St Etienne
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Clockwise from top: View of Saint-Étienne, Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Place du Peuple, tramway at Gare de Châteaucreux and Couriot Coalmine.
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 Saint-Étienne
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Location within Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
Saint-Étienne
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| Coordinates: 45°26′05″N 4°23′25″E / 45.4347°N 4.3903°ECoordinates: 45°26′05″N 4°23′25″E / 45.4347°N 4.3903°E | ||
| Country | France | |
| Region | Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | |
| Department | Loire | |
| Canton | Capital of 9 cantons | |
| Government | ||
| • Mayor (2014-2020) | Gaël Perdriau (UMP) | |
| Area1 | 79.97 km2 (30.88 sq mi) | |
| Population (2007 estimate)2 | 178,530 | |
| • Rank | 16th in France | |
| • Density | 2,200/km2 (5,800/sq mi) | |
| Time zone | CET (GMT +1) (UTC+1) | |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 42218 / 42000, 42100 | |
| Elevation | 422–1,117 m (1,385–3,665 ft) (avg. 516 m or 1,693 ft) |
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| Website | www |
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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. |
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1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
Saint-Étienne (French pronunciation: [sɛ̃t‿etjɛn]; Arpitan: Sant-Etiève; Saint Stephen) is a city in eastern central France, in the Massif Central, 50 km (31 mi) southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, on the trunk road that connects Toulouse with Lyon. Saint-Étienne is the capital of the Loire department and has a population of approximately 172,023 (2013) in the city itself and over 508,000 in the metropolitan area (2011).
At the very beginning, Hungarian refugees were expelled from the newly developing Languedoc by Guilhem of Auvergne and Aquitaine in 925, so Rodolphe the Frank bought an area of land in Savoy called Forez County in 930 to provide them with a home.
Named after Saint Stephen, the city first appears in the historical record in the Middle Ages as Saint-Étienne de Furan (after the River Furan, a tributary of the Loire). In the 13th century it was a small borough around the church dedicated to Saint Etienne. On the upper reaches of the Furan near the Way of St. James the Abbey of Valbenoîte had been founded by the cistercians in 1222. In the late 15th century it was a fortified village defended by walls built around the original nucleus.
From the 16th century, Saint-Étienne developed an arms manufacturing industry and became a market town. It was this which accounted for the town's importance, although it also became a centre for the manufacture of ribbons and passementerie starting in the 17th century. During the French revolution, Saint-Étienne was briefly renamed Armeville – 'arms town' – because of this activity.
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Wikipedia