Montreuil (sometimes called Montreuil-sur-Mer) is a French
commune located in the Pas-de-Calais department in the
Hauts-de-France region. Despite its small population (2,014
inhabitants at the last census in 2017) and its small area,
Montreuil is a relatively large municipality since it occupies the
status of sub-prefecture of the department (alongside large cities
such as Calais, Boulogne and Lens) as well as that of the capital of
a departmental arrondissement grouping together 164 municipalities,
some of which are much more populated such as Berck and Étaples. It
is the 5th least populated sub-prefecture in France and is one of
the few sub-prefectures not to be part of the most populous cities
of its department (Montreuil is the 145th city of Pas-de-Calais,
which is a record).
Typical village with a rich history,
mainly known for its fortifications and ramparts dating from the
13th and 16th centuries, it has become one of the main tourist
places in the region and has received numerous labels.
Civil architecture
Town Hall (18th - 19th centuries);
Roger-Rodière Art and History Museum;
Place Darnétal;
Place du
Général-de-Gaulle is one of the largest squares in the North of
France;
Cavée Saint-Firmin (classified landscaped site);
Rue
du Clape-en-Bas (listed as a historical monument) where there are
small typical 18th century houses now occupied by craftsmen and
restorers;
Montreuil-sur-Mer train station;
Equestrian statue
of Marshal Douglas Haig (listed as a historic monument), the work of
sculptor Paul Landowski.
There are about forty private
mansions built between 1730 and the end of the 19th century. Certain
districts were privileged by the builders, to the point of being
compared by Victor Hugo to a "small suburb of Saint-Germain".
Former hotel of the Marshal of Acary-de-la-Rivière (listed as a
historical monument) on the Saint-Firmin square, number 1;
The
so-called "Farmer" house or hotel of the Solare fountain, located at
98 rue Pierre-Ledent, on the edge of the Saint-Firmin square;
Hôtel Guéroult de Boisrobert, located at 6 parvis Saint-Firmin;
Hôtel de la fontaine d'Hémencourt, located at 119 parvis
Saint-Firmin;
Hôtel de Jacquemin de Châteaurenault and de
Rougeat, located at 101 parvis Saint-Firmin;
Hôtel d'Hurtrel
d'Arboval located at numbers 84-46 of the Saint-Firmin square;
Hôtel Loysel le Gaucher (listed as a historical monument), located
rue Victor-Dubourg;
Half-timbered house, known as the
Pot-d'Étain, at 21-23 rue Pierre-Ledent (listed as historical
monuments);
Medieval cellars (listed as historical monuments in
2012);
Houses backing onto the old ramparts.
Military
heritage
Citadel of Montreuil-sur-Mer (classified as historical
monuments, classified site, Natura 2000 Zone);
Ramparts, urban
enclosures of 8 linear km of fortification, in the upper town (2,700
m of promenade) and lower town, bastions (classified as historical
monuments);
Powder magazines;
Porte de Boulogne;
German
undergrounds (listed as historical monuments) and blockhouses.
Montreuil is cited for the first time in 89810 in the Annales de
Saint-Bertin and de Saint-Vaast.
The castle of Montreuil
dates from the ninth century, it was then the main fortress in the
region. Its construction is attributed to Helgaud, count of Boulogne
but it seems rather to be Helgaud count of Montreuil. Then began the
military career of the city which will see successive during six
centuries of medieval wars many constructions.
The city owes
its name to a "small monastery" (monasterolium). We know that some
time later, after 913, the monks of Landévennec (Finistère) found
refuge there after the destruction of their monastery by the Vikings
and in 926 created the Saint-Walloy abbey in honor of Saint Walloy,
a local deformation. named after Saint Guénolé. Subsequently, the
dedication changes, and the establishment becomes the Abbey of
Saint-Saulve.
Count Helgaud seemed to have already endowed it
with an enclosure and a count's castle. Duke Guillaume Longue-Épée
removed it from Count Arnoul de Flandres to return it to his lord,
Herluin. Dudon de Saint-Quentin recounts: “The Duke said to his
soldiers: come and bring me the planks of the palisade of the castle
of Montreuil and take me prisoners to his defenders who resist us.
And they stormed the castle in front of William and brought him the
posts of the wall at the same time as the prisoners ”.
In
980, Montreuil was attached to the royal domain.
In 988,
Hugues Capet made Montreuil the only seaport of the French monarchy,
heir to the opulent and mysterious Quentovic port.
In 1091,
Philippe I, king of France, tired of his wife Berthe of Holland, had
her locked up in the castle of Montreuil, which was part of the
dowry received by Berthe (she was the daughter-in-law of the count
of Flanders Robert the Frisian). Berthe was repudiated in 1092,
Philippe wishing to marry Bertrade de Montfort and died in Montreuil
in 1093.
In 1188, Philippe Auguste granted a municipal
charter.
At the beginning of the thirteenth century, Philippe
Auguste, in order to protect this prominent maritime façade, built a
powerful royal castle of which significant elements remain today.
On June 19, 1299, Montreuil-sur-Mer agreement between Philippe
IV le Bel and Édouard Ier.
The many relics, so piously
venerated in the Middle Ages and held by its many places of worship,
attracted pilgrims and gave the city a character of holiness. At the
time, the city had more than 10,000 inhabitants, which is far more
than today: less than 3,000 in 1999.
The city then exported
its sheets, the fame of which rivaled even in Italy those of
Flanders or Artois (we said of Montreuil as we say today of tulle).
In 1435, Montreuil passed into the possessions of the
Burgundians by the Treaty of Arras.
In 1467, a natural
disaster caused the collapse of at least six religious buildings. It
is not known today whether it is an earthquake or a collapse of
underground layers.
At the end of the Middle Ages, the
silting up of the Canche led to the decline of the city. Maritime
trade collapsed, the city took refuge in itself.
Modern times
In June 1537, the troops of Charles Quint and Henry VIII lay siege
at the foot of Montreuil. Forced to surrender, the city is largely
destroyed.
The plague struck the city in 1596.
In
1567, Charles IX ordered the construction of a citadel on the site
of the old castle of the thirteenth century. Around 1670, Vauban
perfected the work of his predecessors by remodeling the citadel and
adding a powder magazine and an arsenal.
In the eighteenth
century, despite the silting up of the Canche and the decline of the
port, the prosperity of the city enabled it to adorn itself with
numerous mansions.
French Revolution and Empire
The right
flank (seen from the English side, Montreuil being south of
Boulogne) of the Boulogne camp was set up in Montreuil in 1803 and
gave the city a bit of life. Marshals Soult and Ney have their
headquarters there.
Contemporary period
In the 19th
century, the quest for progress caused the destruction of part of
the lower ramparts in order to allow the passage of the
Arras-Étaples railway line, which was put into service on August 5,
1878.
Montreuil fell then for more than a century in a
lethargy that was only to disturb, during the First World War, the
presence within its walls of the great British headquarters under
the command of Marshal Douglas Haig.
Montreuil is cited twice in the literature: Lawrence Sterne, who visited the city in 1765, recounted his visit in his novel Sentimental Journey through France and Italy. Montreuil is also the scene of a large part of the first part of Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables. The main character of the novel, Jean Valjean, owns a large factory there which made the prosperity of the city of which he became the mayor. This factory and the long tradition of a black glass industry in Montreuil only exist in the imagination of Victor Hugo. Montreuil is the scene of most of the conflict between Valjean and Javert. It is also the hometown of Fantine, the mother of Cosette.