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 ...
by
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
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 ...
, which here divides into numerous arms intersecting the town.
Administration
Vendôme is the capital of the
arrondissement of Vendôme in the
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 ...
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
See also
*
Communes of the Loir-et-Cher department
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 o ...
*
List of counts and dukes of Vendôme
*
Oratory of Jesus
The Congregation of the Oratory of Jesus and Mary Immaculate (, ), best known as the French Oratory or Oratory of Jesus, is a society of apostolic life of Catholic priests founded in 1611 in Paris, France, by Pierre de Bérulle (1575–1629), w ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vendome
Communes of Loir-et-Cher
Subprefectures in France
Burial sites of the House of Albret
Orléanais