Orléans (Municipality, Loiret, France)

Last modified: 2005-06-17 by ivan sache
Keywords: loiret | orleans | joan of arc | jeanne d'arc | coeur-de-lys | fleur-de-lys: 3 (yellow) | crown: mural (yellow) |
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by Arnaud Leroy

• Presentation of Orléans
• Municipal flag of Orléans

See also:

• France
• Loiret (Department, France)

Presentation of Orléans

The city of Orléans (116,559 inhabitants (260,000 inh. when including the outskirts) is located on the river Loire, 115 km south of Paris.

In the Gaul time, the city of Canubium was in the center of the Carnutes' country and the druids had an annual meeting there. The revolt against the Roman occupation started there in 52 BC. In 451, the city under the protection of Bishop St. Aignan resisted victoriously Attila's Huns.
During the Xth and XIth centuries, Orléans was one of the centers of the young Capetian monarchy, the two other centers being Chartres and Paris.
Orléans is famous for the siege of 1428-1429 during the Hundred Years' War and the intervention of Joan of Arc (a.k.a. as la pucelle d'Orléans, pucelle being a familiar term for a virgin). The Joan of Arc's festival (Fêtes Johanniques) has been commemorating these events each spring since 1435 except during wartime. On 7 May, the "very authentic standard" of Joan of Arc is presented to the population.