Sarrebourg

Sarrebourg (; also , ; Lorraine Franconian: ; older la, Pons Saravi) is a commune of northeastern France.

In 1895 a Mithraeum was discovered at Sarrebourg at the mouth of the pass leading from the Vosges Mountains.

Geography

Sarrebourg is located in the department of Moselle, Lorraine, administrative region of Grand Est.

It lies in on the upper course of the river Saar. The Vosges mountains are located about 10 kilometers south of the locality.

To the northwest, the Oberwald forest massif - where the state forest of the municipality is located.

It is 54 km away from Strasbourg, 64 km from Nancy, 77 km from Metz and 345 km from Paris ( orthodromic distance).

The lines of communication and transport

Sarrebourg station has rail connections to Paris, Strasbourg, Metz and Nancy.

The commune is on the route of the Route nationale 4.

Sarrebourg is the departure point of several departmental roads: D 27 to Morhange, D 43 to Sarre-Union, D 44 to Le Donon and Schirmeck, D 45 to Dabo and Walscheid.

The agglomération de Sarrebourg has a public transport network called iSibus. It was inaugurated by the Communauté de communes de l'agglomération de Sarrebourg on September 16, 2009. The network has two regular bus connections.

Bicycle paths and walking trails

The EuroVelo 5 cycling route passes to the south of the municipality. It is possible to reach Strasbourg, via Lutzelbourg and Saverne, by following the Marne–Rhine Canal.

The old railroad tracks in the direction of Abreschviller and Troisfontaines have been converted into bicycle paths. Other bicycle paths have been created towards Bébing, Haut-Clocher and Sarraltroff.

The circulaire de la Sarre walking trail is located on the municipality territory.

The commune is the starting point of the GR 533 footpath.

Population

History

Antiquity

The first mention of a settlement on the present site of Sarrebourg was found in the ''Tabula Peutingeriana''. The town is referred to as ''Ponte Saravi'', located between ''Ad Decem Pagos'' ( Tarquimpol) and ''Tabernis'' (Saverne) on the edge of the ''Silva Vosagus'', the present-day Vosges mountains

The Antonine Itinerary, a second, later Roman source, refers to the place as ''Ponte Sarvix''.

From a toponymic aspect, the meaning of '''Ponte Saravi''' and Ponte Sarvix''' is "a bridge over the Saar". This is why scholars have named the ancient city of Sarrebourg "Pont de la Sarre", i.e. ''Pons'' - the Latin nominative for "bridge" - and ''Saravi'' - the Latin genitive of "''Saravus''", the name given by the Romans to the river that nowadays flows across the commune.

At that time, the town was located on the ''via salinensis'', an important Roman road linking ''Divodurum'' (Metz) to ''Argentorate'' (Strasbourg) via the Saverne pass and part of the great itinerary from ''Gesoriacum'' (Boulogne-sur-Mer) to ''Argentorate'' (Strasbourg) via ''Samarobriva'' (Amiens) and ''Durocortorum'' ( Reims).

The ancient town of ''Pons Saravi'' developed around the Sarre, thanks to a wooden bridge. It was of an estimated width of eight meters and connected the current halls to the street of the Lieutenant-Bildstein. Its last version was dated from 247 AD.

References

{{Authority control

1661 disestablishments
Communes of Moselle (department)
Subprefectures in France
Three Bishoprics