Bourges

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Commune of Bourges Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Bourges
Location
Coordinates	47°05′04″N, 02°23′47″E
Administration
Country	France
Région	Centre
Département	Cher (préfecture)
Arrondissement	Bourges
Canton	Chief town of 5 cantons
Intercommunality	Communauté d'agglomération de Bourges
Mayor	Serge Lepeltier (2001-2008)
Statistics
Altitude	120 m–169 m (avg. 153 m)
Land area¹	68.74 km²
Population² (1999)	72,480
- Density (1999)	1,054/km²
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	18033/ 18000
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq. mi. or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel).

Bourges is a town and commune in central France that is located on the Yèvre river. It is the préfecture (capital) of the département of Cher and also was the capital of the former province of Berry.

[edit] History

The name of the city is derived from, the Bituriges, the name of the original inhabitants. Its Celtic name was Avaricon. In the Gallic Wars, the Gauls practiced a scorched-earth policy, but the inhabitants of Avaricon begged not to have their city burned, and it was spared due to its good defenses provided by the surrounding marshes and a strong southern wall.

The third century Saint Ursinus, also known as Saint Ursin, is considered the first bishop of the city. Currently, Bourges is the seat of an archbishopric.

The Gothic Cathedral of Saint Etienne, begun at the end of the twelfth century, is listed as a World Heritage Site. It is considered the earliest example of the high gothic style of the thirteenth century.

During the Middle Ages, Bourges was the capital of a Viscounty until the fourteenth century. The future king, Charles VII, sought refuge there. His son, Louis XI, was born there in 1423. In 1438, Charles decreed the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges. During this period, Bourges was also a major capital of alchemy.

The city has a long tradition of art and history, other sites of importance include the Palace of Jacques Cœur and a sixty-five-hectare district of timber houses and grande homes.

The Impressionist painter, Berthe Morisot, was born in Bourges on January 14, 1841. She holds the distinction of being one of only two painters whose works were displayed in all of the original Impressionist Exhibitions in Paris.

[edit] Main sights

• Its Gothic cathedral (built 1195–1255) was added to the list of the World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 1992
  

  

  Floorplan of the cathedral of Bourges
• Jacques Cœur's Palace
• The Maurice Estève Museum
• The marshes of the Yevre and Voiselle Rivers, was listed in 2003 as a French Natural Monument or Site
• The ruins of the Gallo-Roman walls

[edit] Colleges and universities

• École nationale des beaux-arts de Bourges

[edit] Miscellaneous

Serge Lepeltier became mayor of the city in 1995 and again in 2001.

The Printemps de Bourges music festival takes place in Bourges every year.

[edit] Twin towns

• - Augsburg, Germany
• - Aveiro, Portugal
• - Forlì , Italy
• - Koszalin, Poland
• - Palencia, Spain
• - Peterborough, United Kingdom

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bourges

• Official website of the City of Bourges
• Pictures of the Cathedral of Bourges
• Visiting Bourges (in English)
• Bourges, the departement of Cher (French and English)
• Diaporama audio video of Bourges

Préfectures of départements of France

Bourg-en-Bresse (Ain) • Laon (Aisne) • Moulins (Allier • Digne-les-Bains (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) • Gap (Hautes-Alpes) • Nice (Alpes-Maritimes) • Privas (Ardeche) • Charleville-Mézières (Ardennes) • Foix (Ariège) • Troyes (Aube) • Carcassonne (Aude) • Rodez (Aveyron) • Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône) • Caen (Calvados) • Aurillac (Cantal) • Angoulême (Charente) • La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime) • Bourges (Cher) • Tulle (Corrèze) • Ajaccio (corse-du-Sud) • Bastia (Haute-Corse) • Dijon (Côte-d'Or) • Saint-Brieuc (Côtes-d'Armor) • Guéret (Creuse) • Périgueux (Dordogne) • Besançon (Doubs) • Valence (Drôme) • Évreux (Eure) • Chartres (Eure-et-Loir) • Quimper (Finistère) • Nîmes (Gard) • Toulouse (Haute-Garonne) • Auch (Gers) • Bordeaux (Gironde) • Montpellier (Hérault) • Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine) • Châteauroux (Indre) • Tours (Indre-et-Loire) • Grenoble (Isère) • Lons-le-Saunier (Jura) • Mont-de-Marsan (Landes) • Blois (Loir-et-Cher) • Saint-Étienne (Loire) • Le Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire) • Nantes (Loire-Atlantique) - Orléans (Loiret) • Cahors (Lot) • Agen (Lot-et-Garonne) • Mende (Lozère) • Angers (Maine-et-Loire) • Saint-Lô (Manche) • Châlons-en-Champagne (Marne) • Chaumont (Haute-Marne) - Laval (Mayenne) • Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle) • Bar-le-Duc (Meuse) • Vannes (Morbihan) • Metz (Moselle) • Nevers (Nièvre) • Lille (Nord) • Beauvais (Oise) • Alençon (Orne) • Calais (Pas-de-Calais) • Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme) • Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) • Tarbes (Hautes-Pyrénées) • Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales) • Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin) • Colmar (Haut-Rhin) • Lyon (Rhône) • Vesoul (Haute-Saône) • Mâcon (Saône-et-Loire) • Le Mans (Sarthe) • Chambéry (Savoie) • Annecy (Haute-Savoie) • Paris (Paris) • Rouen (Seine-Maritime) • Melun (Seine-et-Marne) • Versailles (Yvelines) • Niort (Deux-Sèvres) • Amiens (Somme) • Albi (Tarn) • Montauban (Tarn-et-Garonne) • Toulon (Var) • Avignon (Vaucluse) • La Roche-sur-Yon (Vendée) • Poitiers (Vienne) • Limoges (Haute-Vienne) • Épinal (Vosges) • Auxerre (Yonne) • Belfort (Territoire de Belfort) - Évry (Essonne) - Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine) • Bobigny (Seine-Saint-Denis) • Créteil (Val-de-Marne) • Cergy (Val-d'Oise)

Overseas départements:
Cayenne (French Guiana) • Basse-Terre (Guadeloupe) • Fort-de-France (Martinique) • Saint-Denis (Réunion)

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