Givet

Givet (in Walloon, Djivet ) is a common French, located in the department of the the Ardennes and the area Champagne-Ardenne. Givet is known for its Foire with the Onions the November 11th during which the streets are animated by merchants and the Fun fair on the two places.

Givet is located on two banks of the Meuse whose broad valley is dominated over left bank upstream of the city, by a escarpé headland which carries imposing the citadel of Charlemont. Opposite, on Right Bank, the Mount of Haurs is crowned by an old woman tower and remainders of fortifications. The principal district, called the Largeone or Givet Saint-Hilaire is the old city which extends on left bank from the Meuse, between the river and the railroad. On Right Bank, with the confluence of a small of the Ardennes river, the Coal, is the Smallone or Givet Notre-Dame.

History

Givet belonged at the end of the Middle Ages to the bishops of Liege. Charles Quint, while having obtained the transfer at the 16th century, made build the fortress that it called of its name, Charlemont. In 1680, the place of Charlemont was given to Louis XIV pursuant to the Paix of Nimègue; in 1699 the Treated of Lille supplementing the Peace of Ryswick, confirmed with the France the possession of both Givet. The king of France then made supplement the fortifications of Charlemont and those of Large-Givet under the direction of Vauban.

In 1914, the bombardment of the city began on August 29th and lasted three days. The city received the Military Cross in 1923. Givet had to suffer again from the invasion of 1940. Occupied by the Germans on May 12th, 1940, it was released on September 7th, 1944. In December 1944, Charlemont sheltered 11.000 American soldiers. December 24th, in a supreme effort, the German offensive through the Ardennes, which tries to renew the opening of May 1940, reached the doors of Givet. But the heroic defense of Bastogne (Belgium) and the counter-attacks of the allied troops destroy the last hope of Hitler.

Today, Givet combines Histoire and Modernity. The considerable importance of its architectural heritage, rich in sites and monuments, supplemented by many recent achievements, enables him to develop an interesting tourist activity. Thus, its history is discovered while strolling in the streets “in half-circle” of the “Givet Old man”, while admiring for example:

the church Hilaire Saint and its woodworks Louis XV,
the Notre-Dame church and its many classified objects,
the All Saints' day Forging mill,
the permanent Victoire Tower and its exposures,
the Gregoire Tower and its impregnable point of view,
the Center European of the Trades of art, founded in 1989, where many works of craftsmen as well as a cellar of products of the soil are to discover,
the Convent of Récollectines, rehabilitated in arts center “library - media library”,
the Old Military Horse-gear transformed into Space of spectacles and cinema,
the Fort of Charlemont and its point , In evening…

is illuminated

Geography

Givet constitutes the ultimate septentrional point of the valley of the French Meuse. The valley of the French Meuse is noticed, indeed, on the chart, by a point which advances deeply in the Belgian Ardennes, formant what one commonly calls the point of Givet .

This situation results from the conquests and the treaties of Louis XIV against the Spanish Netherlands and the Principauté of Liege: its ambition was to preserve the valley of the Meuse at all costs.

Givet is found thus right in the middle of the Belgian Calestienne.

It is in Givet that the confluence of the Houille with the Meuse is.

In Geology, it constitutes the Stratotype of a stage of the average dévonien, the givétien. This level provides a typical blue limestone in the architecture of the houses of the Avesnois, the Belgian Thiérache and the Fagne.

Administration

Demography

Economy

The city has a river port of trade managed by the Chamber of commerce and of industry of the Ardennes.

Culture

They wrote on Givet

Victor Hugo in a letter with a friend on August 1st, 1842 described Givet as follows; the city was modernized but the charm remained…

