Givet () (german: Gibet Walloon: ''Djivet'') 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 Ardennes department in northern

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 ...

surrounded on three sides by the

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

border. It lies on the river

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...

where Emperor

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...

built the

fortress of Charlemont The Fortress of Charlemont (french: Fort de Charlemont) is a French stronghold located near the Belgian border on the Meuse. It is a citadel, surrounded by a network of outworks, including the connecting forts (Givet and the Mont d'Hours). It domi ...

. It borders the French municipalities of Fromelennes to the east and Rancennes to the south and

Foisches Foisches () is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France. The Pointe de Givet National Nature Reserve is partly located on the commune. Population See also *Communes of the Ardennes department The following is a list of the ...

to the southeast. Later on, another building was added to the fort, the Caserne Rougé, the longest barracks of France at that time, named after Pierre François, Marquis de Rougé, general of the French armies k.a. 1761. The Pointe de Givet National Nature Reserve is partly located on the commune.

History

The town's history claims that

Saint Hubert Hubertus or Hubert ( 656 – 30 May 727 A.D.) was a Christian saint who became the first bishop of Liège in 708 A.D. He is the patron saint of hunters, mathematicians, opticians and metalworkers. Known as the "Apostle of the Ardennes", he w ...

lived there in 720 and performed a miracle. The town has changed hands several times since the Roman era before becoming part of France in 1678, and was later invaded by Russians and Germans. During the Napoleonic Wars, the French maintained a camp here for British naval prisoners of war from 1804 to 1814. One of the officer prisoners, Captain

Jahleel Brenton Vice Admiral Sir Jahleel Brenton, 1st Baronet, KCB (22 August 1770 – 21 April 1844) was a British officer in the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Brenton was born in British America but his family ...

, Royal Navy, who had been captured when his ship, H.M. frigate '' Minerve'' ran aground off Cherbourg, and Naval Chaplain the Reverend Robert B. Wolfe, also a prisoner, established a school of navigation for the imprisoned British sailors. This was a successful unofficial initiative for teaching navigation that also provided a center for the growth of religious piety in the Royal Navy. An example of student work in the navigation school is preserved in the notebook by British seaman William Carter. British seaman, John Wetherell, a survivor of the British 38-gun frigate that had wrecked near Brest and was burnt by her crew to prevent her capture, was imprisoned at Givet from 1804 to 1814 and left an account of his experiences. In

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 ...

, Givet was occupied by the Germans on May 12, 1940 and liberated by the

allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

on September 7, 1944. By December 1944, 11,000 American soldiers were billeted in the ancient

Charlemont fortress The Fortress of Charlemont (french: Fort de Charlemont) is a French stronghold located near the Belgian border on the Meuse. It is a citadel, surrounded by a network of outworks, including the connecting forts (Givet and the Mont d'Hours). It domi ...

. The German

Ardennes Offensive The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

targeted Givet and its crossing of the Meuse. The British, under

General Montgomery Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, (; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and ...

, organized a last-ditch defense, and on 24 December, the German drive was stopped about from Givet. Givet is also the birthplace of writer Henry Bidou (1873 – 1943) and oboist

Gilles Silvestrini Gilles Silvestrini (born 4 June 1961 in Givet) is a French composer of contemporary music and oboist. Works Silvestrini received commissions for chamber music from numerous institutions such as the Festival de Flaine, the Théâtre du Châtelet, ...

(born 1961).

Population

Transport

SNCF's

TER Grand Est TER Grand Est or TER Fluo is the regional rail network serving the region of Grand Est, northeastern France. It is operated by the French national railway company SNCF. It was formed in 2016 from the previous TER networks TER Alsace, TER Lorrai ...

trains run at about hourly intervals from

Givet station Givet station (French: ''Gare de Givet'') is a French railway station serving the town Givet, Ardennes department in northeastern France. It is the terminus of the Soissons–Givet railway. The station is served by regional trains towards Charlevil ...

Charleville-Mézières or ''Carolomacérienne'' , image flag=Flag of Charleville Mezieres.svg Charleville-Mézières () is a commune of northern France, capital of the Ardennes department, Grand Est. Charleville-Mézières is located on the banks of the river Meuse. ...

, taking about an hour for the route. Compagnie des chemins de fer des Ardennes opened the station in 1862. TEC bus 154A runs every hour or two from the station to Dinant, taking about 42 minutes. It replaces railway line 154A, which took about 30 minutes for the route and closed in 1988. In 2021 a study began into reopening a single track, with a cycleway alongside. The former Line 138A to

Florennes Florennes (; wa, Florene) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium. As of 1 January 2006, Florennes has a total population of 10,754. The total area is 133.55 km² which gives a population density of 81 inhabita ...

and Châtelet has been converted to a

RAVeL Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

cycleway. The River Meuse is navigable from the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

to Givet. The

Canal de la Meuse The Canal de la Meuse is the current name of what used to be the northern branch of the Canal de l'Est ("canal of the east"). It is a canal in northeastern France, predominantly made up of the canalised river Meuse. The Canal de l'Est was built fro ...

links to the rest of the French canal network. The port declined after the canal was enlarged to allow 1,350 ton barges in the 1960s, but, when it was reconnected to the railway in 2013, it was still handling about 760,000 tonnes of freight a year. Givet is served by several main roads, including D8051 to

Rocroi Rocroi () is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France. The central area is a notable surviving example of a bastion fort. Population History Rocroi was fortified by Francis I of France and expanded by Henry II of France. Bec ...

, formerly N51, and D949, which is the French section of Belgium's N40, linking

Arlon Arlon (; lb, Arel ; nl, Aarlen ; german: Arel ; wa, Årlon; la, Orolaunum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in and capital of the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes, Belgium. With a population of just over 28,000, it is th ...

and Mons.