- Vimy
French commune
name= Vimy
region=
departement=
arrondissement=Arras
canton= Vimy
insee=62861
cp=62580
maire= Lionel Lancry
mandat=2008 -2014
intercomm=Communaupole de Lens-Liévin
longitude=2.81138888889
latitude=50.3733333333
alt moy=71 m
alt mini=49 m
alt maxi=146 m
hectares=1 133
km²=11,33
sans=4675
date-sans=1999
dens=412|Vimy is a commune and chief town of a canton in the
Pas-de-Calais "département" in theNord-Pas-de-Calais region ofFrance .Geography & History
A farming town, situated some convert|6|mi|km|1 north of Arras, at the junction of the D51 and the N17 roads.
The town was first mentioned in
1183 as ‘’Viniarcum’’ and was the scene of much fighting during the 14th, 17th and 18th centuries, between the French, English, Dutch and Spanish forces.
TheBattle of Vimy Ridge took place southeast of Vimy and was an important battle of theFirst World War for Canadian military history. The town was practically destroyed during the fighting in the area.Places of interest
Canadian National Vimy Memorial Park
Set on the highest point of Vimy Ridge is the
Canadian National Vimy Memorial , the largest of Canada's war monuments. In 1922, use of the land, for the battlefield park which contains the memorial was granted, in perpetuity, for all time by the French nation to the people of Canada in recognition of Canada's war efforts.cite web | title = Canada Treaty Information | publisher = Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade | date = 2002-02-26 | url = http://www.treaty-accord.gc.ca/ViewTreaty.asp?Treaty_ID=102661 | accessdate = 2008-01-04 ] convert|250|acre|ha of the former Vimy Ridge battlefield is preserved as part of the memorial park which surrounds the monument. The grounds of the site are still honeycombed with wartime tunnels, trenches and craters, closed off for public safety.The memorial took eleven years and $1.5 million to build and was unveiled on
26 July 1936 byKing Edward VIII (prior to his abdication), in the presence of PresidentAlbert Lebrun of France and 50,000 or more Canadian and French veterans and their families.The memorial site is tended by
Veterans Affairs Canada .Town of Vimy
* The church of St.Martin, rebuilt, along with much of the village, afterWorld War I .
* The remains of a13th century castle, destroyed in1833 , now the site of the current town hall.Population
Twinned with
*flagicon|ENG
Horley inSurrey ,England .
*flagicon|GERFischach inBavaria ,Germany .See also
*
Communes of the Pas-de-Calais department
*Canadian National Vimy Memorial
*Battle of Vimy Ridge External links
* [http://www.vimy.fr/ Official website of the commune] fr
* [http://www.quid.fr/communes.html?mode=detail&id=27345&req=Vimy Vimy on the Quid website] frNotes
*"This article is based on the original and the equivalent article from the
French Wikipedia , consulted on July 7th 2008."
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