Montivilliers

Montivilliers
The abbey cloisters The abbey cloisters
Montivilliers
Location within Upper Normandy region Montivilliers
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Normandy
Department	Seine-Maritime
Arrondissement	Le Havre
Canton	Montivilliers
Intercommunality	Le Havre
Government
• Mayor (2008–2015)	Daniel Petit
Area1	19.09 km2 (7.37 sq mi)
Population (2006)2	16,451
• Density	860/km2 (2,200/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	76447 / 76290
Elevation	2–94 m (6.6–308.4 ft) (avg. 8 m or 26 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Montivilliers is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France.

Geography

A large light industrial and farming town by the banks of the river Lézarde in the Pays de Caux, situated just 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Le Havre, at the junction of the D489, D52, D926 and D31 roads.

History

Pre-Roman archaeological discoveries include Bronze Age axes and jade jewelry. The old Roman road from here to Harfleur was destroyed by the English in 1415.
The Abbey Church of Notre-Dame, sometimes referred to as 'Montvilliers Abbey' dates back to 684, although it was destroyed a Viking raid in 850, and rebuilt as a church in both the Romanesque and Gothic styles.

Heraldry

Arms of Montivilliers

The arms of Montivilliers are blazoned : Gules, a church argent, the door open, and the bell tower pierced of the field, topped with the head of a crozier Or, between 2 inescutcheons of France, and in base a lizard fesswise vert. (France=Azure, 3 fleurs-de-lys Or)

Population

Population history

1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2006
8427	8910	10,563	15,030	17,067	16,556	16,451
Starting in 1962: Population without duplicates

Places of interest

• The nineteenth-century chateau de Colmoulins.
• The church of St.Germain, dating from the fourteenth century.
• The abbey church of Notre-Dame, dating from the eleventh century.
• The abbey museum
• A Protestant church (1787)
• The medieval ramparts.
• The Arboretum du parc de Rouelles is an arboretum set within the Parc de Rouelles.

People

• René Bihel, French footballer was born here in 1916.
• Sébastien Lepape, short track speed skater, born here in 1991.
• Jean Prévost, writer, lived here when his father was principal of a local school.

Twin towns

• Nordhorn, Germany since 1963.

See also

• Communes of the Seine-Maritime department
• Seine-Maritime
• Normandy

References

• INSEE

External links

• Montivilliers official website (French)
• Montivilliers Abbey official website (English)
• Articleand photos about the abbey at Montivilliers (French)
• Abbey Church of Notre-Dame (English)
• Montivilliers on the Quid website (French)