Vendôme (, ) is a

subprefecture A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province. Albania There are twelve Counties of Albania, Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several Districts of Albania, district ...

of the department of

Loir-et-Cher Loir-et-Cher (, ) is a Departments of France, department in the Centre-Val de Loire Regions of France, region of France. It is named after two rivers which run through it, the Loir in its northern part and the Cher (river), Cher in its southern p ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It is also the department's third-biggest commune with 15,856 inhabitants (2019). It is one of the main towns along the river

Loir The Loir is a long river in western France. It is a left tributary of the Sarthe. Its source is in the Eure-et-Loir department, north of Illiers-Combray. It joins the river Sarthe in Briollay, north of the city of Angers. It is indirectly ...

. The river divides itself at the entrance of Vendôme, intersecting it into numerous different arms. The town has a rich

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

history and many historical monuments.

History

Vendôme (in ) appears originally to have been a Gallic , replaced later by a feudal castle, around which the modern town arose. Christianity was introduced by in the 5th century, and the important abbey of the Trinity (which claimed to possess a tear shed by

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

at the tomb of Lazarus) was founded about 1030. When the reign of the

House of Capet The House of Capet () ruled the Kingdom of France from 987 to 1328. It was the most senior line of the Capetian dynasty – itself a derivative dynasty from the Robertians and the Karlings. The direct line of the House of Capet came to an ...

began, Vendôme formed the chief town of a county belonging to Bouchard, called "the Venerable", who died in the monastery of in 1007. The succession passed by various marriages to the houses of , and . Bouchard VI, Count of Vendôme and Castres (died ), left as his heiress his sister Catherine, the wife of John of Bourbon,

count of La Marche The County of La Marche (; ) was a medieval French county, approximately corresponding to the modern ''département'' of Creuse and the northern half of Haute Vienne. La Marche first appeared as a separate fief about the middle of the 10th cen ...

. The county of Vendôme was raised to the rank of a duchy and a

peerage of France The Peerage of France () was a hereditary distinction within the French nobility which appeared in 1180 during the Middle Ages. The prestigious title and position of Peer of France () was held by the greatest, highest-ranking members of the Fr ...

for Charles of Bourbon (1515); his son ,

king of Navarre This is a list of the kings and queens of kingdom of Pamplona, Pamplona, later kingdom of Navarre, Navarre. Pamplona was the primary name of the kingdom until its union with Kingdom of Aragon, Aragon (1076–1134). However, the territorial desig ...

, was the father of Henry IV, who gave the duchy of Vendôme in 1598 to his illegitimate son César de Bourbon (1594–1665). , Duke of Vendôme, took part in the disturbances which went on in France under the government of and of ; he was the father of Louis, Duke of Vendôme, who married a niece of Mazarin, and . The last of his family in the male line was

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

's famous general, (1645–1712). , King of Brittany, died undefeated in Vendôme in 851, after conquering the counties of and . The , leader of 6,000 French troops in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, was born in Vendôme.

Place Vendôme The Place Vendôme (), earlier known as the Place Louis-le-Grand, and also as the Place Internationale, is a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France, located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Église de la Madelein ...

in Paris had been the site of the , a mansion which belonged to , the illegitimate son of Henry IV and his mistress .

Geography

Vendôme is located northwest of the city of

Blois Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher Departments of France, department, in Centre-Val de Loire, France, on the banks of the lower Loire river between Orléans and Tours. With 45,898 inhabitants by 2019, Blois is the mos ...

and 40 minutes from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

TGV The TGV (; , , 'high-speed train') is France's intercity high-speed rail service. With commercial operating speeds of up to on the newer lines, the TGV was conceived at the same period as other technological projects such as the Ariane 1 rocke ...

train ( Vendôme-Villiers-sur-Loir TGV station). The town lies on the river

, which here divides into numerous arms intersecting the town.

Administration

Vendôme is the capital of the arrondissement of Vendôme in the

department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It has a tribunal of first instance.

Population

Sights

On the south, it is overlooked by an eminence on which stand the ruins of the castle of the counts of Vendôme. The abbey-church of the Holy Trinity has a façade in the florid Gothic style. Abbey buildings of various periods lie round the church. The church of ''La Madeleine'' (15th century) is surmounted by a stone spire, an imitation of that of the abbey. The tower of ''Saint-Martin'' (16th century) represents the vanished church of that name. Other monuments are: the old gate, the ''Porte Saint-Georges''; its river front is composed of two large crenelated and machicolated towers, connected by a pavilion, and the ancient hospital of Saint-Jacques that afterwards became a college of the Oratorians, then a ''lycée'' for boys and that is now occupied by the town administration offices. The charming chapel, in the most florid Gothic style, is preserved. In the garden surrounding, is located the tourism office in an ancient building called ''l'Orangerie'' (facing the public library). The town has a well-known archaeological and scientific society, and possesses a library with more than three hundred manuscripts, and a museum, mostly archaeological, in front of which stands a statue of the poet

Pierre de Ronsard Pierre de Ronsard (; 11 September 1524 – 27 December 1585) was a French poet known in his generation as a "Prince des poètes, prince of poets". His works include ''Les Amours de Cassandre'' (1552)'','' ''Les Hymnes'' (1555-1556)'', Les Disco ...

. There is also a statue of Marshal Rochambeau, born at Vendôme in 1725. Some interesting houses of the 15th and 16th centuries survive.

Twin towns – sister cities

Vendôme is twinned with: * Gevelsberg, Germany * Hampton, United States * Rizhao, China

Climate

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vendome Communes of Loir-et-Cher Subprefectures in France Burial sites of the House of Albret Orléanais