Saint-Étienne (; frp, Sant-Etiève; oc, Sant Estève, ) is a city and the prefecture of the
Loire
The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhôn ...
Massif Central
The (; oc, Massís Central, ; literally ''"Central Massif"'') is a highland region in south-central France, consisting of mountains and plateaus. It covers about 15% of mainland France.
Subject to volcanism that has subsided in the last 10,0 ...
, southwest of
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...
.
Saint-Étienne is the thirteenth most populated commune in France and the second most populated commune in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Its
metropolis
A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications.
A big c ...
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...
. The commune is also at the heart of a vast
metropolitan area
A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually ...
with 497,034 inhabitants (2018), the eighteenth largest in France by population, comprising 105 communes. Its inhabitants are known as ''Stéphanois'' (masculine) and ''Stéphanoises'' (feminine).
Long known as the French city of the "weapon, cycle and ribbon" and a major coal mining centre, Saint-Étienne is currently engaged in a vast
urban renewal
Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...
program aimed at leading the transition from the industrial city inherited from the 19th century to the "design capital" of the 21st century. This approach was recognised with the entry of Saint-Étienne into the UNESCO Creative Cities network in 2010. The city is currently undergoing renewal, with the installation of the Châteaucreux business district, the steel shopping centre and the manufacturing creative district.
The city is known for its football club
AS Saint-Étienne
Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne Loire (), commonly known as A.S.S.E. () or simply Saint-Étienne, is a professional football club based in Saint-Étienne in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. The club was founded in 1933 and competes in ...
which has won the
Ligue 1
Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. ...
title a record ten times.
History
Named after
Saint Stephen
Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ''Stéphanos'', meaning "wreath, crown" and by extension "reward, honor, renown, fame", often given as a title rather than as a name; c. 5 – c. 34 AD) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first ...
, the city first appears in the historical record in the Middle Ages as (after the River Furan, a tributary of the
Loire
The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhôn ...
). In the 13th century, it was a small borough around the church dedicated to Saint Stephen. On the upper reaches of the Furan, near the Way of St. James, the
Abbey of Valbenoîte
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 conc ...
had been founded by the Cistercians in 1222. In the late 15th century, it was a fortified village defended by walls built around the original nucleus.
From the 16th century, Saint-Étienne developed an arms manufacturing industry and became a market town. It was this which accounted for the town's importance, although it also became a centre for the manufacture of ribbons and passementerie starting in the 17th century.
Later, it became a mining centre of the
Loire coal mining basin
The Loire coal mining basin is an area of France that has been shaped by seven centuries of coal extraction from the 13th century to the 20th century and represents a significant period in the history of European industrialisation
Industri ...
, and more recently, has become known for its bicycle industry.
In the first half of the 19th century, it was only a chief town of an arrondissement in the ' of the
Loire
The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhôn ...
, with a population of 33,064 in 1832. The concentration of industry prompted these numbers to rise rapidly to 110,000 by about 1880. It was this growing importance of Saint-Étienne that led to its being made seat of the prefecture and the departmental administration on 25 July 1855, when it became the chief town in the ' and seat of the prefect, replacing Montbrison, which was reduced to the status of chief town of an . Saint-Étienne absorbed the commune of Valbenoîte and several other neighbouring localities on 31 March 1855.
Demographics
The population data in the table and graph below refer to the commune of Saint-Étienne proper, in its geography at the given years. The commune of Saint-Étienne absorbed the former communes of Beaubrun, Montaud, Outre-Furent and Valbenoîte in 1855, ceded Planfoy in 1863, merged with the exclave Saint-Victor-sur-Loire and with Terrenoire in 1969 and Rochetaillée in 1973.
Culture
Saint-Étienne became a popular stop for automobile travelers in the early 20th century.
In 1998, Saint-Étienne set up a design biennale, the largest of its kind in France. It lasts around two weeks. A landmark in the history of the importance ascribed to design in Saint-Étienne was the inauguration of ''La Cité du design'' on the site of the former arms factory in 2009.
The city also launched the
Massenet Festival Massenet Festival (''Festival Massenet'') is a biennale festival of music by French composer, Jules Massenet held in Saint-Étienne, France, close to the area where the composer was born. The first Massenet Festival took place in November 1990 when ...
s, (the composer
Jules Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and '' Werther ...
hailed from the area) devoted mainly to perform Massenet's operas. In 2000, the city was named one of the
French Towns and Lands of Art and History Since 1985, the French Ministry of Culture and Communication has pursued a policy of preserving and promoting France's heritage. Historic towns and districts have been designated ''Villes et Pays d'Art et d'Histoire'' ("Towns and Lands of Art and ...
