Valenciennes

Valenciennes (Dutch: Valencijn, Latin: Valentianae) is a town and commune in northern France in the Nord département on the Escaut river. While the city and region had seen a steady decline between 1975 and 1990, it has since rebounded. As of 1999, the commune has a population of 41,278 while the metropolitan area numbers 399,677. This renewed growth is particularly notable for Valenciennes, as well as some suburbs.

History

Valenciennes is first mentioned in 693 in a legal document written by Clovis II. In the 9th century the region was overrun by the Normans. Once the Empire of the Franks was established, the city began to develop. In 1008, a terrible famine brought the Plague.

In the 14th century, the Tower of Dodenne was built. In the 15th century, the County of Hainault, of which Valenciennes is part, was re-attached to Burgundy. In 1524, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, arrived at Valenciennes. With its manufacturers of wool and fine linens, the city was able to become economically independent.

Around 1560, Valenciennes became an early center of Calvinism. In 1562, here occurred the first act of resistance against religious persecution in the Netherlands, when a crowd liberated some Protestants condemned to die at the stake. In 1580, the town, by then a Calvinist stronghold, was conquered by Alexander Farnese and Protestantism was eradicated.

By the Treaty of Nijmegen, the French took control of Valenciennes (1678) and the surrounding southern part of Hainault, roughly cutting the former county in halves. Shortly thereafter, Vauban visited the city in the effort to fortify the northern reaches of France.

Economy

Valenciennes is historically renowned for its lace. Until the 1970s, the main industries were steel and textiles. Since their decline, reconversion attempts focus mainly on automobile : In 2001, Toyota built its Western European Assembly line for the Toyota Yaris. Because of this and other changes, the average unemployment in the region is now lower than the national average.

On July 15, 2004 the Administrative Board of the European Union's Railway Agency held its first meeting in Phénix, with representatives of the 25 Member States and François Lamoureux, those days Director General for Energy and Transportation at the European Commission. Valenciennes was picked as the European Railway Agency headquarters in December of 2003. International conferences are held in Lille.

Public transportation system

Line #1 of the tramway, currently under construction, will be put into service on July 3, 2006. 9.5 km long, this tramway will cross the five communes in the Valenciennois Metropolitain area. The tramway is expected to cost 242.75 million Euros.

Administration

Valenciennes is a subprefecture of the Nord département.

Mayors since 1947

1947-1988: Pierre Carous, died in office
1988-1989: Olivier Marlière
1989-2002: Jean-Louis Borloo, resigned when he entered the national government
2002- : Dominique Riquet

Miscellaneous

Inhabitants are called valenciennois.
A popular way of serving local coffee is to have it topped with whipped cream and is thusly named café valenciennes

Monuments and tourist attractions

Valenciennes was almost completely destroyed during World War II, and has hence been rebuilt in concrete.

A few surviving monuments are:

The façade of the city offices which managed to survive the bombardments of the war.
Notre-Dame du Saint-Cordon, to which there is an annual pilgrimage.
La Maison Espagnole, the remains of the Spanish occupation, which ended in 1678.
The Dodenne Tower, the remaining part of the mediaeval fortifications after Charles V ordered them reduced.

People born in Valenciennes

Medieval chronicler Jean Froissart
Queen consort of England Philippa of Hainault
painter Antoine Watteau
sculptor Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux
drawing artist Charles Eisen
advertiser Jean Mineur
actor Jean Lefebvre

Twin towns

External links

Communes of Nord | Cities in France

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