Montivilliers ( or ) 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

Seine-Maritime Seine-Maritime () is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Inféri ...

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 the

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

region in northern France.

Geography

A large

light industrial Light industry are industries that usually are less capital-intensive than heavy industry and are more consumer-oriented than business-oriented, as they typically produce smaller consumer goods. Most light industry products are produced for e ...

and

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

town by the banks of the river Lézarde in the

Pays de Caux The Pays de Caux (, , literally ''Land of Caux'') is an area in Normandy occupying the greater part of the French ''département'' of Seine Maritime in Normandy. It is a chalk plateau to the north of the Seine Estuary and extending to the cliffs ...

, situated just north of

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

, at the junction of the D489, D52, D926 and D31 roads.

History

Pre-Roman archaeological discoveries include

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

axes and

jade Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group of ...

jewelry. The old Roman road from here to

Harfleur Harfleur () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It was the principal seaport in north-western France for six centuries, until Le Havre was built about five kilometres (three miles) downstream i ...

was destroyed by the English in 1415.
The ''Abbey Church of Notre-Dame'', sometimes referred to as the

Montivilliers Abbey Montivilliers Abbey (french: Abbaye de Montivilliers; la, Monasterium Villare) is a former Benedictine nunnery, founded between 682 and by Saint Philibert in the town of Montivilliers in Normandy, in the present department of Seine-Maritime, F ...

dates back to 684, although it was destroyed by a

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

raid in 850, and rebuilt as a church in both the Romanesque and

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

styles.

Heraldry

Population

Places of interest

* The nineteenth-century chateau de Colmoulins. * The church of St. Germain, dating from the fourteenth century. * The

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

church of Notre-Dame, dating from the eleventh century. * The abbey museum * A Protestant church (1787) * The

medieval 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, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

ramparts. * The

Arboretum du parc de Rouelles The Arboretum du parc de Rouelles, also known as the Arboretum des Ardennes, is an arboretum located within the Parc de Rouelles (over 150 hectares) on the Chemin Vicinal 3, south of Montivilliers, north of Le Havre, Seine-Maritime, Normandy, Fran ...

is an

arboretum An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...

set within the Parc de Rouelles.

People

Isaac de Larrey Isaac de Larrey, Sieur of Grandchamp and Courménil, born, according to some biographers 7 September 1638 in Lintot, near Bolbec and according to the majority, in Montivilliers, 25 January 1639 – 17 March 1719) was a French historian. To fre ...

(1639–1719), French historian was born in Montvilliers *

René Bihel René Bihel (2 September 1916 – 8 September 1997) was a French professional football player who became a trainer. Biography His first appearance was in 1929 with the US Trèfileries youth team in Le Havre. He played professionally as a cent ...

, French

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

was born here in 1916. *

Arthur Good Arthur Good (16 or 26 August 1853 – 30 March 1928) was a French engineer, science educator, author and caricaturist who used the pen name Tom Tit. He wrote a series of weekly articles, ''La Science Amusante'', or ''Amusing Science'', that wer ...

(1853–1928), French engineer, science educator, author, and caricaturist who wrote under the pen-name "Tom Tit". *

Sébastien Lepape Sébastien Lepape (born 4 July 1991, in Montivilliers) is a French male short track speed skater Short-track speed skating is a form of competitive ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters (typically between four and six) skate on ...

short track speed skater Short-track speed skating is a form of competitive ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters (typically between four and six) skate on an oval ice track with a length of . The rink itself is long by wide, which is the same size as a ...

, born here in 1991. *

Lys Mousset Lys Émilien Mousset (born 8 February 1996) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Nîmes, on loan from Bundesliga club VfL Bochum. Club career Le Havre Mousset joined the Le Havre academy in 2006, after playing ...

, professional footballer for

Sheffield United F.C. Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

Édouard Mendy Édouard Osoque Mendy (born 1 March 1992) is a Senegalese professional association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for club Chelsea F.C., Chelsea and the Senegal national football team, Senegal ...

, professional footballer for

Chelsea F.C. Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football. Th ...

Jean Prévost Jean Prévost (13 June 1901 – 1 August 1944) was a French writer, journalist, and Maquis (World War II), Resistance fighter. Biography Born in Saint-Pierre-lès-Nemours, Prévost was educated (from 1907 to 1911) at the primary school in ...

, writer, lived here when his father was principal of a local school.

Twin towns

Nordhorn Nordhorn (Northern Low Saxon: ''Nothoorn'' (or ''Notthoarn'', ''Netthoarn'' and ''Noordhoorn'')) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the district seat of Grafschaft Bentheim in Lower Saxony's southwesternmost corner near the border with the ...

, Germany since 1963