. On 22 November 2010, it was nominated as "City of Design" as part of
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...
's Creative Cities Network.
Saint-Étienne has four museums:
# the '' Musée d'Art Moderne'' has one of the largest collections of modern and contemporary art in France
# '' Musée de la Mine''
# ''Musée d'Art et d'Industrie'' ( fr)
# ''Musée du vieux Saint-Étienne'' ( fr)
Climate
The climate is temperate at the weather station due to its low altitude, but Saint-Étienne itself is much higher, above 530 m (1,739 ft) in the centre, as well as even above 700 m (2,297 ft) in the southern parts of the city. Saint-Étienne is very close from a warm-summer humid continental climate ( Köppen: ''Dfb''); it is generally one of the snowiest cities in France, with an average of 85 cm (2.79 ft) of snow accumulation per year.
Sport
The city's football club
AS Saint-Étienne
Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne Loire (), commonly known as A.S.S.E. () or simply Saint-Étienne, is a professional football club based in Saint-Étienne in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. The club was founded in 1933 and competes in ...
has won the
Ligue 1
Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. ...
bicycle wheel
A bicycle wheel is a wheel, most commonly a wire wheel, designed for a bicycle. A pair is often called a wheelset, especially in the context of ready built "off the shelf" performance-oriented wheels.
Bicycle wheels are typically designe ...
manufacturer Mavic is based in the city and frame manufacturers Motobécane and
Vitus
Vitus is a Latin given name meaning lively and may refer to:
*Saint Vitus (c. 290 – c. 303), a Christian martyr
* Vitus of Hungary (died 1297), beatified friar
* Vitus (bicycles), a French bicycle manufacturer
* ''Vitus'' (film), a 2006 Swiss fi ...
are also based here. The city often hosts a stage of the
Tour de France
The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
Saint-Étienne–Bouthéon Airport
Saint-Étienne–Bouthéon Airport or ''Aéroport de Saint-Étienne–Bouthéon'' is an international airport serving the French city of Saint-Étienne. It is located in Andrézieux-Bouthéon, 12 km north-northwest of Saint-Étienne, withi ...
Saint-Étienne–Lyon railway
The Saint-Étienne to Lyon line is a railway linking Saint-Étienne to Lyon. The line was built between 1828 and 1833 by Camille Seguin and Marc Seguin at a cost of 14,500,000 FRF.
History
Construction
Construction began in September 1 ...
), as well as connects to several regional lines. There are four other railway stations in Saint-Étienne (Bellevue, Carnot, La Terrasse and Le Clapier) with local services.Réseau TER et cars Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes TER Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, accessed 30 May 2022.
Saint-Étienne is also notable for its tramway (
Saint-Étienne tramway
The Saint-Étienne tramway (french: Tramway de Saint-Étienne) is a tram system in the city of Saint-Étienne in the Rhône-Alpes (France) that has functioned continuously since its opening in 1881. The first tramway line was steam-operated and w ...
) – which uniquely with Lille, it kept throughout the 20th century – and its
trolleybus
A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or trol ...
system ( Saint-Étienne trolleybus system) – which is one of only three such systems currently operating in France.
Bus and tram transport is regulated and provided by the
Société de Transports de l'Agglomération Stéphanoise
Société de Transports de l'Agglomération Stéphanoise, or STAS operates a public transport network and infrastructure in and around Saint-Étienne. Its responsibility is to provide Tramway de Saint Etienne, tramway, trolleybus and bus service in ...
Vélivert
VéliVert' is a bike sharing scheme in Saint-Étienne, France launched in June 2010, by STAS. This community bicycle program comprises 400 long term renting bicycles and 300 short term renting bicycles.Jean Monnet University
Jean Monnet University (french: Université Jean Monnet or Université de Saint-Etienne) is a public research university based in Saint-Étienne, France. It is under the Academy of Lyon and belongs to the administrative entity denominated Un ...
*
École d'Économie - Saint-Étienne School of Economics
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, Savo ...
Claude Fauriel
Claude Charles Fauriel (21 October 1772 – 15 July 1844) was a French historian, philologist and critic.
Biography
He was born at Saint-Étienne, Loire, the son of a poor joiner, but received a good education in the Oratorian colleges of Tourn ...