It is a pretty city which Givet, clean, gracious, hospital, located on two banks of the Meuse, which divides it into large and small Givet, with the foot of high and beautiful wall of rocks whose geometrical lines of the Fort of Charlemont spoil a little the top. The inn which one calls the hotel of the Mount-dOr ¹, is extremely good there, though it is single and that it can consequently place the passers by anyhow, and to make them eat anything.
Le bell-tower of small Givet is a simple slate needle; as for the bell-tower of large Givet, it is of a more complicated and more erudite architecture. Here obviously how the inventor composed it. The honest architect took a doctor's cap of priest or lawyer. On this doctor's cap, it erected scaffolding a reversed salad bowl; on the bottom of this salad bowl become platform, it posed a sugar bowl, on the sugar bowl, a bottle, on the bottle, a sun fixed in the neck by the vertical lower ray; and, finally, on the sun, a cock spit in the higher vertical ray. By supposing that it spent one day to find each one of these ideas, it will have put back the seventh jour.
Cet artist was to be Flemish.
Depuis approximately two centuries, the Flemish architects thought that nothing was more beautiful than parts of crockery and kitchen utensils raised with gigantic and titanic proportions. Also when one gave them bell-towers to be built, they valiantly seized the occasion and started to cap their towns of a crowd of jugs colossales.
La seen of Givet is not less charming, especially when one stops, about the evening, as I did, in the middle of the bridge, and than one looks at midday. The night, which is largest of the mask-stupidities, started to veil the absurd contour of the bell-tower. Smoke oozed of all the roofs. On my left, I intended to quiver with an infinite softness of large elms above which evening clearness highly made cover a gross tower of the eleventh century which dominates at semi-coast small Givet. On my line, another old woman tower, with conical ridge sheathing, semi-part of stones and bricks, reflected herself very whole in the Meuse, bright and metal mirror which crossed all this dark landscape. Further, with the foot of the frightening rock of Charlemont, I distinguished, like a line blanchâtre, this long building which I had seen the day before while entering and which is quite simply an uninhabited barracks ². Above the bell-tower, emerging to peak an immense wall of rocks which was prolonged as far as the eye can see to the mountains of the horizon and locked up the glance as in a circus. All at the bottom, in a sky of a clear green, the crescent of the moon went down slowly towards the ground, so fine, if pure and if untied, that it had been said that God let to us foresee half of his gold ring.

does not exist today any more (fortunately) but other hotels were born… and competes with it too!
the fort shelters today the center of drive commando of Givet, it acts here of the Red Caserne, old longer barracks of France, dedicated to the Marquis of Rougé, killed in Westphalia in 1761

Givet and the Walloon

Givet constituted before 1914 one of the three territories " wallons" (of Walloon language) out of Wallonia " belge" , with Doncols and Sonlez (Wallonia Large-Ducal which is almost extinct), and Wallonia Prussian (or Wallonia malmédienne). Even if the inhabitants of the Boot of Givet do not speak much any more the Walloon, of the traces remain about it has Dining one says " Live Djivet pol' peket" and to Givet one says oneself " Bramin worse min pon of kaûres" (many stones but not money), allusion to the rocks and slopes precipice of the valley where always nest the military garrisons. Jules Michelet wrote in its French history that it was of this country by his mother (of Revin exactly), and that it put in the description of Wallonia that it inserts in this history a " interest of famille". In the foreword with this History written afterwards, in 1871, he writes in connection with Dining and of Liege: These Frances poor lost in the Ardennes between hostile people and opposed languages, extremely moved me , point of view certainly French on Wallonia, but Michelet did not make confidence only in its intuitions and its preferences. It gathered on Wallonia an astonishing documentation, in particular on the culurel plan.

Wallonia of France is very French but a Walloon (country mosan at least), does not feel there in a foreign country. And the newspaper the Inhabitant of the Ardennes must always publish on local Poisonous small paragraph " Kè said to Vireux".

There would be a whole geopolitical reflection to make on the reasons for which, France which extended in any direction towards the east, trampled here, with the bottom of Ardenne, since from 843 in the middle of the XVIIIe century, it progressed in territory only of Revin in Givet, 20 or 30 km further, not putting thus that an end of foot on this of the Ardennes mountain, after which, the foreign armies did not find any more obstacles natural before… Paris.

One is here in the country of André Dhôtel, of Rimbaud; also (certainly the bringing together is strange), of Arthur Masson, Jean-Claude Pirotte, the Four wire Aymon, Michelet already quoted, Méhul (that Michelet regards as Walloon, because of its obstinacy to define Wallonia by the music). The Meuse de Charleville with Namur while passing by Givet and Dining is a fabulous river that the Walloon calls besides Mouze without article, with the manner of the ancient people which saw the rivers like gods, therefore people.

Personalities related to the commune

See too

Station of Givet

THE CONVENT OF THE RÉCOLLECTINES

The convent of Récollectines, entirely renovated constitutes a splendid cultural unit. Since 1988, the library and the media library are thus accommodated permanently there. Punctually, of the various exposures or demonstrations are organized there.

THE FORT OF CHARLEMONT

Dominating the City, this fortress created in 1555 and remade by Vauban in 1696, its name must with the emperor Charles Quint. Its construction will require 3000 workmen to which will be added 20000 infantrymen and 3000 riders.

THE DOOR OF FRANCE

It protected formerly the access from the city, in the south, on left bank of the Meuse, in direction of Charleville and Rocroi. In 1862 it was arranged for the passage of the railroad, then for that of road (R.N. 51).

External bonds

institutional sites

the site of Givet

associations and local actors

association of local history of the point of the Ardennes

Photograph gallery

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