Soissons
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Commune of Soissons Town hall of Soissons |
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| Location | |
| Coordinates | |
| Administration | |
|---|---|
| Country | France |
| Région | Picardie |
| Département | Aisne (sous-préfecture) |
| Arrondissement | Soissons |
| Canton | Chief town of 2 cantons |
| Intercommunality | Communauté d'agglomération du Soissonnais |
| Mayor | Édith Errasti (2001-2008) |
| Statistics | |
| Altitude | 38 m–130 m (avg. 55 m) |
| Land area¹ | 12.32 km² |
| Population² (1999) |
29,453 |
| - Density (1999) | 2,390/km² |
| Miscellaneous | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 02722/ 02200 |
| 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). | |
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Soissons is a town and commune in the Aisne département, Picardie, France, located on the Aisne River, about 60 miles northeast of Paris. It is one of the most ancient towns of France, and is probably the ancient capital of the Suessiones.
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[edit] History
Its Celtic name (and later borrowed in Latin) was Noviodunum, meaning "new hillfort"; from 457 to 486, under Aegidius and his son Syagrius, Noviodunum was the capital of the "Kingdom of Soissons," until it fell to the Frankish king Clovis I in the Battle of Soissons.
Part of the Frankish territory of Neustria, the Soissons region, and the Abbey of Saint-Médard, built in the 8th century, played an important political part during the rule of the Merovingian kings (A.D. 447-751). After the death of Clovis I in 511, Soissons was made the capital of one of the four kingdoms into which his states were divided. Eventually, the kingdom of Soissons disappeared in 613 when the Frankish lands were amalgamated under Clotaire II.
In 744 the Synod of Soissons met at the instigation of Pippin III, and Saint Boniface, the Pope's missionary to pagan Germany, secured the condemnation of the Frankish bishop Adalbert and the Irish missionary Clement.
[edit] Sights
Today, Soissons is a commercial and manufacturing center with the 12th century Cathedral of Saint-Gervais et Saint-Protais and Saint Jean des Vignes Abbey as one of its most important historical buildings.
[edit] Miscellaneous
Soissons is the birth place of:
- Aurore Clément (born 1945), actress
The saints Crispin and Crispinian were martyred c. 286 at Soissons for preaching Christianity to the local Gauls.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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