Montmédy

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Administration
Commune of Montmédy
Location
Longitude	05° 22' 00" E
Latitude	49° 31' 13" N
Country	France
Région	Lorraine
Département	Meuse
Arrondissement	Verdun
Canton	Montmédy
Statistics
Altitude	177 m–336 m (avg. 294 m)
Land area¹	23.49 km²
Population² (1999)	2,260
- Density (1999)	96/km²
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	55351/ 55600
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).

Montmédy is a commune of the Meuse département, in northeastern France.

[edit] The citadel of Montmédy

In 1221 the first castle of Montmédy has been built on top of a hill by Lord de Chiny. Montmédy became soon the capital of his territory - later it belongend to Luxemburg, Burgundy, Austria and Spain. The original castle was replaced with a fortress by Karl V. in the 16th century.

After Marville and Stenay had been occupied by the French, 30,000 soldiers, including King Louis XIV, attacked Marville, whilst 756 were defending it in 1657. They held it for 57 days and surrendered only after the death of the governor Jean V of Allamont. The military engineer Vauban advanced the outer fortifications, the moats and the walls after the siege of 1657. The citadel has also been used as a fortress during both world wars.

Buildings, including a church, dating back to the 17th century can be found inside the citadel itself; it still is used as place to live. Most of the buildings are derelict or already collapsed, some of them are still in use as tenements. An Office de Tourisme (Tourist Office) can be found in the citadel.