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Commune of Villers-Cotterêts |
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| Location | |
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| Administration | |
|---|---|
| Country | France |
| Region | Picardie |
| Department | Aisne |
| Arrondissement | Soissons |
| Canton | Villers-Cotterêts |
| Intercommunality | Villers-Cotterêts–Forêt de Retz |
| Mayor | Renaud Belliere (2001-2008) |
| Statistics | |
| Elevation | 65–226 m (avg. 120 m) |
| Land area¹ | 41.71 km² |
| Population² (2005) |
10,106 |
| - Density | 242/km² |
| Miscellaneous | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 02810/ 02600 |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
| 2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once. | |
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Villers-Cotterêts is a commune in the Aisne department in Picardie in northern France.
The inhabitants are called Cottereziens.
Geography
It is located 80 km NE of Paris via the RN2 facing Laon. Its nickname Petite villa sur la côte de Retz means Little villa by the coast of Retz, as the town is situated next to the Retz forest which covers 130 km² of land.
History
Villers-Cotterêts is famous because of the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts 1539 signed by king Francis I of France ('François Ier') which made French the official language in the kingdom instead of Latin.
It was the birthplace of Alexandre Dumas, père (1802-1870), novelist.
The town was the start of Stage 4 in the 2007 Tour de France.
The local château, known as Château de Noüe was built in the 16th century for Francis I and later got 18th century régence decoration by Gilles-Marie Oppenord. The original château was built around 950 AD and was burnt to the ground twice before being rebuilt out of stone in the early 1100's. The front entrance is the only original remaining structure, which is listed with the Historic Monument Registry at the Beaux Arts. The château was purchased from the de Noüe family by Francis I to house his mistress Anne de Pissleux. The current owner is the Pepinieres du Valois, an agricultural venture.
Sources and external links
- Tourist office website (in French)
- Historic society of Villers-Cotterêts (in French)
- The Catholic Encyclopedia entry on Gilles-Marie Oppenordt
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Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 2 October 2008, at 19:33.
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