Troyes

Troyes
A street in Troyes France.jpg
Rue Champeaux
Flag of Troyes
Coat of arms of Troyes
Troyes is located in France
Troyes
Administration
Country France
Region Champagne-Ardenne
Department Aube
Arrondissement Troyes
Canton Chief town of 7 cantons
Intercommunality Troyes
Mayor François Baroin
(2008–2014)
Statistics
Elevation 118 m (387 ft) avg.
Land area1 13.20 km2 (5.10 sq mi)
Population2 63,456  (2007)
 - Density 4,807 /km2 (12,450 /sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code 10387/ 10000
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Troyes (French pronunciation: [tʁwa]) is a commune, the capital of the Aube department in north-central France and is located on the Seine river. It is about 150 km (93 mi) southeast of Paris. The inhabitants of the commune are called Troyens.

Contents

History

For the ecclesiastical history, see bishopric of Troyes

Troyes has been in existence since the Roman era, as Augustobona Tricassium, which stood at the hub of numerous highways, primarily the Via Agrippa which led north to Reims and south to Langres and eventually to Milan;[1] other Roman routes from Troyes led to Poitiers, Autun and Orléans.[2] It was the civitas of the Tricasses,[3] who had been separated by Augustus from the Senones. Of the Gallo-Roman city of the early Empire, some scattered remains have been found, but no public monuments, other than traces of an aqueduct. By the Late Empire the settlement was reduced in extent, and referred to as Tricassium or Tricassae, the origin of French Troyes ("three").

The city was the seat of a bishop from the fourth century — the legend of its bishop Lupus (Loup), who saved the city from Attila by offering himself as hostage is hagiographic rather than historical[4] — though it was several centuries before it gained importance as a medieval centre of commerce.

In the early cathedral on the present site, Louis the Stammerer in 878 received at Troyes the imperial crown from the hands of Pope John VIII. At the end of the ninth century, following depredations to the city by Normans, the counts of Champagne chose Troyes as their capital; it remained the capital of the Province of Champagne until the Revolution. The Abbey of Saint-Loup developed a renowned library and scriptorium. During the Middle Ages, it was an important trading town, and gave its name to troy weight. The Champagne cloth fairs and the revival of long-distance trade and new extension of coinage and credit were the real engines that drove the medieval economy of Troyes.

In 1285, when Philip the Fair united Champagne to the royal domain, the town kept a number of its traditional privileges. John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy and ally of the English, aimed in 1417 at making Troyes the capital of France, and he came to an understanding with Isabeau of Bavaria, wife of Charles VI of France, that a court, council, and parlement with comptroller's offices should be established at Troyes. It was at Troyes, then in the hands of the Burgundians, that on 21 May 1420, the Treaty of Troyes was signed by which Henry V of England was betrothed to Catherine, daughter of Charles VI, and by terms of which he was to succeed Charles, to the detriment of the Dauphin. The high watermark of Plantagenet hegemony in France was reversed when the Dauphin, afterwards Charles VII, and Joan of Arc recovered the town of Troyes in 1429.

Cathédrale Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul de Troyes (1549).
Town Hall of Troyes.

The great fire of 1524 destroyed much of the medieval city, in spite of the city's numerous canals.

Main sights

In the Salle du Conseil (Council Chamber) a marble medallion of Louis XIV (1690) by François Girardon, born at Troyes, survived unscathed.

Museums

Churches

Cathedral western front.

Not having suffered from the last wars, Troyes has a high density of old religious buildings grouped close to the downtown area. They include:

Demography

houses in the old town.
houses in the old town.
1962 67,545
1968 74,896
1975 72,165
1982 63,579
1990 59,255
1999 60,958
2007 63,456

Economy

Troyes is home to the Lacoste company production headquarters, one of the most popular fashion brands in the Western World. It is also home of prize-winning chocolate maker Pascal Caffet.[5]

Transport

The train station Gare de Troyes offers connections to Paris, Dijon, Mulhouse and several regional destinations. Troyes is at the junction of the motorways A5 (Paris - Troyes - Langres) and A26 (Calais - Reims - Troyes). Troyes – Barberey Airport is a small regional airport.

Sport

Troyes is the home of association football club Troyes AC, or ESTAC. ESTAC operated in the highest division of French football, the Ligue 1 during the 2006-2007 season but were relegated to Ligue 2.

Personalities

Troyes was the birthplace of:

Twin towns

Troyes is twinned with:

See also

References

  1. ↑ Traces of the Roman paving lie 3 m (9.84 ft). below the rue de la Ciré.("Balades dans l'histoire du vieux Troyes")
  2. ↑ Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites
  3. ↑ Ptolemy, Geography 8.13, mentions the Tricasses and their city Augustobona.
  4. ↑ Attwater, Donald. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints, (1945) Reprint: 1981, p. 223.
  5. ↑ http://www.pascal-caffet.com
  6. ↑ Town Twinnings and international relations (from the official city website. Accessed 2008-08-11.)
  7. ↑ "Zielona Góra - Partner Cities". Urzędu Miasta Zielona Góra.. http://www.zielona-gora.pl/umzg/index.php?id=1111&lng=pl. Retrieved 2008-12-07. 

External links