Vendôme
Municipality in Centre-Val de Loire, France
title: "Vendôme" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["communes-of-loir-et-cher", "subprefectures-in-france", "burial-sites-of-the-house-of-albret", "orléanais"] description: "Municipality in Centre-Val de Loire, France" topic_path: "geography/france" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vendôme" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Municipality in Centre-Val de Loire, France ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox French commune"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Vendôme |
| commune status | Subprefecture and commune |
| caption | View of Vendôme |
| image | Vendôme (Loir-et-Cher).jpg |
| image flag | Flag of Vendôme.gif |
| image coat of arms | Blason Comtes de Vendôme.svg |
| arrondissement | Vendôme |
| canton | Vendôme |
| INSEE | 41269 |
| postal code | 41100 |
| mayor | Laurent Brillard |
| term | 2020–2026 |
| intercommunality | CA Territoires Vendômois |
| coordinates | |
| elevation m | 82 |
| elevation min m | 76 |
| elevation max m | 141 |
| area km2 | 23.89 |
| population | |
| population date | |
| population footnotes | |
| :: |
|name = Vendôme |commune status = Subprefecture and commune |caption = View of Vendôme |image = Vendôme (Loir-et-Cher).jpg |image flag = Flag of Vendôme.gif |image coat of arms = Blason Comtes de Vendôme.svg |arrondissement = Vendôme |canton = Vendôme |INSEE = 41269 |postal code = 41100 |mayor = Laurent Brillard |term = 2020–2026 |intercommunality = CA Territoires Vendômois |coordinates = |elevation m = 82 |elevation min m = 76 |elevation max m = 141 |area km2 = 23.89 |population = |population date = |population footnotes =
Vendôme (, ) is a subprefecture of the department of Loir-et-Cher, France. It is also the department's third-biggest commune with 15,856 inhabitants (2019).
It is one of the main towns along the river Loir. The river divides itself at the entrance of Vendôme, intersecting it into numerous different arms. The town has a rich medieval history and many historical monuments.
History
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/VendomeCastleRuins.jpg" caption="Ruins of the castle at Vendôme]]}}"] ::
Vendôme (in ) appears originally to have been a Gallic oppidum, replaced later by a feudal castle, around which the modern town arose. Christianity was introduced by Saint Bienheuré in the 5th century, and the important abbey of the Trinity (which claimed to possess a tear shed by Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus) was founded about 1030. When the reign of the House of Capet began, Vendôme formed the chief town of a county belonging to Bouchard, called "the Venerable", who died in the monastery of Saint-Maur-des-Fossés in 1007.
The succession passed by various marriages to the houses of Nevers, Preuilly and Montoire. Bouchard VI, Count of Vendôme and Castres (died ), left as his heiress his sister Catherine, the wife of John of Bourbon, count of La Marche. The county of Vendôme was raised to the rank of a duchy and a peerage of France for Charles of Bourbon (1515); his son Antoine de Bourbon, king of Navarre, was the father of Henry IV, who gave the duchy of Vendôme in 1598 to his illegitimate son César de Bourbon (1594–1665). César, Duke of Vendôme, took part in the disturbances which went on in France under the government of Cardinal Richelieu and of Cardinal Mazarin; he was the father of Louis, Duke of Vendôme, who married a niece of Mazarin, and François de Vendôme, Duc de Beaufort. The last of his family in the male line was Louis XIV's famous general, Louis Joseph, duc de Vendôme (1645–1712).
Nominoe, King of Brittany, died undefeated in Vendôme in 851, after conquering the counties of Maine and Anjou.
The comte de Rochambeau, leader of 6,000 French troops in the American Revolutionary War, was born in Vendôme.
Place Vendôme in Paris had been the site of the Hôtel de Vendôme, a mansion which belonged to César de Bourbon, the illegitimate son of Henry IV and his mistress Gabrielle d'Estrées.
Geography
Vendôme is located 22 mi northwest of the city of Blois and 40 minutes from Paris by TGV train (Vendôme-Villiers-sur-Loir TGV station). The town lies on the river Loir, which here divides into numerous arms intersecting the town.
Administration
Vendôme is the capital of the arrondissement of Vendôme in the Loir-et-Cher department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It has a tribunal of first instance.
Population
|align = none |cols = 2 |percentages = pagr |source = EHESS and INSEE (1968-2017) |graph-pos = bottom |1793 |6226 |1800 |7555 |1806 |7128 |1821 |6997 |1831 |7771 |1836 |8206 |1841 |9470 |1846 |8481 |1851 |9325 |1856 |9377 |1861 |9356 |1866 |9938 |1872 |9259 |1876 |9221 |1881 |9420 |1886 |9325 |1891 |9538 |1896 |9777 |1901 |9459 |1906 |9804 |1911 |9707 |1921 |9035 |1926 |9301 |1931 |9047 |1936 |9344 |1946 |10315 |1954 |10811 |1962 |13556 |1968 |16157 |1975 |17952 |1982 |17593 |1990 |17525 |1999 |17707 |2007 |16807 |2012 |17024 |2017 |16569
Sights
On the south, it is overlooked by an eminence on which stand the ruins of the castle of the counts of Vendôme. The abbey-church of the Holy Trinity has a façade in the florid Gothic style. Abbey buildings of various periods lie round the church. The church of La Madeleine (15th century) is surmounted by a stone spire, an imitation of that of the abbey. The tower of Saint-Martin (16th century) represents the vanished church of that name.
