Armentières
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Armentières (French pronunciation: [aʁmɑ̃tjɛʁ]; West Flemish: Armentiers) is a commune in the Nord department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. It is part of the Métropole Européenne de Lille.[2]
The motto of the town is Pauvre mais fière (Poor but proud).
Contents
Geography
Armentières lies on the Belgian border, northwest of the city of Lille, on the right bank of the river Lys.
History
In 1668, the town became French, along with most of the rest of French Flanders. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, Armentières acquired fame, being the “City of Fabric”. Industrial weaving, spinning and brewing grew in Armentières, benefitting from the presence of water.
Armentières particularly suffered during the World Wars although the town received two Military Crosses (one for World War I and the second for the Second World War) and the Legion d'Honneur. In Armentières and the surrounding areas, the military cemeteries are places of remembrance for the casualties of the World Wars. "Mademoiselle from Armentières" was a popular song among Allied soldiers in World War I.
During World War I, in October 1914, the town was the site of the Battle of Armentières. In April 1918, German troops shelled Armentières with mustard gas. British troops were forced to evacuate the area, but the Germans could not enter for two weeks because of the heavy contamination. Witnesses to the bombardment stated that the shelling was so heavy that liquid mustard gas ran in the streets.[3][4]
Population
Population of Armentières since 1793 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: EHESS[5] and INSEE (1968-2017)[6] |
Heraldry
The arms of Armentières are blazoned : Argent a fleur de lys gules and on a chief of the same a sun or and a decrescent of the same. |
Railways
Armentières has a railway station on the line from Lille to Calais and Dunkirk.
It was commissioned in 1848 by the Chemins de Fer du Nord (Northern Railway Company). The buildings were completed in 1861.[7]
The station is currently served by TER Hauts-de-France trains, on the routes between Lille-Flandres station and Dunkirk, and between Lille-Flandres and Hazebrouck.[8]
Twin towns – sister cities
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Armentières is twinned with:[9]
Litoměřice, Czech Republic
Osterode am Harz, Germany
Stalybridge, England, United Kingdom
Notable people
- Amédée Fournier (1912–1992), cyclist, Olympic medalist
- Jean Maurice Fiey (1914–1995), Church historian and Syriacist
- Dany Boon (born 1966), actor and stand-up comedian
- Martin Terrier (born 1997), footballer
Monuments
The belfry of Armentières was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2005 as part of the Belfries of Belgium and France site, and in recognition of their influence in the rise of municipal power in Europe.[10] The belfry, just like the nearing city hall was designed by the architect Louis Marie Cordonnier and is open for visitors and tourists.[11]
In fiction
Milady de Winter in The Three Musketeers hides in Armentières and is caught and executed there.
The bawdy song, Mademoiselle from Armentières, was popular amongst British and American troops during World War 1. There are multiple version of the lyrics, that mostly refer to a woman from the town.
See also
References
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External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Armentières. |
- Official website (in French)
- The reconstruction of the town hall of Armentières after WW1 on the website "Remembrance Trails of the Great War in Northern France"
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- ↑ INSEE commune file
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- ↑ https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/07/102707334.pdf[bare URL PDF]
- ↑ Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Armentières, EHESS. Script error: No such module "In lang".
- ↑ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
- ↑ Devaux père et fils, « Chemins de fer : service et situation en 1861 », dans Annuaire statistique du département du Nord, Lille, 1863 p. 337 intégral
- ↑ Site SNCF TER Hauts-de-France, Informations pratiques sur les gares et arrêts : Gare d'Armentières (consulté le 29 janvier 2020).
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- Pages with reference errors
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- Articles containing West Flemish-language text
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- Communes of Nord (French department)
- French Flanders
- All articles with bare URLs for citations
- Articles with bare URLs for citations from March 2022
- Articles with PDF format bare URLs for citations