Bar-le-Duc

Bar-le-Duc
Clock tower
Coat of arms
Bar-le-Duc
Location within Lorraine region  Bar-le-Duc
Coordinates: 48°46′19″N 5°09′37″E / 48.7719°N 05.1603°ECoordinates: 48°46′19″N 5°09′37″E / 48.7719°N 05.1603°E
Country	France
Region	Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine
Department	Meuse
Arrondissement	Bar-le-Duc
Intercommunality	Bar-le-Duc
Government
• Mayor (2014–2020)	Bertrand Pancher (UMP)
Area^1	23.62 km^2 (9.12 sq mi)
Population (2009)^2	15,895
• Density	670/km^2 (1,700/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	55029 / 55000
Elevation	175–327 m (574–1,073 ft) (avg. 240 m or 790 ft)
^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.

Bar-le-Duc (French pronunciation: ​[baʁ lə dyk]), formerly known as Bar, is a commune in the Meuse département, of which it is the capital. The department is in Lorraine in northeastern France.

Geography

The lower, more modern and busier part of the town extends along a narrow valley, shut in by wooded or vine-clad hills, and is traversed throughout its length by the Ornain, which is crossed by several bridges. It is limited towards the north-east by the Marne-Rhine Canal, on the south-west by a small arm of the Ornain, called the Canal des Usines, on the left bank of which the upper town (Ville Haute) is situated.

History

Bar-le-Duc was at one time the seat of the countship, later Duchy of Bar. Though probably of ancient origin, the town was unimportant until the 10th century when it became the residence of the counts. Originally part of the early medieval duchy of Upper Lorraine, at some stage in the early modern period it was acquired by the neighbouring dukes of Lorraine.

Population

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1793	9,111	—
1800	8,961	−1.6%
1806	9,970	+11.3%
1821	11,432	+14.7%
1831	12,496	+9.3%
1836	12,383	−0.9%
1841	12,526	+1.2%
1846	13,191	+5.3%
1851	14,816	+12.3%
1856	13,835	−6.6%
1861	14,922	+7.9%
1866	15,334	+2.8%
1872	15,175	−1.0%
1876	16,728	+10.2%
1881	17,485	+4.5%
1886	18,860	+7.9%
1891	18,761	−0.5%
1896	18,249	−2.7%
1901	17,693	−3.0%
1906	17,307	−2.2%
1911	17,068	−1.4%
1921	16,261	−4.7%
1926	16,365	+0.6%
1931	16,550	+1.1%
1936	16,697	+0.9%
1946	15,460	−7.4%
1954	16,609	+7.4%
1962	18,346	+10.5%
1968	19,159	+4.4%
1975	19,288	+0.7%
1982	18,471	−4.2%
1990	17,545	−5.0%
1999	16,944	−3.4%
2006	16,041	−5.3%
2009	15,895	−0.9%

Sights

Saint-Étienne Church and the court house (right) on the Saint-Pierre Square in Bar-le-Duc

Notre-Dame Bridge over the Ornain

The Ville Haute, which is reached by staircases and steep narrow thoroughfares, is intersected by a long, quiet street, bordered by houses of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. In this quarter are the remains (16th-century) of the château of the dukes of Bar, dismantled in 1670, the old clock-tower, and the college, built in the latter half of the 16th century. Its church of Saint-Étienne (constructed during the 14th and 15th centuries) contains a skillfully carved effigy in white stone of a half-decayed corpse, erected to the memory of René of Châlon (died 1544), the work of 16th-century artist Ligier Richier, a pupil of Michelangelo.

The lower town contains the official buildings and the churches of Notre-Dame, the most ancient in the town, and St. Antony, with 14th-century frescoes. Among the statues of distinguished natives of the town is one to Nicolas Oudinot, whose house serves as the hotel-de-ville. Other sights include the Notre-Dame Bridge, with five arches surmounted by a chapel in the middle.

Food

The highly rarefied Bar-le-duc jelly, also known as Lorraine Jelly, is a spreadable preparation of white currant or red currant fruit preserves, hailing from this town. First referenced in the historical record in 1344, it is also colloquially referred to as Bar Caviar.

Notable residents

Statue of Ernest Bradfer (1833–1882)

Bar-le-Duc was the birthplace of:

• Jean de Lorraine (1498-1550), Cardinal de Lorraine, Bishop of Metz, Archbishop of Narbonne.
• Mary of Guise (1515–1560), queen consort of Scotland and mother of Mary, Queen of Scots
• Francis, Duke of Guise (1519–1563), soldier and politician
• Nicolas Oudinot (1767–1847), marshal of France
• Rémi Joseph Isidore Exelmans (1775–1852), marshal of France
• Pierre Michaux (1813–1883) inventor
• Edmond Laguerre (1834–1886), mathematician
• Job (1858–1931), illustrator
• Raymond Poincaré (1860–1934), statesman
• Jean Dries (1905–1973), painter
• Benjamin Compaoré (1987–), athlete

Other notable residents were:

• Jean-François Jacqueminot (1787–1865), who established a great silk factory
• Ernest Bradfer (1833–1882), who established a major iron works in the town.

International relations

Bar-le-Duc is twinned with:

• Tambov, Russia
• Griesheim, Germany
• Wilkau-Haßlau, Germany
• Gyönk, Hungary

See also

• Communes of the Meuse department
• Parc naturel régional de Lorraine
• Raymond Couvègnes

References

• INSEE statistics

Attribution

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bar-le-Duc". Encyclopædia Britannica 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

External links

• Official website
• INSEE commune file* Tourism Office website
• Pictures
• Voie Sacree
• works of Ligier Richier. This sculptor has important works in Bar-le-Duc