanish Netherlands.

Renaissance
Arras remained under Habsburg rule from 1493 until 1640 when it was captured by the French. The Spanish ceded it by the peace treaty in 1659 and it has since remained French. The Union of Arras was signed here in January 1579 by the Catholic principalities of the Low Countries that remained loyal to King Philip II of Habsburg; it provoked the declaration of the Union of Utrecht later the same month.

Modern period
During the War of the Spanish Succession, in 1712, Arras was bombarded by an Anglo-Dutch Army under Arnold van Keppel, the Earl of Albemarle.

French Revolution
Maximilien de Robespierre, a French lawyer and politician from Arras and one of the best-known and most influential figures of the French Revolution, was elected fifth deputy of the third estate of Artois to the Estates-General in 1789. Robespierre also helped draft the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

During the French Revolution, the city of Arras was first presided over by French reformer Dubois de Fosseux, erudite squire, secretary of the Arras district (arrondissement in French) and future president of the Pas-de-Calais department. Around the same time, competing against Aire-sur-la-Lys, Calais, and Saint-Omer, Arras won the prefecture of Pas-de-Calais. From September 1793 to July 1794, during the Reign of Terror, the city was under the supervision of Joseph Lebon who implemented food restrictions, ordered 400 executions and destroyed several religious monuments including the Arras Cathedral and the Abbey of St. Vaast. Arras' demography and economic activity remained the same throughout the French Revolution while Lille's grew exponentially. In 1898, under the influence of Mayor Émile Legrelle, some of Arras' ramparts were demolished to build vast boulevards, establish a new sewage system and replace the old railway station from 1846.

World War I
During most of the First World War, Arras was about 10 km away from the front line, and a series of battles took place around the city and nearby, including the Battle of Arras (1914), the Battle of Arras (1917), and the Second Battle of the Somme component of 1918's Hundred Days Offensive.

On 31 August 1914, German light cavalry (Uhlans) arrived in Tilloy-lès-Mofflaines, and an army patrol made a foray into Arras. On 6 September 1914, 3,000 soldiers led by General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim barracked within the city and in the citadel. Shortly after, Louis Ernest de Maud'huy's soldiers partly repelled the German army troops, and trenches were dug in the Faubourgs d'Arras. On 7 October 1914 the city hall burned. On 21 October 1914 the belfry was destroyed, and so was Arras Cathedral on 6 July 1915.

In 1917, a series of medieval tunnels beneath the city, linked and greatly expanded by the New Zealand Tunnelling Company, became a decisive factor in the British forces holding the city - particularly during that year's Battle of Arras. By the end of World War I (1918), the city was so heavily damaged that three-quarters had to be rebuilt. The reconstruction was extremely costly, yet it proved to be a success and allowed the city to expand.

The town is located approximately 11 km south of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial built in 1936 on Hill 145, the highest point of the Vimy Ridge escarpment. It is dedicated to the Battle of Vimy Ridge assault (part of the 1917 Battle of Arras) and the missing First World War Canadian soldiers with no known grave; it is also the site of two WWI Canadian cemeteries.

On 9 April 2017, the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, Arras Mayor Frédéric Leturque thanked Canadians, as well as Australians and British, New Zealanders and South Africans, for their role in the First World War battles in the area.

World War II
In the early stages of the second World War, during the invasion of France in May 1940, the city was the focus of a major British counterattack. Arras saw an Allied counterattack against the flank of the German army. The German forces were pushing north towards the channel coast, in order to entrap the Allied Forces that were advancing east into Belgium. The counterattack at Arras was an Allied attempt to cut through the German spearhead and frustrate the German advance. Although the Allies initially made gains, they were repulsed by German forces and forced to withdraw to avoid encirclement. Arras was then occupied by the Germans and 240 suspected French Resistance members were executed in Arras citadel. On 3 September 1944, the city was entered and liberated by the British Guards Armoured Division.

Recent cooperative agreement
In September 1993, Ipswich, England and Arras became twin towns, and a square in the new Ipswich Buttermarket development was named Arras Square to mark the relationship.

