Châlons-en-Champagne

Châlons-en-Champagne
Notre-Dame-en-Vaux
Châlons-en-Champagne
Location within Champagne-Ardenne region  Châlons-en-Champagne
Administration
Country	France
Region	Champagne-Ardenne
Department	Marne
Arrondissement	Châlons-en-Champagne
Intercommunality	Châlons-en-Champagne
Mayor	Bruno Bourg-Broc (2001–2008)
Statistics
Elevation	83 m (272 ft) avg.
Land area1	26.05 km2 (10.06 sq mi)
Population2	47,339  (1999)
- Density	1,817 /km2 (4,710 /sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	51108/ 51000
Website	http://www.chalons-en-champagne.net/
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Coordinates: 48°57′27″N 4°21′54″E / 48.9575°N 4.365°E / 48.9575; 4.365

Châlons-en-Champagne (French pronunciation: [ʃa.lɔ̃.ɑ̃.ʃɑ̃.paɲ]) is a city in France. It is the capital of both the department of Marne and the region of Champagne-Ardenne, despite being only a quarter the size of the city of Reims.

Formerly called Châlons-sur-Marne, the city was officially renamed in 1998. It should not be confused with the Burgundian town of Chalon-sur-Saône.

History

Châlons is conjectured to be the site of the Catalaunian Fields in which the battle of Châlons, 451AD, turned back the westward advance of Attila.

Main sights

Cloister Notre-Dame-en-Vaux

• Saint Etienne's cathedral, including parts of the first Romanesque cathedral built in the 12th century. Nevertheless, it was mainly rebuilt in Gothic style. The west façade (in Baroque style) and two close spans were added in the 17th century.
• Notre-Dame-en-Vaux church, part of the UNESCO World Heritage. Built between 1157 and 1217, the collegiate church had a cloister and was a place of pilgrimage in the 12th century, and Museum du Cloitre de Notre-Dame-en-Vaux 12th century.
• Saint-Alpin, perhaps the oldest church of the city. It was rebuilt around 1170 in Gothic style, but still marked by the Romanesque style.
• Hôtel de Ville (city hall). It has a façade representative of the neo-classic period of the end of the 18th century. The steps of the building are procteted by four stoned lions.
• Porte Sainte-Croix (Ste-Croix Gate). Previously called Porte Dauphine, this gate was one of the entries into the city. It was dedicated to Marie-Antoinette when she came via Châlons on her way to Paris to marry king Louis XVI of France.
• Ancien Hotel des Intendants of Champagne (eighteenth century). Today home to the Prefecture of the Champagne-Ardenne region and Prefecture of the Marne.
• Le Cirque. The old town circus, completed in 1899, is sheltering the Centre National des Arts du Cirque (CNAC).

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  Cloister Notre-Dame-en-Vaux

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  Hôtel de Ville

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  Old Town of Châlons

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  Châlons Cathedral

Transport

the station

The Gare de Châlons-en-Champagne railway station is served by the TGV network with service to and from Paris Gare de l'Est. Other destinations are Reims, Saint-Dizier, Nancy, Bar-le-Duc and Verdun. Additionally, Châlons is connected with the Champagne-TGV station, near Reims, with high speed trains going to Lille, Nantes, Rennes and Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Châlons is located at the intersection of two major axes:

• A4 motoway, going from Paris to Strasbourg, towards Reims and Metz
• A26 motorway, going from Lille to Lyon, towards Reims, Troyes and Dijon.

Châlons is also served by an international airport devoted to shipping (Châlons Vatry Airport [1]), ranking third in France with almost 60,000 tonnes of freight passing through each year.

Local transportation is provided by SITAC BUS buses.

Education

University level

The 18th century Hôtel de Ville (city hall)

• École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers (ENSAM), a national engineering school in manufacturing.

• Centre national des arts du cirque (CNAC), which is a Circus Arts Learning Centre created in 1985. Each year about twenty students learn all the disciplines of modern circus arts.

• Institut Universitaire Technologique Reims, Châlons, CharleVille, is a national university, that is a branch of the University of Reims.

Sport

ESPE Basket Châlons-en-Champagne is a Châlons' basketball team. A temporary firing range was used for some shooting events at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris.^[1]

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in France

Châlons-en-Champagne is twinned with:

• Ilkeston, United Kingdom.^[2]
• Neuss, Germany.^[3]

Camp de Mourmelon

The Camp de Mourmelon (formerly known as Camp de Châlons) is a military camp of circa 10,000 hectares located near Mourmelon-le-Grand 22 km north. It was created at the behest of Napoleon III and opened 30 August 1857 during the Second French Empire.

The initial purpose was simply for practising military manoeuvres, but it quickly turned into a showcase of the French Imperial Army, a theatrical propaganda display, where French citizens could meet the army and watch parades. Each year the camp was transformed into a town of tents and wooden chalets.^[4]

The camp survived the fall of the Second Empire in 1870, but changed into a training camp and a departure point for troops engaging in overseas operations.

The camp is used for military manoeuvres, and cavalry training, along with the neighbouring, 2,500 hectare, Camp de Moronvillers. Firing of live ordnance (rockets, missiles) is prohibited.

Births

Châlons-en-Champagne was the birthplace of:

• Martin Akakia (1500–1551)
• David Blondel (1591–1655), Protestant clergyman
• Jean Talon (1626–1694), first Intendant of New France
• Nicolas Appert (1749–1841), inventor of the "appertisation", and the preservation of food.
• Adolphe Willette (1857–1926), painter
• Maurice Renard (1875–1939), writer
• Etienne Oehmichen (1884–1955), Engineer, considered father of the helicopter
• Robert Louis Antral (1895–1939) painter
• Xavier Bertrand (born 1965), politician
• Jacques Massu (1908–2002), Paratrooper General

Deaths

Châlons-en-Champagne was the death location of:

• George Canning, 1st Baron Garvagh (1778–1840), Diplomat and Fellow of the London Based Royal Society, nephew to British Prime minister George Canning(1770–1827)
• Clyde Fitch, American dramatist

Mentions

British comedian Eddie Izzard mentions Châlons-en-Champagne (at the time known as Châlons-sur-Marne) on his stand-up album Definite Article, as part of a routine in which he tells of his school exchange trip to Châlons-sur-Marne, one of the highlights of which was a visit to a glue factory.

After being defeated by the Red Baron, Snoopy crawls past a sign for Chalons Sur Marne, in the classic, It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.

Image

Panoramic view of Hôtel de ville place in Châlons-en-Champagne.

See also

• Diocese of Châlons
• French wine
• Champagne Riots

References

1. ^ 1924 Olympics official report. pp. 565–6.
2. ^ Ilkeston Twinning Association
3. ^ Neuss sister city link page
4. ^ The Bonapartes in Châlons en Champagne, by Jean-Paul Barbier and Michel Bursaux, Marnaises Studies, SACSAM, 2009.

Further reading

• The Bonapartes in Châlons en Champagne (Les Bonaparte à Châlons en Champagne), by Jean-Paul Barbier and Michel Bursaux, Marnaise Studies (Etudes Marnaises), SACSAM, 2009.

External links

• Official website (English/French/German)
• History and photographs of Camp Chalons