Montreuil, Pas-de-Calais

Montreuil
Montreuil
Location within Nord-Pas-de-Calais region  Montreuil
Administration
Country	France
Region	Nord-Pas-de-Calais
Department	Pas-de-Calais
Arrondissement	Montreuil
Canton	Montreuil
Intercommunality	Communauté de communes du Montreuillois
Mayor	Bruno Béthouart
Statistics
Elevation	2–43 m (6.6–141 ft)
Land area1	2.85 km2 (1.10 sq mi)
Population2	2,498  (2006)
- Density	876 /km2 (2,270 /sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	62588/ 62170
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.

Montreuil or Montreuil-sur-Mer (French pronunciation: [mɔ̃tʁœj syʁ mɛʁ]) is a sub-prefecture in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. It is located on the Canche river, not far from Étaples. The sea, however, is now some distance away.

Sights

It is surrounded by medieval ramparts, part of the reinforcement work of the famed French military engineer Vauban from his fortification of Northern France in the 17th Century.

Demographics

Population (1999): 2,688 inhabitants for the city, 21,603 inhabitants for the canton and 99,288 inhabitants for the arrondissement.

History

Montreuil was the headquarters of the British Army in France during the First World War. General Haig was quartered in a nearby château. A statue commemorating his stay can be seen outside the theatre on the Place Charles de Gaulle. During the German occupation of the town during the Second World War, the statue was taken down; however, it was saved by the townspeople, and was rebuilt in the 1950s.

Literature

Lawrence Sterne visited the town in 1765. His visit was recounted in his novel A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy.

Montreuil was the setting for much of the early part of Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables. The novel's protagonist, Jean Valjean, served as mayor of the city, and also owned a large factory. The city was the setting for much of the early conflict between Valjean and the novel's antagonist, Javert. It was also Fantine's hometown.

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in France

Twin towns — Sister cities

Montreuil is twinned with:

• Slough, United Kingdom

See also

• Communes of the Pas-de-Calais department

References

• INSEE commune file

External links

• Montreuil-sur-Mer official website (in French)
• The equestrian statue of Field Marshal Haig on the website "Remembrance Trails of the Great War in Northern France"

• 

  Church, Montreuil

• 

  Walls of Montreuil

• 

  Ramparts