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Arras

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Arras
Place des Héros in Arras
Location of
Map
CountryFrance
ArrondissementArras
CantonChief town of 3 cantons
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
62041 /

Arras (Dutch: Atrecht) is a town and commune in northern France, préfecture (capital) of the Pas-de-Calais département. The historic centre of the Artois region, its local speech is nonetheless characterized as a Picard dialect. Unlike many French words, the final "s" in the name should be pronounced.

The position of Arras

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 Low Countries 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 (the Dutch name for Arras) was signed here in January 1579 by the Catholic principalities of the Low Countries that remained loyal to king Philip II of Habsburg; it provoked the declaration of the Union of Utrecht later the same month.

File:Arras france 1919.jpg
Grand Place, Arras. February, 1919

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 British forces holding the city. The city, however, was heavily damaged and had to be rebuilt after the war. In the Second World War, during the invasion of France in May 1940, the town was the focus of a major British counter attack. The town was occupied by the Germans and 240 suspected French Resistance members were executed in the Arras citadel.

Ecclesiastical history

Main article: Diocese of Arras

Councils of Arras

In 1025 a council was held at Arras against certain Manichaean (dualistic) heretics who rejected the sacraments of the Church. The Catholic Faith in the Blessed Eucharist was proclaimed with special insistence.

In 1097, two councils, presided over by Lambert of Arras, dealt with questions concerning monasteries and persons consecrated to God.

Sights

The town hall

The centre of the town is marked by three large squares, the Grande Place, the Place des Héros, and the Petite Place. These are surrounded by buildings largely restored to their pre-war World War I conditions. Most notable are the Gothic town hall (rebuilt in a slightly less grandiose style after the war) and the 19th-century cathedral.

The original cathedral of Arras, constructed between 1030 and 1396, was one of the most beautiful Gothic structures in northern France. It was destroyed in the French Revolution.

Many of Arras's most notable structures, including the museum and several government buildings, occupy the site of the old Abbaye de Saint-Vaast. The abbey's church was demolished and rebuilt in fashionable classical style in 1833, and now serves as the town's cathedral. The design was chosen by the one-time Abbot of St Vaast, the Cardinal de Rohan, and is stark in its simplicity, employing a vast number of perpendicular angles. There is a fine collection of statuary within the church and it houses a number of religious relics.

Vimy Memorial is a memorial just north of the town honouring a major World War I battle, the Battle of Vimy Ridge, which marked the first time Canada fielded an entire army of its own. Four Canadian divisions fought there on Easter weekend 1917. The Battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the broader Allied offensive in April known as the Battle of Arras. Vimy was the only victory the Allies would enjoy during their 1917 spring offensive. The Basilica of Notre Dame de Lorette, overlooking the nearby village of Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, likewise stands before one of France's largest World War I necropolises.

Transport

Arras is served by the LGV Nord high speed railway.

Miscellaneous

In literature

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

Arras is also mentioned the novel Generals Die in Bed by Charles Yale Harrison, Canadian soliders are depcited looting the town during World War 1

Births

Arras was the birthplace of:

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Arras.
  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help) diocese & Councils
  • Information and pictures about Arras (in French)
  • Arras city council website
  • Demographic statistics of Arras
  • Arras in Old Picture Postcards
  • Fortifications of Arras
  • Information Guide on Arras and its surroundings
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