Gien

Geography

The city is located on the the Loire, with approximately 60 kilometers in the east of Orleans and 150 of Paris.

Administration

old District (until in 1926): District of Gien , of which it was the Chef-lieu

History

The town of Gien dates from the Roman epoch. It entered the field of the King of France at the time of a purchase by Philippe-Auguste. Saint-Louis built the bridge which bears its name today.

The news of the Massacre of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre reaches Gien as of the August 24th, and massacres it Protestants repeats itself there.

The city was destroyed mainly by the Germans at the beginning of the Second world war, then by the bombardments combined during the release. The rebuilding was made in the regionalistic style , which gives a beautiful unit to the downtown area. But these allied bombardments intended to cut the old bridge of German destroyed the Church Saint Louis all the same and seriously damaged the center town. The Church St Pierre, known as of the castle was seriously damaged it also (only the bell-tower was saved) and partially was rebuilt under the name of Holy Eglise Jeanne d' Arc

Art and culture

Earthenware of Gien with its museum

the city

Destroyed in June 1940, the center of this city, which was rich in old buildings, was the subject of a rebuilding in the picturesque and regional style, intended to evoke the character of the old city. Drawn up as of 1940 pennies the direction of Andre Laborie, the project in the line of the return to the French spirit and the tradition preached by the Vichy government, and is presented in the form of an exemplary case of this type of rebuilding, as the publication made in French architecture (1940) and in testifies some the Illustration (1941). In spite of the style adopted author of pastiches, which respects the scale and the village structure, and which mixes in an enough successful way materials of most various, construction was done according to the urban principles “modern”, with creation of a new access road to the bridge, as well as rectangular place replacing the small streets bordering the Saint-Louis church, and of a coherent whole of municipal buildings gathering in the same “logical” program the town hall, its appendices, the market hall and the village hall. This explains why the rebuilding of Gien was greeted like an overall success.

Castle Anne de Beaujeu . Built 1494 with 1500 for Anne of France, girl of Louis XI, it acts, with the Château of Amboise of both Châteaux of the Loire Valley to be built before the arrival of the influences Italianists and thus constituting an example of Pre-Rebirth purely French. The ornamentation is made containing polychrome brick equipment, creating reasons. The building lodged Henri II with Catherine de Médicis, then Louis XIV and Anne of Austria during the Fronde. It contains the International Musée of Hunting creates under the impulse of Henri de Linarès in 1952.

Church Saint-Jeanne-with Arc whose Nef was entirely rebuilt out of brick after the Second world war and whose the Clocher of the 15th century remains.

Old church of the castle, placed under the term of saint-Pierre, rebuilt at the end of XVe century on order of Anne de Beaujeu, it remains only the turn-bell-tower. The church was rebuilt once again in 1832 per François Pagot; destroyed in 1940 and finally rebuilt in 1950-1954 per Paul Gélis, architect as a chief of the Historic buildings. Often quoted like one of the principal productions of the French religious architecture of the post-war period. Rebuilt out of pink bricks with black brick drawings. Round pillars, hurled, ringed capitals, separate the nave from the sides. The fair lighting diffused by the canopies are harmonized with the color of the brick of which the provision made it possible to draw from sober but elegant decorative effects.

the Pont on the the Loire was rebuilt in 1734 and includes/understands 12 arches in basket-handle.

Celebrities

the Latin poet Raoul Tortaire or Tourtier Tortarius (1063-v.1122), monk with the abbey of the Saint-Benoit-on-Loire, was born in Torte, close to Gien.
Anne de Beaujeu (1461-1522), girl of Louis XI, was countess of Gien.
Gien is the fatherland of three considered musicians, Pierre Certon (v.1515-1572), Adolphe Nibelle (1825-1895) and Jean Huré (1877-1930).
Sophie de Ruffey, marchioness of Monnier, after a tumultuous connection with Mirabeau ( Letters in Sophie ), was withdrawn in Gien, the convent of theClear ones, where it gave itself death in 1789.
Etienne Jacques Joseph Macdonald (1765-1840), marshal of Empire, died in his castle of Courcelles, close to Gien.
the general Etienne Marcel (1792-1880) was born in Gien.
the vice-admiral Philippe Baucheron de Boissoudy (1830-1903) was born in Gien.
Raphaël Delaunay (1870-1917), pharmacist and politician, was deputy and mayor of Gien.
Pierre Dezarnaulds (1879-1975), politician, was appointed of Gien.
Ferdinand Gilson (1898-2006), one of the whole the hairy last, died in Gien after having passed the end of its life to the Choux.
the footballers Miguel Pineda (born in 1964) and Olivier Sorin (born in 1981), and the racing cyclist Renaud Dion (born in 1978) were born in Gien.

Economy

Market gardenings (Asparagus S, orchards,…)
Drug companies (laboratories Pierre Fabre), factories (Otis Grain elevator Company, Shiseido).
traditional Industry: faience manufacture of Gien.
Antenna of the Chamber of commerce and industry of Loiret.

Culture

the festival Songs of my city, creates in 1997, is held each at the end of July.
the spectacle Jour of the Loire is held each year in many cities and villages of Loiret located in edge of the Loire, in particular in Gien.
the museum of the faience manufacture established in the enclosure of the factory, not far from the edges of the Loire.
the international museum of hunting located in the castle, not far from the Church Jeanne d' Arc.
the local newspaper, the Newspaper of Gien , appears in a weekly way.

Demography

the town of Gien brings together approximately 16.000 inhabitants with a density of 225,9 inhabitants to the km.
the commune of Gien has a surface of 6786 hectares.

Blasonnement

“Of azure, with the chief of mouths, a money castle, covered in croup, accompanied by two towers covered by same. ” ( illustrated France , 1882, of Malta-Brown Blasonnement according to the current armorial bearings drawn by the heraldist Robert Louis: Of azure to a money castle of three sand built crenelated towers, opened, openwork of the field.

Tally of life

flowered City: 1 flower allotted by the National council of the Cities and Flowered Villages of France to the Contest of the cities and flowered villages.

See too

External bonds

Official site of the town of Gien
Official site of the faience manufacture of Gien
Bizberry - Gate Internet of Gien

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