Florenville (;

Gaumais Lorrain, also known as Lorrain roman, is a ''langue d'oïl'' spoken by a minority of people in the region of Lorraine in northeastern France, as well as in some parts of Alsace and Gaume in Belgium. It is often referred to as a patois. It is a ...

: ''Floravile'') is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

province of Luxembourg Luxembourg (; ; ; ; ; ), also called Belgian Luxembourg or West Luxembourg, is the southernmost Provinces of regions in Belgium, province of Wallonia within Belgium. It borders the country of Luxembourg to the east, the France, French depart ...

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

, Belgium. It is located in the southwest part of the country bordering France, on the banks of the

Semois The Semois (; ''Simwès'' in Walloon, often under elided form ''Smwès''; ''Semoy'', ''Sesbach'' in German, ''Setzbaach'' in Luxembourgish of Arlon; and known as the ''Semoy'' in France) is a river flowing from the Ardennes uplands of Belgium a ...

river. Spread across an area of , the municipality incorporates seven

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

. In 2021, the municipality had a population of 5,687 inhabitants.

History

Archeological excavations in the region have yielded artifacts dating back to at least 15th century BCE. During the rule of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, it was part of the route between

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

and

Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

, built in 45 CE by

Emperor Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Drusus and Antonia Minor at Lugdu ...

. Around 1070 CE, a group of

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

monks from

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

settled in the region at the invitation of

Arnold I, Count of Chiny Arnold I (died 16 April 1106), Count of Chiny, son of Louis II, Count of Chiny, and his wife Sophie. He succeeded his father as Count before 1066. Arnold is best known for his many clashes with the authorities. The only known positive action of ...

, and Conrad I,

Count of Luxembourg The territory of Luxembourg has been ruled successively by counts, dukes and grand dukes. It was part of the medieval Kingdom of Germany, and later the Holy Roman Empire until it became a sovereignty, sovereign state in 1815. Counts of Luxembourg ...

, and began construction of a church and monastery, which later became the

Abbey of Orval Orval Abbey (Abbaye Notre-Dame d'Orval) is a Cistercian monastery founded in 1132 in the Gaume region of Belgium, located in Villers-devant-Orval, part of Florenville, Wallonia in the province of Luxembourg. The abbey is well known for its histo ...

. It was consecrated in the 12th century.

Chiny Chiny (; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Luxembourg (Belgium), province of Luxembourg, Belgium. On 1 January 2018 the municipality, which covers , had 5,175 inhabitants, ...

was the center of the region during the early years. In the 13th century, Florenville was established during the marriage of Isabelle, the daughter of

Louis IV, Count of Chiny Louis IV the Young (1173 – 7 October 1226), count of Chiny from 1189 to 1226, son of Louis III, count of Chiny, and Sophie. Louis was the last of the first dynasty of counts of Chiny. Having no son, he prepared his eldest daughter Jeanne as his ...

. The name Florenville is probably derived from "Florent's estate". In the 17th century,

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

fortified the region around the

river. During the French Revolution, the town was the location of fighting between insurgents and French soldiers. On 23 June 1793, the abbey of Orval was burned down and plundered. Later, during the

Second World War 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 ...

, the town was occupied by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

in 1940. The Germans destroyed many of the houses, damaged the church, and killed the residents. The town returned to France after the war. The municipality of Florenville was established in 1976 and it was granted the honorific title of town (ville) in 1997.

Geography

Florenville is a

and

in the

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

. It is one of the ten municipalities in the

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, and certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissem ...

Virton Virton (; Gaumais: ''Viertån''; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium. It is also the administrative centre of the district (''arrondissement'') of the same name, as well as the principal town ...

in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. It is located in the southwest part of the country and shares a international border with France. The

river flows through the north of the city. It borders the municipalities of

Herbeumont Herbeumont (; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium. On 1 January 2007, the municipality, which covers 58.81 km², had 1,536 inhabitants, giving a population density of 26.1 inhabitants per km². T ...

Bouillon Bouillon can refer to: Food * Bouillon (broth), a simple broth ** Court-bouillon, a quick broth * Bouillon (soup), a Haitian soup * Bouillon (restaurant), a traditional type of French restaurant ** Bouillon Chartier, a bouillon restaurant fou ...

, and

Meix-devant-Virton Meix-devant-Virton (, literally ''Meix before Virton''; Gaumais: ''Minch-duvant-Vèrtan''; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium. On 1 January 2017 the municipality had 2,812 inhabitants. The total area ...

. Spread across an area of , the municipality incorporates the seven

of Chassepierre, Florenville, Fontenoille,

Lacuisine Lacuisine (; Gaumais: ''La Keûjine'') is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Florenville, located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium. Prior to the merger of municipalities in 1977, Lacuisine was an independent muni ...

, Muno, Sainte-Cécile, and Villers-devant-Orval. In 2021, the municipality had a population of 5,687 inhabitants. It is the second largest municipality by population in the Virton arrondissement.

References

External links

Florenville official website
* {{coord, 49, 41.9, N, 5, 18.6, E, region:BE, display=title Cities in Wallonia Municipalities of Luxembourg (Belgium)

History

Geography

See also

References

External links