Langres

▪ France

      town, eastern France, Haute-Marne département, Champagne-Ardenne région, north-northeast of Dijon. A medieval fortified city, it is situated 1,529 feet (466 metres) above sea level on a promontory at the northern end of the Langres Plateau. The walls encompassing the town contain a 2nd-century Roman gate, 15th- to 16th-century towers, and other 16th- to 18th-century gates. The severe 12th-century Saint-Mammès Cathedral, marking the transition between Burgundy Romanesque and Gothic architecture, has an 18th-century facade. A statue of the encyclopaedist Denis Diderot, who was born in Langres, stands in the centre of the town. A stronghold of the Lingones, a Gallic tribe, Langres later became an important Gallo-Roman town called Andematunum. At the end of the 2nd century St. Bénigne introduced Christianity to the town, and, at the beginning of the 3rd century, St. Sénateur was the first bishop of Langres. From the 12th to the 18th century the bishops of Langres, who had the title of duke, were ecclesiastical peers of the realm of France. Today the town is a centre of local agricultural industry; manufactures include electrical and nonelectrical machinery, as well as plastics. Pop. (2004 prelim.) 8,761.

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