Other monuments are: the old gate, the Porte Saint-Georges; its river front is composed of two large crenelated and machicolated towers, connected by a pavilion, and the ancient hospital of Saint-Jacques that afterwards became a college of the Oratorians, then a lycée for boys and that is now occupied by the town administration offices. The charming chapel, in the most florid Gothic style, is preserved. In the garden surrounding, is located the tourism office in an ancient building called l'Orangerie (facing the public library). The town has a well-known archaeological and scientific society, and possesses a library with more than three hundred manuscripts, and a museum, mostly archaeological, in front of which stands a statue of the poet Pierre de Ronsard. There is also a statue of Marshal Rochambeau, born at Vendôme in 1725. Some interesting houses of the 15th and 16th centuries survive.
Twin towns – sister cities
Vendôme is twinned with:
- GER Gevelsberg, Germany
- USA Hampton, United States
- CHN Rizhao, China
Climate
|metric first=y |single line=y |collapsed = Y |location = Vendôme (Selommes) (1999–2010 normals, extremes 1999–2018) |Jan record high C = 15.0 |Feb record high C = 18.0 |Mar record high C = 25.0 |Apr record high C = 29.0 |May record high C = 33.0 |Jun record high C = 38.0 |Jul record high C = 39.5 |Aug record high C = 41.5 |Sep record high C = 35.5 |Oct record high C = 30.0 |Nov record high C = 22.0 |Dec record high C = 17.0 |Jan record low C = -14.0 |Feb record low C = -16.0 |Mar record low C = -11.0 |Apr record low C = -3.0 |May record low C = -1.0 |Jun record low C = 1.5 |Jul record low C = 7.0 |Aug record low C = 3.0 |Sep record low C = 2.0 |Oct record low C = -2.0 |Nov record low C = -12.0 |Dec record low C = -8.0 |Jan high C = 6.8 |Feb high C = 8.7 |Mar high C = 12.4 |Apr high C = 16.3 |May high C = 19.9 |Jun high C = 24.4 |Jul high C = 26.2 |Aug high C = 25.9 |Sep high C = 22.3 |Oct high C = 16.9 |Nov high C = 10.8 |Dec high C = 6.9 | year high C = 16.5 |Jan mean C = 4.2 |Feb mean C = 5.2 |Mar mean C = 7.8 |Apr mean C = 10.8 |May mean C = 14.5 |Jun mean C = 18.2 |Jul mean C = 20.0 |Aug mean C = 19.7 |Sep mean C = 16.5 |Oct mean C = 12.6 |Nov mean C = 7.6 |Dec mean C = 4.3 | year mean C = 11.8 |Jan low C = 1.5 |Feb low C = 1.8 |Mar low C = 3.2 |Apr low C = 5.4 |May low C = 9.0 |Jun low C = 12.1 |Jul low C = 13.8 |Aug low C = 13.5 |Sep low C = 10.7 |Oct low C = 8.3 |Nov low C = 4.4 |Dec low C = 1.7 | year low C = 7.1 |precipitation colour = green |Jan precipitation mm = 57.2 |Feb precipitation mm = 48.2 |Mar precipitation mm = 50.9 |Apr precipitation mm = 51.3 |May precipitation mm = 61.1 |Jun precipitation mm = 47.7 |Jul precipitation mm = 55.4 |Aug precipitation mm = 40.8 |Sep precipitation mm = 51.7 |Oct precipitation mm = 66.9 |Nov precipitation mm = 61.7 |Dec precipitation mm = 66.4 |year precipitation mm = 659.3 |unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm | Jan precipitation days = 11.4 | Feb precipitation days = 9.7 | Mar precipitation days = 10.2 | Apr precipitation days = 10.1 | May precipitation days = 10.1 | Jun precipitation days = 7.5 | Jul precipitation days = 7.4 | Aug precipitation days = 6.3 | Sep precipitation days = 7.6 | Oct precipitation days = 10.5 | Nov precipitation days = 11.1 | Dec precipitation days = 11.8 | year precipitation days =113.9 |source 1 = Meteociel{{cite web |url=https://www.meteociel.fr/obs/clim/normales_records.php?code=41243001 |title=Normales et records pour Selommes (41) |publisher=Meteociel |access-date=21 November 2024}}}}
References
References
- (9 August 2021). "Répertoire national des élus: les maires".
- {{EB1911
- {{Cassini-Ehess. 39274. Vendôme
- [https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/4515315?geo=COM-41269#ancre-POP_T1 Population en historique depuis 1968], INSEE
- "Relations internationales". Vendôme.
- "Vendome, France". Sister Cities of Hampton, Inc.
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