Alençon

Alençon (UK: /æˈlɒ̃sɒ̃/, US: /ˌælɒ̃ˈsoʊn/, French: [alɑ̃sɔ̃] (listen); Norman: Alençoun) is a commune in Normandy, France, capital of the Orne department. It is situated 173 kilometres (107 mi) west of Paris. Alençon belongs to the intercommunality of Alençon (with 52,000 people).

This article is about the town in France. For the needle lace originating here, see Alençon lace.

Alençon

Alençoun  (Norman)
Prefecture and commune
Town hall
Coat of arms
Location of Alençon
Alençon
Alençon
Coordinates: 48°25′50″N 0°05′35″E
CountryFrance
RegionNormandy
DepartmentOrne
ArrondissementAlençon
CantonAlençon-1 and 2
IntercommunalityAlençon
Government
 • Mayor (2017-2020) Emmanuel Darcissac
Area
1
10.68 km2 (4.12 sq mi)
Population
 (2017-01-01)[1]
25,848
 • Density2,400/km2 (6,300/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
61001 /61000
Elevation127–152 m (417–499 ft)
(avg. 135 m or 443 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

History

The name of Alençon is first recorded in a document dated in the seventh century. During the tenth century, Alençon was a buffer state between Normandy and the Maine regions. In 1049–1051, William Duke of Normandy, later known as William the Conqueror and king of England, laid siege to the town, which had risen in support of the Count of Anjou along with two other towns of the Bellême estates, Domfront (then in Maine) and Bellême (held directly from King Henry I of France). According to Duke William's chaplain and panegyrist, William of Poitiers, the citizens insulted William by hanging animal skins from the walls, in reference to his ancestry as the illegitimate son of Duke Robert and a tanner's daughter. On capturing the town, William had a number of the citizens' hands and feet cut off in revenge. Alençon was occupied by the English during the Anglo-Norman wars of 1113 to 1203.

The city became the seat of a dukedom in 1415, belonging to the sons of the King of France until the French Revolution, and some of them played important roles in French history: see Duke of Alençon. The French Revolution caused relatively little disorder in this area although there were some royalist uprisings nearby.

A long-standing local fabric industry gave birth to the town's famous point d’Alençon lace in the 18th century. The economic development of the nineteenth century was based on iron foundries and mills in the surrounding region. In the first half of the twentieth century the city developed a flourishing printing industry.

Alençon was home to St.Marie-Azélie Guérin Martin[2] and Louis Martin,[3] the parents of St. Thérèse of Lisieux.[4] They were the first spouses in the history of the Catholic Church to be proposed for sainthood as a couple, in 2008. Zélie and Louis were married at the Basilica[5] of Notre-Dame in Alençon on 13 July 1858 and spent their whole married life in Alençon, where Thérèse was born[6] in January 1873 and spent her early childhood until the death of her mother in 1877.

On 17 June 1940 the German Army took occupation of Alençon. On 12 August 1944 Alençon was the first French city to be liberated by the French Army under General Leclerc, after minor bomb damage.

After the war the population sharply increased and new industries settled. Many of these were related to plastics and the town is now a major plastics educational centre.

