Dreux () 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 ...

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 in northern France.

Geography

Dreux lies on the small river Blaise, a tributary of the Eure, about 35 km north of Chartres.

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 city, capital and List of communes in ...

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 A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. Whi ...

. 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 ...

, 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 King of the Franks from 1108 to 1137. Chronicles called him "King of Saint-Denis". Louis was the first member ...

. 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 Catholics and Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estimates, between two and four mi ...

occurred at Dreux, on 19 December 1562, resulting in a hard-fought victory for the Catholic forces of the duc de Montmorency. 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 Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis (d ...

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 Louis Alexandre de Bourbon (6 June 1678 – 1 December 1737), a legitimated prince of the blood royal, was the son of Louis XIV and of his mistress Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan. At the age of five, he became grand admiral of ...

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 coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

, 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 The Château d'Anet is a château near Dreux, in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France, built by Philibert de l'Orme from 1547 to 1552 for Diane de Poitiers, the mistress of Henry II of France. It was built on the former château at the ...

*''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 (1772–1839), composer and harpist * Siraba Dembélé, handball player * Abdou Dieye, footballer * Chloe Gosselin, fiancee of magician David Copperfield * Louis Victor Dubois (1837–1914), wine merchant and politician * Rémi Gounelle (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 Antoine Godeau (24 September 1605, in Dreux – 21 April 1672, in Vence) was a French bishop, poet and exegete. He is now known for his work of criticism ''Discours de la poésie chrétienne'' from 1633. Biography His verse-writing early won the ...

(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 Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy i ...

Jean-Louis-Auguste Loiseleur-Deslongchamps Jean-Louis-Auguste Loiseleur-Deslongchamps (24 March 1774, in Dreux, Eure-et-Loir – 8 May 1849, in Paris) was a French physician and botanist. He was the author of and contributor of a number of works on medicine and botany. He was elected ...

(1774–1849), botanist *

Charles Delescluze Louis Charles Delescluze (; 2 October 1809 – 25 May 1871) was a French revolutionary leader, journalist, and military commander of the Paris Commune. Biography Early life Delecluze was born at Dreux, Eure-et-Loir. He studied law in Paris, an ...

(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, footballer * Adrien Trebel (1991-), footballer * Eddie London (1956–), singer *

François-André Danican Philidor François-André Danican Philidor (7 September 1726 – 31 August 1795), often referred to as André Danican Philidor during his lifetime, was a French composer and chess player. He contributed to the early development of the ''opéra comique''. ...

(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 dist ...

player *

Guerschon Yabusele Guerschon Yabusele (born 17 December 1995) is a French professional basketball player for Real Madrid of the Liga ACB and the EuroLeague and for the France national team. He was considered one of the best international prospects for the 2016 ...

, 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 str ...

, 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 Dio ...

, Burkina Faso, since 1972 * Evesham, England, UK, since 1977 *

Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin () is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree river. In 2018 the town's population was 39,087. Until 1868, its German name was ''Budi ...

, Germany, since 1992 *

Almeirim Almeirim () is a city and a municipality in Santarém District, Portugal. The population in 2011 was 23,376, in an area of 222.12 km². The city proper had a population of 10,520 in 2001. History There are vestiges of mid-Paleolithic to Meso ...

, Portugal, since 2018