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 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 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 subprefectures. ...

of the department. It was the site of the Battle of Châteaudun during the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

Geography

Châteaudun is located about 45 km northwest of

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and Chartres Chartres () is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir Departments of France, department in the Centre-Val de Loire Regions of France, region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 1 ...

. It lies on the river

Loir The Loir is a long river in western France. It is a left tributary of the Sarthe. Its source is in the Eure-et-Loir department, north of Illiers-Combray. It joins the river Sarthe in Briollay, north of the city of Angers. It is indirectly ...

, a tributary of the

Sarthe Sarthe () is a department of the French region of Pays de la Loire, and the province of Maine, situated in the '' Grand-Ouest'' of the country. It is named after the river Sarthe, which flows from east of Le Mans to just north of Angers. It ha ...

History

Châteaudun (Latin ), which dates from the

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...

period, was in the middle ages the capital of the County of Dunois. 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 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 palace, 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 re ...

, founded in the 10th century, known for being the first on the road to

Loire Valley The Loire Valley (, ), spanning , is a valley located in the middle stretch of the Loire river in central France, in both the administrative regions Pays de la Loire and Centre-Val de Loire. The area of the Loire Valley comprises about . It is r ...

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 Pierre Guédron (c. 1570 in Châteaudun – c. 1620 in Paris), was a French singer and composer. Guédron's ''Est-ce Mars'' (1613) was especially popular and is known in versions by Sweelinck (keyboard), Scheidt (5 part strings) and Vallet (4 l ...

(1570–1620),

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

* Nicolas Chaperon (1612–1656)

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

Edmond Modeste Lescarbault Edmond Modeste Lescarbault (1814, Châteaudun – 1894, Orgères-en-Beauce), was a French medical doctor and an amateur astronomer, best remembered for his 1859 supposed observation of the non-existent planet Vulcan. He graduated and obtained hi ...

(1814),

doctor Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

and amateur

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

Romain Feillu Romain Feillu (born 16 April 1984) is a French former road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2006 and 2019. He is the older brother of Brice Feillu, who also competed professionally as a cyclist. Career Feillu was born in Château ...

(1984)

road racing cyclist Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most comm ...

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)

Twin towns - sister cities

Châteaudun is twinned with: *

Arklow Arklow ( ; ; ) is a town in County Wicklow on the southeast coast of Ireland. The town is overlooked by Ballymoyle Hill. It was founded by the Vikings in the ninth century. Arklow was the site of one of the Battle of Arklow, bloodiest battles ...

, Ireland *

Kroměříž Kroměříž (; ) is a town in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 28,000 inhabitants. It is known for Kroměříž Castle with its castle gardens, which are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The historic town centre with the castle ...

, 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. 1995. ...

, Spain *

Schweinfurt Schweinfurt ( , ; ) is a town#Germany, city in the district of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the surrounding Schweinfurt (district), district (''Landkreis'') of Schweinfurt and a major industrial, cultur ...

, Germany *

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, ; ) is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

, 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 The Bren gun (Brno-Enfield) was a series of light machine guns (LMG) made by the United Kingdom in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1992. While best known for its role as the British and Commonwealth forces' primary infantry LMG in Worl ...

at Châteaudun - 1944