Location and area
Arras is located in northern France in the Hauts-de-France region. Hauts-de-France is divided into five departments: Nord, Pas-de-Calais, Somme, Oise, and Aisne. Arras is in the south-east part of the Pas-de-Calais department and forms the Arras district (arrondissement d'Arras) in the Artois, a former province of northern France.

By car, it is 182 km north of Paris, 110 km east of the English Channel, 152 km south of Brussels, and 335 km south of Amsterdam.

The city's total area is 11.63 km2. The lowest point in the city is at 52 m above sea level and the highest is at 99 m.

Geology
The soil of Arras is primarily composed of chalk, a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock that formed what is called the European stratigraphic unit. That Chalk Group deposited during the Late Cretaceous period 90 million years ago. It used to be extracted to construct the most prestigious buildings and houses of Arras. As a result, residents once nicknamed the city La ville blanche (the White Town). The Arras area soil is also composed of clay, which was used to produce bricks, build less noble buildings, and embellish façades. Clay is mostly found in the lieu-dit of La Terre Potier in the western part of the city.

The level of earthquake hazard in the Arras area is low, as it is in the whole Pas-de-Calais department.

Hydrography
Two rivers flow through Arras: the Scarpe and the Crinchon; both are left tributaries of the 350 km long Scheldt river (L'Escaut in French). The Crinchon is a rather small river of 19 km flowing through Arras underground, while the Scarpe is 102 km long, of which two-thirds has been turned into canals.

The source of the Scarpe is at Berles-Monchel near Aubigny-en-Artois. It flows through the cities of Arras, Douai and Saint-Amand-les-Eaux. The river ends at Mortagne-du-Nord where it flows into the Scheldt.

Climate
Arras mainly has a Western European oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfb) affected by the North Atlantic Current as it is close to the English Channel (La Manche in French). There is frequent rain in all seasons, and temperatures throughout the year are mild, as it is near the sea. Temperature variations tend to be moderate; but there are some brief cold spells as it is subject to both oceanic and continental influences. So the climate can also be referred as semi-oceanic (known as a Climat océanique dégradé in French).

Summer days are usually moderately warm and agreeable, with temperatures between 13 and 23 C, occasionally rising above 30 C, with a fair amount of sunshine. Some years have even witnessed some unusual long periods of harsh summer weather, such as the heat wave of 2003 where temperatures exceeded 30 C for weeks, reaching 38 C on some days and rarely even cooling down at night. Spring and Fall have rather warm days and fresh nights, but remain quite unstable. Winter days are cold but generally above freezing, at around 2 C; sunshine is usually scarce. Light night frosts are common as the temperature often falls below 0 C. Snowfall has been rare in the past decade but happens in some winters, such as 2009–10, with unusually cold weather: much of Europe had heavy snowfall and record-low temperatures. The most recent warmest winters recorded were in 1989–90, 1994–95, 2006–07 and 2013–14. The Arras region (and most of Northern Europe) had remarkably warm and sunny weather in the winter of 2013–14.

Rain falls throughout the year. Average annual precipitation is 742.5 mm with light rainfall evenly distributed throughout the year. The highest recorded temperature was 36.6 C, and the lowest was -19.5 C.

On 28 October 2013, Cyclone Christian (also known as the St. Jude storm), one of the strongest extra-tropical cyclones ever recorded, hit Northern Europe including the Arras area. The cyclone's central pressure was 981 mb, and wind speeds reached a maximum of 121 km/h. The city of Arras did not experience any major damage.

Population and society

Demographics
, the population of Arras is 41,694 for a density of 3,585 people per square kilometre. The residents go by the name of Arrageois (male) and Arrageoise (female). The population is rather young as the highest number of residents is 15-29 of age. The most recent male to female ratio is 100:109, and the female to male ratio is 100:92 (2019). There are 19,947 males (48%) for 21,747 females (52%). The Arras functional area has a population of 158,499.

Religion
Arras's Basilique-Cathédrale Notre-Dame et Saint-Vaast is the cathedral, a minor basilica, episcopal see of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Arras.

Education
Arras is part of the académie de Lille (Lille's School District). There are 11 écoles maternelles (nursery schools), 11 écoles primaires (elementary schools), 8 collèges (junior high schools), and 7 lycées (high schools) within the city.

Squares
The city centre is marked by two large squares, La Grand' Place and La Place des Héros, also called La Petite Place. The two squares are surrounded by a unique architectural ensemble of 155 Flemish-Baroque-style townhouses. These were built in the 17th and 18th century and were initially made of wood. In 1918, after the end of World War I, most of the townhouses were so severely damaged that they had to be restored to their pre-war conditions. They are now made of bricks.

Town hall and belfry
The Hôtel de Ville in Arras and its belfry were constructed between 1463 and 1554 and had to be rebuilt in a slightly less grandiose style after World War I. The belfry is 75 m high and used to serve as a watchtower. Nowadays tourists can enjoy ascending the belfry. In 2005, the belfry was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Belfries of Belgium and France site because of its architecture and historical importance in maintaining municipal power in Europe.

Cathedral of Arras
The original cathedral was constructed between 1030 and 1396. This Gothic structure was destroyed during the French Revolution and rebuilt in the 19th century. The present Basilique-Cathédrale Notre-Dame et Saint-Vaast is a minor basilica.

The Boves
The Boves, a well-preserved underground network of tunnels, 10 m beneath the city, was built in the 10th century and can now be visited by tourists. The idea was to set up a vast underground network to make all inhabitants' cellars interconnect by means of tunnels. Excavation material (chalk) was not wasted but rather used to construct houses. During World War I and World War II, the Boves was utilized as an underground bunker to hide and protect residents and valued objects from falling bombs.

Art District
The Art District is renowned for its Italian-style theatre hall built in 1785 and the Hôtel de Guînes, a private 18th-century townhouse that attracts artists, designers and producers of intimist shows.

Abbey District
Many of Arras's most remarkable structures, including the Musée des beaux-arts d'Arras and several government buildings, occupy the site of the old Abbey of St. Vaast. The abbey's church was demolished and rebuilt in fashionable classical style in 1833, and now serves as the town's cathedral. The design was chosen by the one-time Abbot of St Vaast, the Cardinal de Rohan, and is stark in its simplicity, employing a vast number of perpendicular angles. There is a fine collection of statuary within the church and it houses a number of religious relics.

Vauban Citadel
Built by Vauban between 1667 and 1672, the Citadel has been nicknamed La belle inutile (the beautiful useless one) by residents as it has never been directly involved in heavy fighting and didn't prevent the Germans from occupying the city in either World War. Since 7 July 2008 it has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites Fortifications of Vauban which includes eleven other fortifications. Within the citadel on the side of La Place de Manœuvre a small Baroque-style chapel was built. Outside, Le Mur des Fusillés (the wall of the people executed by a firing squad) pays tribute to the 218 members of the French Resistance shot in the citadel's ditch during World War II.

Seasonal events
Arras holds the biggest Christmas market north of Paris every year from the end of November to the end of December. Around 80 exhibitors offer a wide selection of arts and crafts, as well as local delicacies like chocolate rats, Atrébate beer and Cœurs d'Arras – heart-shaped biscuits which come in two flavours, ginger, and cheese. Entertainment includes cooking lessons with chefs, craft demonstrations, a merry-go-round, a ferris wheel, an ice-skating rink, and heated shelters. It also offers native products from International locations such as Canada, Vietnam, Morocco, Indonesia, Africa, and gourmet regional specialities from different parts of France: Auvergne, Savoie, South-Western France, and Nord-Pas-de-Calais.

The Main Square Festival is held for several days in early July within the Vauban Citadel, attracting tens of thousands of attendees and playing host to major acts such as The Chemical Brothers, Coldplay, Imagine Dragons, David Guetta, and The Black Eyed Peas.

The Arras Film Festival is a film festival held for ten days in November.

Le Jardin botanique Floralpina is a private botanical garden, specializing in alpine plants. It opens every year on the last Sunday of May and can be visited by appointment.

