or ''Carolomacérienne'' , image flag=Flag of Charleville Mezieres.svg Charleville-Mézières () is a

commune 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 of ...

of northern France, capital of the Ardennes department,

Grand Est Grand Est (; gsw-FR, Grossa Oschta; Moselle Franconian/ lb, Grouss Osten; Rhine Franconian: ''Groß Oschte''; german: Großer Osten ; en, "Great East") is an administrative region in Northeastern France. It superseded three former administra ...

. Charleville-Mézières is located on the banks of the river

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...

History

Plan Charleville Meziere Edme Moreau 1625

Charleville and Mézières were originally separate communities on opposite banks of the

, about from one another. Charleville was founded by Charles Gonzaga, the 8th duke of Mantua, in 1606. Its inhabitants were known as Carolopolitans (' or ''Carolopolitaines''). It was prosperous from the 17th century, although its fortifications were dismantled under LouisXIV in 1687 and it passed into French hands in 1708. It was plundered by the Prussians in 1815. France's royal armaments factory was formerly located there and gave its name to the

Charleville musket The Charleville musket was a .69 caliber standard French infantry musket used in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was made in 1717 and was last produced during the 1840s. However, it still saw limited use in conflicts through the mid-19th century ...

, before being relocated and divided between

Tulle Tulle (; ) is a commune in central France. It is the third-largest town in the former region of Limousin and is the capital of the department of Corrèze, in the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Tulle is also the episcopal see of the Roman Cat ...

and Châtellerault. In the 19th century, the city continued to produce arms through private firms, as well as nails, hardware, wine, spirits, coal, iron, and slate. It boasted a spacious port, a theatre, a large public library, and a museum of natural history. The inhabitants of Mézières were known as Macerians (' or ''Macériennes''). By the mid-19th century, the two towns were linked by a suspension bridge. It was occupied by the German Empire in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

- the town served as the center of the Oberstee Heeresleitung (OHL) for 26 days during World War I. The present

was established in 1966. Another commune, Le Theux, had already been merged into Mézières in 1965. It has a population of about 51,000. Charleville place ducale face

Climate

With an annual average of 9 °C (48,1 °F), Charleville-Mézières is generally the coolest city of France. Winters are long, cold and gloomy while summers are hot enough but sometimes, even in the middle of July, night temperatures can drop below 5 °C (41 °F). Under the Köppen-Geiger climate classification, Charleville-Mézières features a temperate oceanic climate (''Cfb'') with strong

continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continent, the major landmasses of Earth * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' ( ...

influences (''Dfb'').

Population

In the table and graph below, data for 1962 and earlier refer to the old commune of Charleville, before the merger with Étion, Mézières, Mohon and Montcy-Saint-Pierre.

Culture

Puppetry is an important part of the cultural life of Charleville-Mézières, which is called the "World Capital of Puppetry Arts". A
international puppet festival
has been held there every three years since 1961, and became a biennial event in 2011. The town is also home to the world headquarters of UNIMA as well as the International Puppetry Institute (French: Institut International de la Marionnette), which is housed in a historic building featuring a giant

automaton An automaton (; plural: automata or automatons) is a relatively self-operating machine, or control mechanism designed to automatically follow a sequence of operations, or respond to predetermined instructions.Automaton – Definition and More ...

of a puppeteer who performs a puppet show every hour on the hour. The École Nationale Supérieure des Arts de la Marionnette (ESNAM), a college which offers a higher education in puppetry, is also situated in Charleville-Mézières. The poet

Arthur Rimbaud Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he start ...

(1854–1891) was born in Charleville. The ' is located in the old water mill (''Le Vieux Moulin'') to the north of the town.

Transport

The local network of public buses within the

Ardenne Métropole Ardenne Métropole is the ''communauté d'agglomération'', an intercommunal structure, centred on the cities of Charleville-Mézières and Sedan. It is located in the Ardennes department, in the Grand Est region, northern France. It was created ...

, TAC, is operated by RATP Dev. The Charleville-Mézières railway station offers connections to Paris (by TGV), Reims, Lille, Metz and regional destinations.

Sport

OFC Charleville represent the town at

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

. Étoile de Charleville-Mézières is a basketball club.

Famous residents

Dubois-Crancé député du balliage de Vitry

* Louise Bellocq (1919–1968), French writer, winner of the 1960 Prix Femina, was born in Charleville * Olivier Brochard (born 1967), former football player * Antoine Louis Dugès (1797–1838), obstetrician and naturalist *

François Habeneck François Antoine Habeneck (22 January 1781 – 8 February 1849) was a French classical violinist and conductor. Early life Habeneck was born at Mézières, the son of a musician in a French regimental band. During his early youth, Habeneck w ...

(1781–1849), violinist born in Mézières * Adolphe-Hippolyte Couveley (1802–1867), painter born in Charleville * Edmond Louis Alexis Dubois-Crancé (1747–1814), general, French revolutionary, minister of war, 12th President of the National Convention. * Louis Dufour (1652–1733), the abbé of Longuerue, was born in Charleville. * Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette (1769–1834), mathematician born in Mézières. * Henri Mialaret (1855–1919), sailor * Gaspard Monge (1746–1818), mathematician, taught at the École royale du génie de Mézières. * Étienne Riché (1883–1934), politician and banker, twice under-secretary of state and deputy for the Ardennes, born in Charleville *

(1854–1891), the French poet, was born in Charleville. *

Félix Savart Félix Savart (; ; 30 June 1791, Mézières – 16 March 1841, Paris) was a French physicist and mathematician who is primarily known for the Biot–Savart law of electromagnetism, which he discovered together with his colleague Jean-Bapti ...

(1791–1841), physicist and mathematician born in Mézières *

Louis Tirman Louis Tirman (29 July 1837 – 2 August 1899) was a French lawyer and civil servant who was prefect of several departments, Governor General of French Algeria from 1881 to 1891 and then Senator of Ardennes from 1892 until his death in 1899. He beli ...

(1837–1899), lawyer and civil servant, Governor General of Algeria from 1881 to 1891 *

Natalis de Wailly Natalis de Wailly (10 May 1805, Mézières, Ardennes – 4 December 1886, Paris) was a French archivist, librarian and historian. In 1841, as head of the Administrative Section of the Royal Archives, he wrote a ministerial circular, issued by C ...

(1805–1886), 19th-century historian and palaeographer born in Charleville

International relations

Charleville-Mézières is twinned with: * Dülmen, Germany * Euskirchen, Germany * Nordhausen, Germany *

Nevers Nevers ( , ; la, Noviodunum, later ''Nevirnum'' and ''Nebirnum'') is the prefecture of the Nièvre department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in central France. It was the principal city of the former province of Nivernais. It is sou ...

, France *

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture. In 2017, it was named as the Eur ...

, Italy * Tolosa, Spain