Vitry-le-François

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
Country	France
Region	Grand Est
Department	Marne
Arrondissement	Vitry-le-François
Canton	Vitry-le-François-Champagne et Der
Intercommunality	Vitry, Champagne et Der
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Jean-Pierre Bouquet
Area 1	6.45 km2 (2.49 sq mi)
Population  (2021)	11,454
• Density	1,800/km2 (4,600/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	51649 /51300
Elevation	105 m (344 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Vitry-le-François (French pronunciation: [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 station has rail connections to Paris, Reims, Strasbourg, Metz, Dijon and several regional destinations.

History

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. 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.

In 1961, a terrorist attack took place on a train going between Strasbourg and Paris.

Demography

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 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%	Year Pop. ±% 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 and INSEE

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.

Twin towns

Vitry-le-François is twinned with:

• Tauberbischofsheim, Germany, since 1961

Personalities

• René Gateaux (1889–1914), mathematician
• Guy Georges (born 1962), serial killer
• René Herbin (1911–1953), classical pianist
• Abraham de Moivre (1667–1754), mathematician
• Étienne-Gabriel Morelly (1717–1778), proto-communist philosopher
• Simhah ben Samuel of Vitry (fl. c. 1100), Talmudist

See also

• Communes of the Marne department
• Champagne Riots
• French wine
• 1961 Vitry-Le-François train bombing