Colombey-les-Deux-Églises

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Coordinates: 48°13′27″N 4°53′12″E / 48.2241666667, 4.88666666667

Administration
Commune of Colombey-les-Deux-Églises

The Church of Colombey-les-Deux-Églises.
Location

Country	France
Region	Champagne-Ardenne
Department	Haute-Marne
Arrondissement	Chaumont
Canton	Juzennecourt
Statistics
Elevation	360 m (avg.)
Land area^¹	73,63 km²
Population^² (1999)	650
- Density	8/km²
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	52140/ 52330
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: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once.

Colombey-les-Deux-Églises is a village and commune in the Haute-Marne département, France.

The municipality Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises was created administratively in 1793, and it became part of the district of Chaumont and the canton Blaise^{[disambiguation needed]}. In 1801, under the name Colombey, it passed to the canton Juzennecourt. In 1972, it absorbed the communes Argentolles, Biernes, Blaise, Champcourt, Harricourt, Pratz and Lavilleneuve-aux-Fresnes.

[edit] Charles de Gaulle

The village achieved fame as the home and burial site of the 20th century French soldier and statesman Charles de Gaulle. He is buried in the village cemetery in a humble grave with only the inscription "Charles de Gaulle 1890-1970" but at the western exit of the village a 164 ft (50 m) high Cross of Lorraine was built, commemorating his distinguished wartime role as commander of the Free French Forces.

De Gaulle withdrew repeatedly to Colombey as his political fortunes waned; first on the establishment of the Fourth Republic in 1946, and then between 1953 and 1958 before he became President again at the height of the Algerian Crisis. His final withdrawal to Colombey came in 1969 and he died there the following year. Colombey became widely used as a political metaphor for a statesman's temporary withdrawal from political life, until his country would come calling for him again.