UNESCO recognition
Two buildings in Arras are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites:
 * The Belfry of the Town Hall, as part of the Belfries of Belgium and France group, since 2005
 * The Vauban citadel, as part of the Fortifications of Vauban group, since 2008

Outside Arras
The Vimy Memorial is a memorial just north of the town honouring a major World War I battle, the Battle of Vimy Ridge, which marked the first time Canada fielded an entire army of her own. Four Canadian divisions fought there on Easter weekend 1917. The Battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the broader Allied offensive in April known as the Battle of Arras. The Canadian National Vimy Memorial is nearby. Vimy was the only victory the Allies would enjoy during their 1917 spring offensive. The Basilica of Notre Dame de Lorette cemetery, overlooking the nearby village of Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, likewise stands before one of France's largest World War I necropolises. Part of an extensive network of tunnels dug in World War I by British Empire soldiers can be visited at the Carrière Wellington museum in the suburbs.

Railway station

The Gare d'Arras railway station is served by a purpose-built branch of the LGV Nord high speed railway, with regular TGV services to Paris (50 minutes). There are also regular trains to Lille, Amiens, Dunkerque, and several regional destinations.

TGV lines

 * Ligne Saint-Omer / Dunkerque–Lens–Arras–Paris-Nord
 * Ligne Valenciennes–Douai–Arras–Paris-Nord
 * Ligne Lille–Europe–Lyon–Marseille
 * Ligne Lille–Europe–Rennes
 * Ligne Lille–Europe–Nantes–Saint-Nazaire
 * Ligne Lille–Europe–Bordeaux

TER Nord-Pas-de-Calais lines

 * Ligne 2: Lille–Douai–Arras–Amiens–Rouen
 * Ligne 6: Arras–Hazebrouck–Dunkerque
 * Ligne 7: Arras–Hazebrouck–Calais
 * Ligne 14: Arras–Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise–Etaples–Boulogne-sur-Mer
 * Ligne Lille–Arras (TERGV)

Highway
Autoroute A1 (A1 highway) is a tollway that connects Arras with Lille and Paris. As part of the European 'inter-country' route E15, it also connects Arras with the United Kingdom and Spain as well as the northern and southern parts of France. Autoroute A26 (A26 highway) connects Arras with Calais and Reims.

Notable people
Arras was one of the centres of trouvère poetry, and trouvères from Arras include:

 * Adam de la Halle (c. 1240–1287)
 * Andrieu Contredit d'Arras (c. 1200–1248)
 * Audefroi le Bastart (fl. c. 1200–1230)
 * Dame Margot
 * Dame Maroie
 * Eberhard of Béthune ( ? - 1212), grammarian
 * Gaidifer d'Avion
 * Guillaume le Vinier (c. 1190–1245)
 * Jaques le Vinier
 * Jehan Bretel (c. 1200–1272)
 * Jehan le Cuvelier d'Arras (fl. c. 1240–70)
 * Jehan Erart († c. 1259)
 * Mahieu de Gant
 * Moniot d'Arras (fl. 1213–1239)
 * Robert de Castel
 * Robert de la Piere

Arras was the birthplace of:

 * Matthias of Arras (c. 1290–1352), architect
 * Antoine de Févin (c. 1470–1511/12), composer
 * Charles de l'Écluse (1526–1609), doctor and pioneering botanist
 * Philippe Rogier (c. 1561–1596), composer
 * Eustachius De Lannoy (1715–1777), general of Travancore army
 * Maximilien de Robespierre (1758–1794), revolutionary leader
 * Charlotte de Robespierre (1760–1834), memoirist
 * Augustin de Robespierre (1763–1794), revolutionary
 * Joseph Le Bon (1765–1795), politician
 * Eugène François Vidocq (1775–1857), one of the first modern private investigators
 * Alexandre Georges (1850–1938), composer and organist
 * Lucien Gaudin (1886–1934), fencing champion
 * Gabriel Hanot (1889–1968), journalist
 * Violette Leduc (1907–1972), author
 * Jean-Christophe Novelli (born 1961), chef and restaurateur
 * Philippe Hermann (born 1962), writer
 * Xavier Dablemont (born 1975), footballer
 * Benoît Assou-Ekotto (born 1984), footballer

Twin towns – sister cities
Arras is twinned with:
 * 🇷🇴 Deva, Romania
 * 🇩🇪 Herten, Germany
 * 🏴 Ipswich, England, United Kingdom
 * 🇧🇪 Oudenaarde, Belgium

title: Arras