Vitry-le-François

Vitry-le-François
Vitry-le-François
Subprefecture and commune
	The town hall in Vitry-le-François
	Coat of arms
	Location of Vitry-le-François
	Vitry-le-François Vitry-le-François
	Coordinates: 48°43′32″N 4°35′07″E / 48.7256°N 4.5853°E
Country	France
Region	Grand Est
Department	Marne
Arrondissement	Vitry-le-François
Canton	Vitry-le-François-Champagne et Der
Intercommunality	Vitry, Champagne et Der
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Jean-Pierre Bouquet
Area 1	6.45 km2 (2.49 sq mi)
Population (2021)	11,454
• Density	1,800/km2 (4,600/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	51649 /51300
Elevation	105 m (344 ft)
	1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Vitry-le-François (French pronunciation: [vitʁi lə fʁɑ̃swa] ^ⓘ) is a commune in the Marne department in northeastern France. It is located on the river Marne and is the western terminus of the Marne–Rhine Canal. Vitry-le-François station has rail connections to Paris, Reims, Strasbourg, Metz, Dijon and several regional destinations.

History

The present town is a relatively recent construction, having been built in 1545 at the behest of King Francis who wished to replace, on a new site, Vitry-en-Perthois, which in 1544 had been entirely destroyed as part of the backwash from the king's Italian War of 1542–46.^[3] The new Vitry was to be a modern city, constructed according to a plan produced by Girolamo Marini. The king's role in its creation resulted in Vitry-le-François receiving the king's name as part of its own name.

At the beginning of World War I in August 1914, Joseph Joffre established the Grand Quartier Général at the Place Royer-Collard.

In 1961, a terrorist attack took place on a train going between Strasbourg and Paris.

Demography

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1793	7,385	—
1800	6,925	−0.91%
1806	7,194	+0.64%
1821	6,909	−0.27%
1831	6,976	+0.10%
1836	6,822	−0.45%
1841	7,749	+2.58%
1846	7,412	−0.89%
1851	7,795	+1.01%
1856	7,151	−1.71%
1861	7,263	+0.31%
1866	7,431	+0.46%
1872	6,898	−1.23%
1876	7,616	+2.51%
1881	7,760	+0.38%
1886	7,670	−0.23%
1891	8,022	+0.90%
1896	8,400	+0.93%

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1901	8,561	+0.38%
1906	8,487	−0.17%
1911	8,511	+0.06%
1921	8,568	+0.07%
1926	8,876	+0.71%
1931	9,082	+0.46%
1936	9,061	−0.05%
1946	7,584	−1.76%
1954	11,131	+4.91%
1962	14,795	+3.62%
1968	16,879	+2.22%
1975	19,372	+1.99%
1982	18,261	−0.84%
1990	17,033	−0.87%
1999	16,737	−0.19%
2007	14,873	−1.47%
2012	13,065	−2.56%
2017	12,133	−1.47%

Source: EHESS^[4] and INSEE^[5]

Features

Its church of Notre-Dame is a 17th-century building with fine 18th-century monuments.
A convent of the Récollets was later converted to contain the town hall, the court-house, a library and a small museum.
There is a bronze statue of Pierre Paul Royer-Collard (1763–1845), the politician and philosopher, a native of the district.^[6]