Mirecourt

Coat of arms

Mirecourt

Location within Grand Est region

Mirecourt

Coordinates: 48°17′00″N 6°08′00″E / 48.2833°N 06.1333°ECoordinates: 48°17′00″N 6°08′00″E / 48.2833°N 06.1333°E

Country

CC Mirecourt Dompaire

Government

• Mayor (since 2014)

Yves Séjourné

Area¹

12.12 km² (4.68 sq mi)

Population (2006)²

6,412

• Density

530/km² (1,400/sq mi)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

INSEE/Postal code

88304 /88500

Elevation

261–378 m (856–1,240 ft)
(avg. 285 m or 935 ft)

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

²Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Mirecourt is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. Mirecourt is known for lace-making and the manufacture of musical instruments, particularly those of the violin family. Inhabitants are called Mirecurtiens.

Mirecourt is the administrative capital of a canton positioned in the Xantois district at the heart of the Vosges plain, at the confluence of the River Madon with the Arol Valley. Most of the town is laid out on the west side of the Madon on a succession of levels. Visitors are attracted by the richness of the town's architecture and by the natural advantages of the site.

Mirecourt is also at the heart of a road crossing, 24 kilometres (15 miles) from Vittel, 35 kilometres (22 mi) from Épinal to the east by southeast, 40 kilometres (25 mi) from Neufchâteau and 48 kilometres (30 mi) from Nancy. For much of the twentieth century Mirecourt was a staging post on the towards Paris. Following improvements to the autoroute network towards the end of the twentieth century, the nearest major routes to Paris are now, the A31 autoroute and the respectively some fifteen kilometres (9 miles) to the west and to the east. The RN 66 has been correspondingly declassified: elements of the economic focus that once followed the old route nationale has followed the traffic away to the newer routes: in the final forty years of the twentieth century the registered population declined by around 25%, though the level appears subsequently to have plateaued at around 6,400.

An unusual feature of Mirecourt is the extent to which the local economy continues to be underpinned by the same skilled crafts that have supported the local community for centuries. Both musical instrument and lace making bring significant amounts of wealth and employment to twenty-first century Mirecourt.

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Wikipedia