Brive-la-Gaillarde (; Limousin dialect of ), commonly known as simply Brive, is a commune of

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 a sub-prefecture and the largest city of the

Corrèze Corrèze (; ) is a département in France, named after the river Corrèze which runs through it. Although its prefecture is Tulle, its most populated city is Brive-la-Gaillarde. Corrèze is located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, on the bo ...

department. It has around 46,000 inhabitants, while the population of the agglomeration was 75,579 in 2019. Although it is by far the biggest commune in Corrèze, the capital is

Tulle Tulle (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in central France. It is the third-largest town in the former region of Limousin and is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Corrèze, in the Regions of France, region of Nouvelle- ...

. In French popular culture, the town is associated with a song by Georges Brassens.

History

Even though the inhabitants settled around the 1st century, the city only started to grow much later. From around the 5th century onwards, the original city began to develop around a church dedicated to Saint-Martin-l'Espagnol. During the 12th century walls were built around the city and during the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...

a second wall was built. These fortifications no longer exist and have been replaced by boulevards. The Hôtel de Ville was commissioned as the Collège des Doctrinaires (College of Doctrinaires) and completed in 1671. The commune was named "Brive" until 1919, when it was renamed "Brive-la-Gaillarde". The word "Gaillarde" (still used in current French) probably stands for bravery or strength in the city's name, but it can also refer to the city's walls. Brive now extends outside of its original boundaries into Malemort and Ussac. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Brive-la-Gaillarde was a regional capital of the Resistance, acting as a seat of several clandestine information networks and several of the principal resistance movements, including the ''Armée secrète'' (or " Secret Army") and the '' Mouvements Unis de la Résistance'' (or "United Movements of the Resistance"). Brive-la-Gaillarde was the first city of Occupied France to liberate itself by its own means, on 15 August 1944. For this, the city received the "'' Croix de guerre 1939–1945''" military decoration. The medieval centre is mainly a commercial district with retail shops and various cafés. It is also the location of the city hall, the main police station, and the Labenche museum. One notable landmark outside the inner city is the ''Pont Cardinal'', a bridge which used to be a crossing point for travelers 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 ...

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

Climate

Administration

The most recent mayors of Brive-la-Gaillarde were: * 1966–1995: Jean Charbonnel * 1995–2008: Bernard Murat * 2008–present: Philippe Nauche

Population

Transport

Brive-la-Gaillarde railway station offers connections to

Limoges Limoges ( , , ; , locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region. Situated o ...

, Périgueux,

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

and several regional destinations. The A20 motorway connects Brive with Limoges and Toulouse, the A89 with Bordeaux. Brive–Souillac Airport lies south of the city. It was opened in 2010 to replace the older Brive-La Roche Airport.

Sport

The city is home to a

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

team, CA Brive. It also hosted the 2009 Junior World Rowing Championships.

Notable inhabitants

* Guillaume Dubois (1656–1723),

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

and statesman * Jean-Baptiste Treilhard (born 3 January 1742 in Brive-la-Gaillarde – died December 1810 in

) was a French jurist and politician at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century. * Nicolas Ernault des Bruslys, born on 7 August 1757 in Brive-la-Gaillarde and died on 25 September 1809 in Reunion, is a French general of the Revolution and the Empire. *

Pierre André Latreille Pierre André Latreille (; 29 November 1762 – 6 February 1833) was a French zoology, zoologist, specialising in arthropods. Having trained as a Roman Catholic priest before the French Revolution, Latreille was imprisoned, and only regained hi ...

(1762–1833),

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

* Guillaume Marie Anne Brune (1763–1815),

marshal of France Marshal of France (, plural ') is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to General officer, generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished (1793–1804) ...

* Alceste De Ambris (born 15 September 1874 to Licciana Nardi, and died December 9, 1934, in Brive-la-Gaillard), an Italian politician and syndicalist. * Edmond Michelet (1899–1970), politician, leader of the Movement Combat Limousin; arrested by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

in Brive in February 1943; died in the village of Marcillac, the town of Brive. * Louis Néel (1904–2000), physicist, Nobel Prize 1970, died in Brive * Robert Margerit (1910–1988), writer. * Michel Labrousse (1912–1988), scholar of Roman history * David Feuerwerker (1912–1980) was a rabbi and professor of French Jewish history (Geneva, 2 October 1912 – Montreal, 20 June 1980). * Antoinette Feuerwerker (1912–2003) Belgian lawyer and educator, wife of David Feuerwerker; Member of the Combat movement in Limousin alongside Edmond Michelet. * Patrick Sebastien (born 1953), imitator, actor, singer, television host. * Xavier Patier (1958– ), civil servant and writer * Cédric Villani (1973– ), mathematician; Fields Medalist in 2010 * Cédric Heymans (1978– ), French international

player * Dimitri Yachvili (1980– ), French international

player * Marine Serre (1991– ), French fashion designer * Damian Penaud (1996– ), French international

player

Twin towns – sister cities

Brive-la-Gaillarde is twinned with: * Guimarães, Portugal *

Joliette Joliette () is a city in southwest Quebec, Canada. It is approximately northeast of Montreal, on the L'Assomption River and is the seat of the Regional County Municipality of Joliette. It is considered to be a part of the North Shore of G ...

, Canada * Lauf an der Pegnitz, Germany * Melitopol, Ukraine * Sikasso, Mali

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brivelagaillarde Communes of Corrèze Subprefectures in France Lemovices Limousin Corrèze communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia