Compiègne

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Categories: France articles requiring maintenance | World War I | Communes of Oise | Subprefectures in France | Towns and cities with zero-fare transport

{{#iferror:3.823056||Coordinates: 49°24′54″N 2°49′23″E / 49.4149, 2.823056 }}

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Administration
Commune of Compiègne Image:Hôtel de ville de Compiègne.jpg Town hall of Compiègne
Location
Image:France blank.svg Image:Paris plan pointer b jms.gif \|}}
Country	France
Region	Picardie
Department	Oise (sous-préfecture)
Arrondissement	Compiègne
Canton	Chief town of 3 cantons
Intercommunality	Agglomération de la Région de Compiègne
Mayor	Philippe Marini (2001-2008)
Statistics
Elevation	31 m–134 m (avg. 41 m)
Land area^¹	53.10 km²
Population^² (1999)	41,254
- Density	776.9/km² (1999)
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	60159/ 60200
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel).

Compiègne is a commune in the Oise département of France, of which it is a sous-préfecture. Compiègne is located in the Arrondissement of Compiègne in Oise; the département is part of the region of Picardie.

The city is located along the Oise River. Its inhabitants are called Compiégnois.

1 Administration
2 History
- 2.1 Historical population
3 Sights
- 3.1 Compiègne Forest
4 Miscellaneous
- 4.1 Births
- 4.2 Twin towns
5 See also
6 External links

Administration

Compiègne is the chief town of 3 cantons

Canton of Compiègne-Nord (with 5 communes)
Canton of Compiègne-Sud-Est (southeast) (with 4 communes)
Canton of Compiègne-Sud-Ouest (southwest) (with 5 communes)

History

665 - Saint Wilfrid consecrated Bishop of York.

February 888 - Odo, Count of Paris and king of the Franks was crowned in Compiègne.

May 23, 1430 - During the Hundred Years' War, Joan of Arc was captured by the Burgundians while attempting to free Compiègne. They then sold her to the English.

1630 - Marie de' Medici's attempts to displace Richelieu ultimately led to her exile to Compiègne, from where she escaped to Brussels in 1631.

November 11, 1918 - The Armistice with Germany (Compiègne), agreed at Le Francport near Compiègne, ends fighting of World War I

June 22, 1940 - Another Armistice with France (Second Compiègne) was signed between Nazi Germany and the defeated France in Le Francport, near Compiègne, in the same place as in 1918, in the same railroad carriage, but with the seats swapped.

1968 - The starting location of the Paris-Roubaix bicycle race was changed from Paris to Compiègne.

2004 - The Communauté de Communes de la Région de Compiègne becomes a partner in a European Union INTERREG IIIb project called SAND (see link below)

Historical population

1882: 13,393
1990: 41,663 (municipal), 44,703 (total)
1999: 41,076 (municipal), 44,703 (total), 69,903 (agglomeration), urban (108,234)

Sights

Image:Compiegne from the UTC.jpg

View of downtown Compiègne

Château de Compiègne

Compiègne Forest

Main article: Compiègne Forest

The Compiègne Forest was the site of the signing of two armistices; the 1918 Armistice with Germany and the 1940 Armistice with France. Hitler specifically chose the location, and had the original signing carriage moved from Paris to Compiègne, as an irony for the defeated French. The site still houses several memorials to the 1918 armistice, including a copy of the original railway carriage (the original, after used in the 1940 armistice, was moved to Berlin and subsequently destroyed during an Allied air raid).

Miscellaneous

Compiègne is the traditional start of the Paris-Roubaix bicycle race. It was also the finish of Stage 3 in the 2007 Tour de France.

Births

Compiègne was the birthplace of:

Roscellinus (~1050 - ~1122), philosopher and theologian, often regarded as the founder of Nominalism
Pierre d'Ailly (1350-1420), theologian and cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church
Albert Robida (1848-1926), illustrator, etcher, lithographer, caricaturist, and novelist
DJ Freshcut (1982), insane DJ and beatmaker from Necropolis, 60200
Debmaster (1983), electronic contemporain artist
La Conecta (1997), underground Death-Rap label from Necropolis, 60200

Twin towns

Compiègne is twinned with:

Landshut, Germany, since 1962
Huy, Belgium, since 1959
Raleigh, North Carolina, United States, since 1989
Kiryat Tivon, Israel, since 1988
Arona, Italy, since 1962
Vianden, Luxembourg, since 1964
Shirakawa, Fukushima, Japan, since 1988
Elbląg, Poland, since 2002
Bury St Edmunds, England, since 1967

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Compiègne

	North: Clairoix, Choisy-au-Bac and Margny-lès-Compiègne
West: Jaux, Venette	Compiègne	East: Saint-Jean-aux-Bois and Vieux-Moulin
	South: Lacroix-Saint-Ouen