Sainte-Menehould

Sainte-Menehould
Subprefecture and commune

The town hall

Coat of arms
Sainte-Menehould

Coordinates: 49°05′00″N 4°54′00″E / 49.0833°N 4.9°E / 49.0833; 4.9Coordinates: 49°05′00″N 4°54′00″E / 49.0833°N 4.9°E / 49.0833; 4.9
Country France
Region Grand Est
Department Marne
Arrondissement Sainte-Menehould
Canton Argonne Suippe et Vesle
Government
 • Mayor (2001–2008) Bertrand Courot
Area1 57.11 km2 (22.05 sq mi)
Population (1999)2 4,979
 • Density 87/km2 (230/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
INSEE/Postal code 51507 /51800
Elevation 132–261 m (433–856 ft)

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.

Sainte-Menehould (French pronunciation: ​[sɛ̃t mənu]) is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France. The 18th-century French playwright Charles-Georges Fenouillot de Falbaire de Quingey (1727–1800) died in Sainte-Ménéhould.

Cuisine

The town and its several restaurants pride themselves on serving a local specialty called pied de cochon or pig's trotter.

History

Dom Pérignon, the Benedictine monk who made important contributions to the production and quality of Champagne wine, and is often (erroneously) credited with its invention, was born in Sainte-Menehould around 1638.

Sainte-Menehould is the town where, during his Flight to Varennes in 1791, the king, Louis XVI was recognised, allegedly on account of the similarity between his face and the image of him that appeared on the coinage, during his attempted flight from Paris towards Flanders (then part of the Austrian empire and thereby ruled by his queen's older brother). The royal party left the town before the significance of the king's recognition had been acted upon, but they were pursued along the road towards Varennes and arrested by Citizen Drouet who is remembered as the local postmaster.

130 years later Ste-Menehould was important in the Champagne Riots of 1910/1911.

Twinning

Scotland Cupar, Fife, Scotland

See also

References


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