Vitry-le-François

Vitry-le-François (French: [vitʁi lə fʁɑ̃swa]) is a commune in the Marne department in northeastern France. It is located on the river Marne and is the western terminus of the Marne–Rhine Canal.

Vitry-le-François
Subprefecture and commune
The town hall in Vitry-le-François
Coat of arms
Location of Vitry-le-François
Vitry-le-François
Vitry-le-François
Coordinates: 48°43′32″N 4°35′07″E
CountryFrance
RegionGrand Est
DepartmentMarne
ArrondissementVitry-le-François
CantonVitry-le-François-Champagne et Der
IntercommunalityVitry, Champagne et Der
Government
 • Mayor (2020–2026) Jean-Pierre Bouquet[1]
Area
1
6.45 km2 (2.49 sq mi)
Population
 (Jan. 2019)[2]
11,376
 • Density1,800/km2 (4,600/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
51649 /51300
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

History

In 1142, Louis VII invaded Champagne and seized Vitry-le-François. Over a thousand residents were killed when the town's church was set ablaze.

The present town is a relatively recent construction, having been built in 1545 at the behest of King Francis who wished to replace, on a new site, Vitry-en-Perthois, which in 1544 had been entirely destroyed as part of the backwash from the king's Italian War of 1542–46.[3] The new Vitry was to be a modern city, constructed according to a plan produced by Girolamo Marini. The king's role in its creation resulted in Vitry-le-François receiving the king's name as part of its own name.

At the beginning of World War I in August 1914, Joseph Joffre established the Grand Quartier Général at the Place Royer-Collard.[4]

Demography
Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1793 7,385—    
1800 6,925−0.91%
1806 7,194+0.64%
1821 6,909−0.27%
1831 6,976+0.10%
1836 6,822−0.45%
1841 7,749+2.58%
1846 7,412−0.89%
1851 7,795+1.01%
1856 7,151−1.71%
1861 7,263+0.31%
1866 7,431+0.46%
1872 6,898−1.23%
1876 7,616+2.51%
1881 7,760+0.38%
1886 7,670−0.23%
1891 8,022+0.90%
1896 8,400+0.93%
YearPop.±% p.a.
1901 8,561+0.38%
1906 8,487−0.17%
1911 8,511+0.06%
1921 8,568+0.07%
1926 8,876+0.71%
1931 9,082+0.46%
1936 9,061−0.05%
1946 7,584−1.76%
1954 11,131+4.91%
1962 14,795+3.62%
1968 16,879+2.22%
1975 19,372+1.99%
1982 18,261−0.84%
1990 17,033−0.87%
1999 16,737−0.19%
2007 14,873−1.47%
2012 13,065−2.56%
2017 12,133−1.47%
Source: EHESS[5] and INSEE[6]

Features
  • Its church of Notre-Dame is a 17th-century building with fine 18th-century monuments.
  • A convent of the Récollets was later converted to contain the town hall, the court-house, a library and a small museum.
  • There is a bronze statue of Pierre Paul Royer-Collard (1763–1845), the politician and philosopher, a native of the district.[7]

Twin towns

Vitry-le-François is twinned with:

Personalities

See also

References
  1. "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 2 December 2020.
  2. "Populations légales 2019". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 29 December 2021.
  3. Chisholm 1911.
  4. Hastings, Max (2013). Catastrophe 1914 : Europe goes to war (1st American ed.). New York. ISBN 978-0-307-59705-2. OCLC 828893101.
  5. Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Vitry-le-François, EHESS. (in French)
  6. Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
  7. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Vitry-le-François". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 151.
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