Dreux () is a commune in the

Eure-et-Loir Eure-et-Loir (, locally: ) is a French department, named after the Eure and Loir rivers. It is located in the region of Centre-Val de Loire. In 2019, Eure-et-Loir had a population of 431,575.department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in northern France.

Geography

Dreux lies on the small river Blaise, a tributary of the

Eure Eure () is a department in Normandy in Northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2019, Eure had a population of 599,507.Chartres Chartres () is the prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres (as d ...

Dreux station Gare de Dreux is a railway station serving the town Dreux, Eure-et-Loir department, northwestern France. Services The station is served by regional trains to Argentan, Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, wit ...

has rail connections to Argentan, Paris and Granville. The

Route nationale 12 The Route nationale 12, or RN12, is a trunk road ( nationale) in France connecting Paris with Brittany. The road forms part of European route E50. It is approximately long. History Until the 1950s, the RN 12 followed a different itinerary betwe ...

(Paris–Rennes) passes north of the town.

History

Dreux was known in ancient times as Durocassium, the capital of the

Durocasses The Durocasses were a Gallic tribe dwelling around present-day Dreux during the Roman period. Name They are mentioned ''Durocasis'' (var. ''durocacasis'') on the ''Itinerarium Antonini'' (early 3rd c. AD), as ''Durocassio'' on the ''Tabula ...

Celtic tribe. Despite the legend, its name was not related with Druids. The Romans established here a fortified camp known as Castrum Drocas. In 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 a ...

, Dreux was the centre of the

County of Dreux The Counts of Dreux were a noble family of France, who took their title from the chief stronghold of their domain, the château of Dreux, which lies near the boundary between Normandy and the Île-de-France. They are notable for inheriting the D ...

. The first count of Dreux was

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, the son of King

Louis the Fat Louis VI (late 1081 – 1 August 1137), called the Fat (french: link=no, le Gros) or the Fighter (french: link=no, le Batailleur), was List of French monarchs, King of the Franks from 1108 to 1137. Chronicles called him "King of Saint-Denis". Lo ...

. The first large battle of the

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estim ...

occurred at Dreux, on 19 December 1562, resulting in a hard-fought victory for the Catholic forces of the

duc de Montmorency Duke of Montmorency was a title of French nobility that was created several times for members of the Montmorency family, who were lords of Montmorency, Val-d'Oise, Montmorency, near Paris. History The first creation was in 1551 for Anne de Mont ...

. In October 1983, the

Front National The National Rally (french: Rassemblement National, ; RN), until 2018 known as the National Front (french: link=no, Front National, ; FN), is a far-rightAbridged list of reliable sources that refer to National Rally as far-right: Academic: ...

won 55% of the vote in the second round of elections for the city council of Dreux, in one of its first significant electoral victories.

Population

Sights

Chapelle royale de Dreux

In 1775, the lands of the '' comté de Dreux'' had been given to the Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, duc de Penthièvre by his cousin

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

. In 1783, the duke sold his domain of Rambouillet to Louis XVI. On 25 November of that year, in a long religious procession, Penthièvre transferred the nine caskets containing the remains of his parents, the Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse and Marie Victoire de Noailles, comtesse de Toulouse, his wife, Marie Thérèse Félicité d'Este, Princess of Modène, and six of their seven children, from the small medieval village church next to the castle in Rambouillet, to the chapel of the Collégiale Saint-Étienne de Dreux. The duc de Penthièvre died in March 1793 and his body was laid to rest in the crypt beside his parents. On 21 November of that same year, in the midst of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, a mob desecrated the crypt and threw the ten bodies in a mass grave in the ''Chanoines'' cemetery of the Collégiale Saint-Étienne. In 1816, the duc de Penthièvre's daughter, Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon, duchesse d'Orléans, had a new chapel built on the site of the mass grave of the Chanoines cemetery, as the final resting place for her family. In 1830,

Louis-Philippe I, King of the French Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France. As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary War ...

, son of the

duchesse d'Orléans Duchesse (Duchesse satin) was a soft, heavy, and glossy satin cloth made in France. Weave Duchesse was produced with a satin weave with fine silk threads using a higher number of threads per square inch in the warp with at least seven floati ...

