Argentan () is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

and the seat of two cantons and of an

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements ...

in the

Orne Orne (; nrf, Ôrne or ) is a département in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne. It had a population of 279,942 in 2019.department in northwestern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. Argentan is located NE of Rennes, ENE of the Mont Saint-Michel, SE of Cherbourg, SSE of Caen, SW of Rouen and N of Le Mans.

Argentan station Gare d'Argentan is a railway station serving the town Argentan, Orne department, northwestern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas region ...

has rail connections to Caen, Le Mans, Paris and Granville.

History

Argentan is situated near the river

Orne Orne (; nrf, Ôrne or ) is a département in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne. It had a population of 279,942 in 2019.Gaulish Gaulish was an ancient Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Switze ...

words ("silver") and ("market"). The town grew in importance during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. Throughout the Middle Ages, Argentan alternated between prosperity and destruction, as English forces occupied the city several times. The

Plantagenet The House of Plantagenet () was a royal house which originated from the lands of Anjou in France. The family held the English throne from 1154 (with the accession of Henry II at the end of the Anarchy) to 1485, when Richard III died in ...

s had considered this town as one of the most important of Normandy. During the reign of

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

, Colbert set Alençon against Argentan in an economic competition on lace making. Thus, the ''point d'Argentan'' ("Argentan stitch") and the ''point d'Alençon'' ("Alençon stitch") were created. Argentan became a very important town for traditional industry. It also gained in religious importance with the building of a

Benedictine Abbey , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

and two churches, ''Saint-Martin'' and ''Saint-Germain''. Several mansions (''hôtels particuliers'') were also built. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the French 104th Infantry Regiment/14th Infantry Brigade was stationed at Argentan. It participated in the battle of Verdun in 1916. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the city was almost totally destroyed. On 5 June 1944, on the eve of the Allied D-Day landing on the beaches of Normandy, the city suffered an important air raid in which the train station was destroyed. The city suffered further damage when it was bombed on 6 and 7 June by

B-17 The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

and

B-24 The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

bombers of the U.S. Eighth Air Force. The greatest part of the city was, however, left in ruins two and a half months later, at the end of August, during the battle of the Argentan-Falaise Pocket. The

U.S. Third Army The United States Army Central, formerly the Third United States Army, commonly referred to as the Third Army and as ARCENT, is a military formation of the United States Army which saw service in World War I and World War II, in the 1991 Gulf Wa ...

, under the command of general

George S. Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...

liberated Argentan after eight days of violent combat against the German

9th Panzer Division The 9th Panzer Division was a panzer division of the German Army during World War II. It came into existence after 4th Light Division was reorganized in January 1940. The division was headquartered in Vienna, in the German military district Weh ...

and the 2nd SS Panzer Division ''Das Reich''. The U.S. 80th Infantry Division liberated the city in the morning of 20 August.

Population

Main sights

Donjon A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in ...

of Argentan * ''Tour Marguerite'', a medieval tower * Ducal Castle (14th century), now a Court House. It houses the St. Nicholas Chapels (late 11th century), built by Pierre II of Alençon * Saint Martin church (15th–16th centuries) * Saint Germain church (16th–18th centuries) * Saint Roch Chapel * Museum of the Argentan lace

Gallery

Chapel Saint Nicholas end of 11century.jpg, Chapel Saint Nicholas – built end of the 11th century Hôtel du Moulin de Tercey, 2 rue Saint-Martin.jpg, Hôtel du Moulin de Tercey, 2 rue Saint-Martin Donjon of argentan, built by Henry II of England.jpg, Donjon of Argentan, built by Henry II of England Argentan - Saint Germain Church - 1.JPG, Saint Germain church (built 16th–18th century) Argentan - Tour Marguerite.JPG, Tour Marguerite is the only surviving medieval tower Église Saint-Martin d'Argentan.jpg, Saint Martin church, built in the 15th and 16th centuries Hotel Joseph de Laleu 56 rue Saint Martin built in 1651.jpg, Hotel Joseph de Laleu 56 rue Saint Martin built in 1651 FranceNormandieArgentanHotelAngoDeLaMotte.jpg, This ''hotel particulier'' was the Nicolas Ango house Abbaye in Argentan now a restaurant.jpg, The former abbey, now a restaurant Argentan - Castle - 2.JPG, Château of the Dukes of Alençon (15th century), now the Court House Home of André Mare 1885-1935,rue de la Vieille Prison.jpg, Birthplace of painter

André Mare Charles André Mare (1885–1932), or André-Charles Mare, was a French painter and textile designer, and co-founder of the Company of French Art (''la Compagnie des Arts Français'') in 1919. He was a designer of colorful textiles, and was one o ...

Hôtel de Lonlay, 24 rue St.Martins.jpg, Hôtel du comte de Lonlay

Notable people

* Giles d'Argentan (c. 128024 June 1314),

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

knight who was killed at the Battle of Bannockburn * François-Eudes de Mézeray (1610–1683), historian * Fernand Léger (1881–1955), painter *

(1885–1935), painter *

Michel Onfray Michel Onfray (; born 1 January 1959) is a French writer and philosopher with a hedonistic, epicurean and atheist worldview. A highly-prolific author on philosophy, he has written over 100 books. His philosophy is mainly influenced by such think ...

(born 1959), writer and philosopher

Twin towns – sister cities

Argentan is twinned with: *

Abingdon-on-Thames Abingdon-on-Thames ( ), commonly known as Abingdon, is a historic market town and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Oxfordshire, England, on the River Thames. Historically the county town of Berkshire, since 1974 Abingdon has been ad ...

, England, United Kingdom * Baja, Hungary *

Rotenburg an der Fulda Rotenburg an der Fulda (officially ''Rotenburg a.d. Fulda'') is a town in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany lying, as the name says, on the river Fulda. Geography Location The town lies south of the Stölzinger Geb ...

, Germany

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Communes of Orne Subprefectures in France