Antonin Moine
Antonin-Marie Moine (30 June 1796 – 18 March 1849) was a French romantic sculptor in the first half of the 19th century.
Biography
Moine was born in Saint-Étienne.
He began his career as a landscape painter, before becoming a sculptor. He o ...
(1796–1849), sculptor
*
Jules Janin
Jules Gabriel Janin (16 February 1804 – 19 June 1874) was a French writer and critic.
Life and career
Born in Saint-Étienne ( Loire), Janin's father was a lawyer, and he was educated first at St. Étienne, and then at the lycée Louis-le-G ...
(1804–1874), writer and critic
*
Francis Garnier
Marie Joseph François Garnier ( vi, Ngạc Nhi; 25 July 1839 – 21 December 1873) was a French officer, inspector of Indigenous Affairs of Cochinchina and explorer. He eventually became mission leader of the Mekong Exploration Commission in 19th ...
(1839–1873), officer and explorer who explored the Mekong River, much to the surprise of the inhabitants
*
Lucie Grange
Lucie Grange ( Poujoulat; 1839 - 31 December 1908) was a French medium and feminist prophet, her mystic name being Habimélah. She was the founder and editor of a monthly spiritualist journal, ''La Lumière''.
Biography
Lucie Poujoulat was born in ...
Jules Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and '' Werther ...
(1842–1912), composer best known for his operas
*
Paul de Vivie
Paul de Vivie, who wrote as Vélocio (April 29, 1853
, aka ''Velocio'' (1853–1930), publisher of ''Le Cycliste'', early champion of the
dérailleur
Shimano 600 front derailleur (1980)
A derailleur is a variable-ratio bicycle gearing system consisting of a chain, multiple sprockets of different sizes, and a mechanism to move the chain from one sprocket to another.
Modern front and rear d ...
and father of French cycle touring
* Claudine Chomat (1915–1995), member of the
French Resistance
The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...
during World War II, feminist, communist activist
*
Jean Bonfils
Jean-Baptiste Marcel Éloi Bonfils (21 April 1921 – 26 November 2007) was a 20th-century French organist, music educator, musicologist and composer.
Biography
Born in Saint-Étienne (Loire), Bonfils commenced his musical studies at the . Af ...
(1921–2007), classical organist and composer
*
André Bourgey
André Bourgey (9 September 1936, Saint-Étienne) is a French geographer, a specialist of the Arab world.
Biography
André Bourgey attended high school in Lyon and Algiers then graduated from Lyon University.
An agrégé in geography, he beca ...
Orlan
orlan is an internationally recognized French artist.
She is not tied to any one material, technology, or artistic practice. She uses sculpture, photography, performance, video, 3D, video games, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and ro ...
(1947–), contemporary artist
* Willy Sagnol (b. 1977), French International football player
* Jean Guitton (1901–1999), Catholic philosopher and theologian
* Thierry Gueorgiou (b. 1979), Orienteering world champion
*
Norma Ray
Sylvie N'Doumbé (Saint-Étienne, March 21, 1970), stage name Norma Ray, is a French singer, songwriter. She is the daughter of Cameroon soccer star Frédéric N'Doumbé.
Norma has sung the French versions of songs on the soundtracks of French dub ...
(born 1970), singer
*
Alexis Ajinça
Alexis Ajinça (; born May 6, 1988) is a French former professional basketball player who played 9 seasons in the National Basketball Association.
Professional career
Early years (2006–2008)
After attending France's INSEP, Ajinça played ...
(born 1988), basketball player
*
Sylvain Armand
Sylvain Armand (born 1 August 1980) is a French former professional footballer who played as a left-back for Rennes, Paris Saint-Germain, Nantes, and Clermont.
Career
Born in Saint-Étienne, Loire, Armand started playing youth team football f ...
(born 1980), footballer
*
Sliimy
Yanis Sahraoui (born 16 September 1988)
is a French pop musician and singer-songwriter.
Yanis (who uses gender-neutral pronouns since 2021Aravane Rezai (born 1987), tennis player
*
Loïc Perrin
Loïc Bruno Perrin (; born 7 August 1985) is a French former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He spent all of his professional career with his hometown club Saint-Étienne.
Club career
Perrin made his debut for Saint-Etienne ...
(born 1985), footballer
It was also the place where Andrei Kivilev died.
Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne
The ''Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne'', often abbreviated to MAS ("Saint-Étienne Weapons Factory" in English) was a French state-owned weapons manufacturer in the town of Saint-Étienne, Loire. Founded in 1764, it was merged into the ...