Climate
Climate data for Alençon (1981–2010 averages)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 17.7
(63.9)		 19.0
(66.2)		 22.4
(72.3)		 28.9
(84.0)		 31.0
(87.8)		 35.5
(95.9)		 39.0
(102.2)		 38.5
(101.3)		 34.2
(93.6)		 28.4
(83.1)		 21.0
(69.8)		 16.5
(61.7)		 39.0
(102.2)
Average high °C (°F) 7.0
(44.6)		 8.1
(46.6)		 11.6
(52.9)		 14.4
(57.9)		 18.1
(64.6)		 21.5
(70.7)		 24.0
(75.2)		 24.0
(75.2)		 20.7
(69.3)		 15.9
(60.6)		 10.6
(51.1)		 7.3
(45.1)		 15.3
(59.5)
Average low °C (°F) 1.6
(34.9)		 1.4
(34.5)		 3.2
(37.8)		 4.7
(40.5)		 8.2
(46.8)		 10.9
(51.6)		 12.9
(55.2)		 12.6
(54.7)		 10.0
(50.0)		 7.7
(45.9)		 4.2
(39.6)		 2.0
(35.6)		 6.6
(43.9)
Record low °C (°F) −17.4
(0.7)		 −18.0
(−0.4)		 −9.4
(15.1)		 −5.2
(22.6)		 −2.6
(27.3)		 0.3
(32.5)		 3.0
(37.4)		 2.2
(36.0)		 0.0
(32.0)		 −6.0
(21.2)		 −10.6
(12.9)		 −17.0
(1.4)		 −18.0
(−0.4)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 77.1
(3.04)		 55.0
(2.17)		 57.5
(2.26)		 52.0
(2.05)		 67.5
(2.66)		 51.1
(2.01)		 55.4
(2.18)		 41.7
(1.64)		 61.8
(2.43)		 75.9
(2.99)		 68.2
(2.69)		 83.5
(3.29)		 746.7
(29.40)
Average precipitation days 12.5 9.9 10.6 10.0 10.7 7.5 7.6 7.3 8.0 11.0 11.2 12.8 119.1
Average snowy days 3.8 3.8 2.8 1.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.3 2.5 15.4
Average relative humidity (%) 89 86 81 77 78 77 76 78 82 88 89 90 82.6
Mean monthly sunshine hours 62.0 85.0 131.4 163.4 190.3 217.7 215.0 212.4 168.2 113.6 70.5 60.4 1,689.5
Source 1: Météo France[7][8]
Source 2: Infoclimat.fr (humidity and snowy days, 1961–1990)[9]

Population
Historical population
YearPop.±%
200628,458—    
200727,942−1.8%
200827,653−1.0%
200927,325−1.2%
201026,704−2.3%
201126,300−1.5%
201226,305+0.0%
201326,350+0.2%
201426,028−1.2%
201526,069+0.2%
201626,129+0.2%
  • La Halle aux Blé
  • Château des Ducs
  • Library

Heraldry
Arms of Alençon
 The arms of Alençon are blazoned :
Azure, a double-headed eagle displayed Or.

Economy

In the seventeenth century, Alençon was chiefly noted for its lace called point d'Alençon.

Today, Alençon is home to a prosperous plastics industry, and, since 1993, to a plastics engineering school.

MPO Fenêtres is a local PVC windows company established in Alençon since 1970, is one of the first company in Alençon with around 170 employees (2009) and a turnover of 28 million euros in 2008. It is also the oldest French PVC windows company still in activity.

Education

"Écoles". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2015.

"Collèges". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2015.

"Lycées". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2015.

Transport

Alençon is linked by the A28 autoroute (motorway/freeway) with the nearby cities of Le Mans to the south (Sarthe) and Rouen (Seine-Maritime) to the north.

The A88 autoroute links the A28 just north of Alençon to the coastal port of Caen.

A comprehensive town bus system operates from 7:00 to 19:00.

There is a comprehensive network of cycle paths.

Personalities

Alençon was the birthplace of:

International relations
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in France

Twin towns – sister cities

Alençon is twinned with:[10]

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gollark: They should use other alphabets. Also emoji.
gollark: But those aren't very distinguishable either.

See also

References
  1. "Populations légales 2017". INSEE. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  2. "Shrine Louis and Zelie Martin (Alençon-France) - Zelie Martin's life". Archived from the original on 15 March 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  3. "Shrine Louis and Zelie Martin (Alençon-France) - Louis Martin's life". Archived from the original on 15 March 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  4. "Shrine Louis and Zelie Martin (Alençon-France) - St. Therese's life". Archived from the original on 15 March 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  5. "Shrine Louis and Zelie Martin (Alençon-France) - The basilica of Notre Dame". Archived from the original on 15 March 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  6. "Shrine Louis and Zelie Martin (Alençon-France) - Alençon, the birthplace of St. Therese". Archived from the original on 15 March 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  7. "Données climatiques de la station de Alençon" (in French). Meteo France. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  8. "Climat Basse-Normandie" (in French). Meteo France. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  9. "Normes et records 1961-1990: Alençon - Valframbert (61) - altitude 144m" (in French). Infoclimat. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  10. "Jumelages". alencon.fr (in French). Alençon. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
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