Châteaudun () is a commune 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 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 ar ...

. It is a

sub-prefecture A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province. Albania There are twelve Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several districts, sometimes translated as subprefecture ...

of the department. It was the site of the

Battle of Châteaudun The Battle of Châteaudun was a battle in northwestern France during the Franco-Prussian War, which took place on October 18, 1870. In this battle, the Imperial German Army led by General Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig von Wittich attacked the city o ...

during the Franco-Prussian War.

Geography

Châteaudun is located about 45 km northwest of Orléans, and about 50 km south-southwest of Chartres. It lies on the river Loir, a tributary of the Sarthe.

History

Châteaudun (Latin ), which dates from the Gallo-Roman period, was in the middle ages the capital of the

County of Dunois The County of Dunois comprised the old ''pagus Dunensis'', the area surrounding Châteaudun in central France. A county had taken form around Châteaudun (''Castrum Dunense'') in the tenth century. It passed to the counts of Blois, who appointed ...

. The streets, which radiate from a central square, have a uniformity due to the reconstruction of the town after fires in 1723 and 1870.

Employment

The area is rich agricultural land, but a major local employer is the

Châteaudun Air Base Châteaudun Air Base (french: Base aérienne 279 Châteaudun) was a French Air Force (french: Armée de l'Air base, between 1934 and 2014. The base was located approximately southeast of Châteaudun and about southwest of Paris. It is currently ...

just to the east of the town, and much larger than the town itself.

Population

Main sights

The town has a

château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. No ...

, founded in the 10th century, known for being the first on the road to Loire Valley from Paris. Châteaundun also has a museum, the . The museum is diverse, the most popular exhibition being the big collection of stuffed birds. In addition, there are often temporary exhibitions, recent examples including the war of Asia, ancient Egypt and insects.

Churches

File:Chateaudun - Église Saint-Valérien (1).jpg, Saint-Valérien File:Chateaudun - Eglise Madeleine (1).jpg, La Madeleine File:Chateaudun - Eglise St Jean de la Chaine (1).jpg, Saint-Jean-de-la-Chaîne File:Chateaudun - Eglise Saint-Lubin (1).jpg, Saint-Lubin ruins File:SaintLubain.jpg, Saint-Lubin ruins File:Chateaudun - Champde 05.jpg, Notre-Dame-du-Champdé chapel (now cemetery entrance) File:Chateaudun - Chapelle de la Boissiere (1).jpg, La Boissière chapel

Medieval houses

File:Chateaudun - Maison angle Cuirasserie Huileries (1).jpg, Cuirasserie street and Huileries street angle File:Chateaudun - Maison angle Cuirasserie Huileries (2).jpg, Cuirasserie street and Huileries street angle File:Chateaudun - Maison St Lubin (1).jpg, Louis Esnault house File:Chateaudun - Maison des architectes (1).jpg, Château's architects' house File:Chateaudun - Maison de la Vierge (2).jpg, Virgin's house File:Chateaudun - Maison de la Vierge (3).jpg, Virgin's house (detail)

Personalities

Châteaudun was the birthplace of: * Pierre Guédron (1570–1620), composer *

Nicolas Chaperon Nicolas Chaperon (bapt. 19 October 1612, in Châteaudun – 1656 in Lyon) was a French painter, draughtsman and engraver, a student in Paris of Simon Vouet whose style he adopted before he was further matured by his stay in Rome (1642–51) in ...

(1612–1656) painter * Edmond Modeste Lescarbault (1814), doctor and amateur astronomer * Romain Feillu (1984) road racing cyclist *

Brice Feillu Brice Feillu (born 26 July 1985) is a French former road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2009 and 2019 for the , , , and teams. Career Born in Châteaudun, Eure-et-Loir, he is the younger brother of Romain Feillu, who was also ...

(1985) road racing cyclist

Twin towns - sister cities

Châteaudun is twinned with: * Arklow, Ireland * Kroměříž, Czech Republic *

Marchena ''Marchena'' is a genus of jumping spiders only found in the United States. Its only described species, ''M. minuta'', dwells on the barks of conifers along the west coast, especially California, Washington and Nevada.Maddison, Wayne. 199 ...

, Spain *

Schweinfurt Schweinfurt ( , ; ) is a city in the district of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the surrounding district (''Landkreis'') of Schweinfurt and a major industrial, cultural and educational hub. The urban a ...

, Germany * Trois-Rivières, Canada

Gallery

Image:Chateaudun Chateau 03.jpg, Châteaudun (Eure-et-Loir) Donjon and chapel of the château Image:France Eure-et-Loir Chateaudun Place de la mairie.JPG, Fountain and façade of the town hall of Châteaudun Image:Member of the FFI.jpg, A member of the FFI poses with his Bren gun at Châteaudun - 1944

References

External links

Official website
(in French)

(in English and French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Chateaudun Communes of Eure-et-Loir Subprefectures in France Carnutes Orléanais