Tourcoing
| Tourcoing | |||
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  Tourcoing | |||
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Location within Nord-Pas-de-Calais region  Tourcoing | |||
| Coordinates: 50°43′56″N 3°06′14″E / 50.7323°N 3.1040°ECoordinates: 50°43′56″N 3°06′14″E / 50.7323°N 3.1040°E | |||
| Country | France | ||
| Region | Nord-Pas-de-Calais | ||
| Department | Nord | ||
| Arrondissement | Lille | ||
| Intercommunality | Lille Métropole | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor (2008–2014) | Michel-François Delannoy | ||
| Area | |||
| • Land1 | 15.19 km2 (5.86 sq mi) | ||
| Population (1999) | |||
| • Population2 | 93,540 | ||
| • Population2 Density | 6,200/km2 (16,000/sq mi) | ||
| INSEE/Postal code | 59599 / 59200 | ||
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1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once. | |||
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Tourcoing (French pronunciation: [tuʁ.kwɛ̃]) is a city in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Nord.
Tourcoing is situated near the cities of Lille and Roubaix and the Belgian border.
Main sights
- Church of St Christopher (15th-16th centuries), considered one of the most beautiful Neo-Gothic edifices of Nord. In stone and brickwork, it has an 80-metre (262-foot) high bell tower with more than 80 bells.
- Hospice de Havre, founded in 1260. The cloister and the chapel date from the seventeenth century.
- Hôtel de ville (1885), in Napoleon III-style.
- Jardin botanique de Tourcoing, a botanical garden and arboretum.
History
The city was the site of a significant victory for France during the French Revolutionary Wars. Marshal Charles Pichegru and his generals Joseph Souham and Jean Moreau defeated a combined force of British and Austrian troops in the Battle of Tourcoing on 29 Floréal II (18 May 1794).[1]
Transport
The Gare de Tourcoing is a railway station offering direct connections to Lille and Paris (high speed trains), Kortrijk, Ostend, Ghent and Antwerp.
Notable people
- Albert Roussel, composer
- Brigitte Fossey, actress
- Brigitte Lahaie, pornstar
- Joseph-Charles Lefèbvre, bishop of Bourges, cardinal, cousin of
- Marcel Lefebvre, missionary priest and, later, controversial archbishop, cousin of Joseph-Charles
- Mr. Sam, a popular deejay and producer running his own record label since 2008.
- Stéphane Denève, conductor
- Anna Gomis, wrestler
- Yohan Cabaye, footballer currently playing for PSG.
- Jean-Marc Degraeve, chess grandmaster.
International relations
Twin towns – Sister cities
Tourcoing is twinned with:
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See also
- Battle of Tourcoing (1794)
- Free Institution of Sacred Heart
- Communes of the Nord department
References
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tourcoing. |
- Tourcoing town council website (in French)
- Tourcoing Volley-Ball Lille Métropole (Official website of the top team, in French)
- See pictures from Antonio Mucherino's web site