, embellished the chapel which was renamed Chapelle royale de Dreux, now the necropolis of the

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Château d'Anet *''Hôtel de Montulé'' (16th century) *Pavilion of Louis XVI *''Hôtel de Salvat-Duhalde '' (18th century)

Personalities

Dreux was the birthplace of: *

Kalifa Cissé Kalifa Cissé (born 9 January 1984) is a retired footballer who played as a defensive midfielder or centre-back. Born in France, he played for the Mali national team. Cissé is a member of the coaching staff of his former club, Bristol City's. ...

, footballer *

Martin Pierre d'Alvimare Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Aust ...

(1772–1839), composer and harpist * Siraba Dembélé, handball player *

Abdou Dieye Abdourahmane Dieye (born 14 February 1988 in Dreux, France) is a French footballer, who currently plays for SC Cers-Portiragnes. He played 16 matches for French Ligue 2 club Le Mans during the 2010–2011 season.Chloe Gosselin, fiancee of magician David Copperfield * Louis Victor Dubois (1837–1914), wine merchant and politician *

Rémi Gounelle Rémi Gounelle (5 January 1967, Dreux) is a French protestant theologian, a professor of history of early Christianity at the and dean of that same faculty since 2010. Biography Rémi Gounelle holds a doctorate from the École pratique des ha ...

(1967-), Protestant theologian *

Marouan Kechrid Marouan Kechrid (born 2 June 1981) is a Tunisian-French former basketball player and current coach. After starting his career with JS Kairouan, Kechrid played the majority of his career in Tunisia and won five CNA championships over an eighteen- ...

, basketball player *

Yannick Lesourd Yannick Lesourd (born 3 April 1988 in Dreux) is a track and field sprint athlete who competes internationally for France.Antoine Godeau (1605–1672), bishop, poet and exegete. He is now known for his work of criticism Discours de la poésie chrétienne from 1633. *

Jean Rotrou Jean Rotrou (21 August 1609 – 28 June 1650) was a French poet and tragedian. Life Rotrou was born at Dreux, city of the current department of Eure-et-Loir, in Centre-Val de Loire region. He studied at Dreux and at Paris, and, though three years ...

(1609–1650), poet and tragedian * Jean-Louis-Auguste Loiseleur-Deslongchamps (1774–1849),

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

* Charles Delescluze (1809–1871), journalist and military commander of the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended ...

Issa Samba Issa Samba (born 29 January 1998) is a professional footballer who plays as a right-back for First League of the RS club Sloboda Novi Grad . He was born in France and represented it on junior levels, before switching to Mauritania as a senior. ...

, footballer *

Adrien Trebel Adrien Trebel (born 3 March 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Belgian Pro League club Charleroi. Club career Trebel is a youth exponent from Nantes. He made his Ligue 2 debut at 10 February 2011 against Van ...

(1991-), footballer *

Eddie London Kenneth Edward "Eddie" London (born July 31, 1956 in Dreux, France) is a country music singer. Signed to RCA Records Nashville, RCA Nashville in 1991, he released the album ''Do It Right'' that year. This album produced the single "If We Can't Do ...

(1956–), singer * François-André Danican Philidor (1726–1795), musician and

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

player * Guerschon Yabusele, basketball player

Twin towns - sister cities

Dreux is twinned with: *

Todi Todi () is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) of the province of Perugia (region of Umbria) in central Italy. It is perched on a tall two-crested hill overlooking the east bank of the river Tiber, commanding distant views in every direction. I ...

, Italy, since 1960 *

Melsungen Melsungen () is a small climatic spa town in the Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse, Germany. In 1987, the town hosted the 27th ''Hessentag'' state festival. Geography Melsungen lies on the river Fulda in the North Hesse Highlands. The stream ...

, Germany, since 1966 *

Koudougou Koudougou is a city in Burkina Faso's Boulkiemdé Province. It is located west of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. With a population of 160,239 (2019) it is the third most populous city in Burkina Faso after Ouagadougou and Bobo Diou ...

, Burkina Faso, since 1972 *

Evesham Evesham () is a market town and parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon. It lies within the Vale of Evesha ...

, England, UK, since 1977 * Bautzen, Germany, since 1992 * Almeirim, Portugal, since 2018