Villers-Cotterêts
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Commune of Villers-Cotterêts | |
| Location | |
| Longitude | ° ' " E |
| Latitude | ° ' " N |
| Administration | |
|---|---|
| Country | France |
| Region | Picardie |
| Department | Aisne |
| Arrondissement | Soissons |
| Statistics | |
| Altitude | m–m (avg. m) |
| ¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 mi² 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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Villers-Cotterêts is a commune of the Aisne département in the Picardie (Picardy) région in northern France.
- Population: 10,123
- Density: 242.7/km²
- Postal code: 02600
- Name of inhabitants: Cotterezien sing, -s pl.
Contents |
[edit] Geography
- Area: 41.71 km²
- Altitude: 120 m
It is located 80 km NE of Paris via the RN2 facing Laon. Its nickname Petite villa sur la côte de Retz means Little villa by the coast of Retz, as the town is situated next to the Retz forest which covers 130 km² of land.
[edit] History
Villers-Cotterêts is famous because of the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts 1539 signed by king Francis I of France ('François Ier') which made French the official language in the kingdom instead of Latin.
[edit] Sight
The Château, known as Chateau de Noüe, built in the 16th century for François Ier, later got 18th century régénce decoration by Gilles-Marie Oppenord.
[edit] Miscellaneous
It was the birthplace of Alexandre Dumas, père (1802-1870), novelist.
[edit] Sources and external links
- Tourist office website (in French)
- Historic society of Villers-Cotterêts (in French)
- Catholic encyclopaedia Gilles-Marie Oppenordt
