Arras

Encyclopedia : A : AR : ARR : Arras

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Arras (Dutch: ) is a town and commune in northern France, préfecture (capital) of the Pas-de-Calais département.

History

Originally settled by the Celtic tribe of the Atrebates, it later became a Roman garrison town known as Atrebatum.

It is located in the former Dutch and French province of Artois. For many centuries, Arras was on the border between France and the Netherlands and it frequently changed hands before firmly becoming French in the late 17th century, the fortifications upgraded by Vauban helping keep it in French hands. The town was closely linked to the trade of Flanders and later became an important centre for sugar beet farming and processing as well as a prosperous market centre.

The Union of Atrecht was signed here in January 1579 by the states of the Low Countries that were loyal to king Philip II of Habsburg; it provoked the declaration of the Union of Utrecht later the same month.

During the First World War, Arras was near the front and a long series of battles fought nearby are known as the Battle of Arras in which a series of medieval tunnels beneath the city, unknown to the Germans, became a decisive factor in the French holding the city. The city, however, was heaviliy damaged and had to be rebuilt after the war. In the Second World War the town was occupied by the Germans and 240 suspected French Resistance members were executed in the Arras citadel.

See also: Battle of Arras, for a list of battles so named.

Sights

The centre of the town is marked by two large squares. The Grande Place and the Place des Heros. These are surrounded by buildings restored to the pre-war conditions. Most notable are the gothic town hall and the cathedral.

Vimy Memorial is a memorial just north of the town honouring a major WW I Canadian battle.

Transportation

Arras is served by the LGV Nord high speed railway.

Miscellaneous

In literature

Arras is a setting in several famous works of French literature:

• In Edmond Rostand's play Cyrano de Bergerac, the fourth act takes place during the French siege of Arras in 1640 during the Thirty Years' War
• In Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables, Arras is the scene of Champmathieu's trial
• Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote a story called Pilote de Guerre (English title: Flight to Arras)

Births

Arras was the birthplace of:

• Audefroi le Bâtard, trouvère who flourished at the end of the 12th century
• Adam de la Halle (1237?-1288) trouvère, poet and musician, was probably born in Arras
• Matthias of Arras (1290?-1352), architect, famed for his work on St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague
• Antoine de Févin (c.1470-1511 or 1512), composer of the Renaissance.
• Charles de l'Écluse (1526-1609), doctor and pioneering botanist
• Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794), French revolutionary leader
• Joseph le Bon (1765-1795), was a politician
• Eugène François Vidocq (1775-1857), one of the first modern private investigators
• Gabriel Hanot (1889-1968), journalist (the editor of L'Équipe)
• Violette Leduc (1907–1972), author
• Jean-Christophe Novelli (born 1961), chef and restaurateur

See also

• St. Vaast's Abbey

External links

• [A lot of information and pictures about Arras]
• [Arras city council website]
• [Visiting Arras]
• [Demographic statistics of Arras]

 

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