10 Interesting Carcassonne Facts

Facts About Carcassonne: 

  1. Carcassonne is a French fortified city in the department of Aude, in the region of Occitanie.

  2. The first signs of settlement in this region have been dated to about 3500 BC, but the hill site of Carsac.

  3. Carcassonne is twinned with: Eggenfelden, Germany; Baeza, Spain & Tallinn, Estonia.

  4. Historically, the language is spoken in Carcassonne and throughout Languedoc-Roussillon was not French but Occitan.

  5. The town’s area is about 65 km2.

  6. Carcassonne population 45,996, as of 2015.

  7. The inhabitants of Carcassonne are known as Carcassonnais.

  8. Carcassonne is twinned with: Eggenfelden, Germany; Baeza, Spain & Hargesheim, Germany.

  9. Carcassonne was the first fortress to use hoardings in times of siege.

  10. The walls of the city are 1.9 miles long, city walls have 52 massive towers.

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10 Interesting Arles Facts

Facts About Arles:

  1. The Ligurians were in this area from about 800 BC. Later, Celtic influences have been discovered. The city became an important Phoenician trading port, before being taken by the Romans.

  2. The Roman and Romanesque Monuments of Arles were listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1981.

  3. Vincent van Gogh painted his famous Sunflowers in Arles.

  4. Arles is twinned with: Pskov, Russia; Jerez de la Frontera and Cubelles, Spain; Fulda, Germany; York, Pennsylvania, United States; Vercelli, Italy; Sagné, Mauritania; Kalymnos, Greece; Wisbech, United Kingdom; Zhouzhuang, Kunshan, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China; Verviers, Belgium & George Town, Penang, Malaysia.

  5. An international photography festival has been held in Arles since 1970.

  6. World Famous Painters Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin lived in Arles. 

  7. The Population of Arles as of 2015 is 52,886.

  8. Arles is situated on the Camargue plain where the Rhône River divides to form its delta.

  9. Arles is the largest commune in France in terms of territory.

  10. A major French publishing house Actes Sud is also situated in Arles. It was founded in 1978 by author Hubert Nyssen.

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Arles Facts

10 Interesting Dijon Facts

Dijon Facts:

  1. The city limits of Dijon date to the Neolithic period.

  2. Dijon is situated at the heart of a plain drained by two small converging rivers: the Suzon & the Ouche.

  3. Dijon is twinned with: Cluj-Napoca, Romania; Dallas, United States; Mainz, Germany; Opole, Poland; Pécs, Hungary; Reggio Emilia, Italy; Skopje, Macedonia; Volgograd, Russia; York, England & Białystok, Poland.

  4. Dijon holds its International and Gastronomic Fair every year in autumn.

  5. The historical center of the city has been registered since July 4, 2015, as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

  6. Dijon is the capital of the Côte-d’Or département in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region.

  7. Dijon began as a Roman settlement called Divio.

  8. As of 2015, the population of Dijon is around 155,114.

  9. Dijon mustard originated in 1856, when Jean Naigeon of Dijon substituted verjuice, for vinegar in the traditional mustard recipe.

  10. Dijon hosted the Formula 1 French Grand Prix on five occasions from 1974 to 1984.

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10 Interesting Cannes Facts

Cannes Facts:

  1. Every Summer, Cannes hosts the Cannes Film Festival.

  2. On 3 November 201, Cannes hosted the 2011 G20 summit.

  3. The city is known for its association with the rich and famous, its luxury hotels and restaurants, and for several conferences.

  4. Cannes is twinned with: Acapulco, Mexico; Beverly Hills, California, USA; Kensington and Chelsea, United Kingdom; Madrid, Spain & Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

  5. By the 2nd century BC, the Ligurian Oxybii established a settlement here known as Aegitna.

  6. Cannes population is 74,285, as of 2015.

  7. Cannes has friendship pacts with Florence, Italy; Gstaad, Saanen, Switzerland; Quebec City, Quebec, Canada; Moscow, Russia; Papeete, French Polynesia; Tel Aviv, Israel & Turin, Italy.

  8. Cannes is a city located on the French Riviera.

  9. Cannes hosts the Cannes Mandelieu Space Center, headquarters of Thales Alenia Space, the first European satellite manufacturer.

  10. The economic environment is based on tourism, business fairs, trade, and aviation.

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10 Interesting Ajaccio Facts

Facts about Ajaccio:

  1. Ajaccio is located on the west coast of the island of Corsica & largest settlement on the island.

  2. Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Ajaccio in 1769.

  3. The residents of Ajaccio are known as Ajacciens or Ajacciennes.

  4. François Coty, the founder of the world’s largest perfume company (Coty perfume) was born in Ajaccio.

  5. Ajaccio became the first French town to be liberated from the German occupation during WW II.

  6. Ajaccio has twinning associations with Jena, Germany; Larnaca, Cyprus; Palma de Mallorca, Spain; Dana Point, California, United States; La Maddalena, Italy & Marrakech, Morocco.

  7. Ajaccio is the headquarters of the Academy of Corsica.

  8. As of 2014, the population of Ajaccio is 69,378.

  9. On 14th September 2009, the city was hit by a tornado with an intensity of F1 on the Fujita scale.

  10. The city has a Mediterranean climate which is Csa in the Köppen climate classification. The average annual sunshine is 2726 hours.

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Other Interesting and Informative Facts

20 Unique Facts About Bordeaux

Facts About Bordeaux

  1. Bordeaux is located close to the European Atlantic coast, in the southwest of France and in the north of the Aquitaine region.

  2. one of Bordeaux’s nicknames is La Belle Endormie, which means Sleeping Beauty.

  3. Bordeaux’s climate is usually classified as an oceanic climate.

  4. The region is home to the largest estuary in Europe, the Gironde estuary.

  5. Bordeaux is home to the longest shopping strip in Europe, Rue Sainte Catherine. Measuring 1.2 kilometers long.

  6. There are no skyscrapers in Bordeaux.

  7. Bordeaux is classified as “City of Art and History”.

  8. Bordeaux is a major center for business in France as it has the fifth-largest metropolitan population in France.

  9. Bordeaux is twinned with: Bristol, United Kingdom; Lima, Peru; Quebec City, Canada; Porto, Portugal; Los Angeles, United States; Munich, Germany; Ashdod, Israel; Fukuoka, Japan; Bilbao, Spain; Madrid, Spain; Casablanca, Morocco; Wuhan, China; Zahlé, Lebanon & Oran, Algeria

  10. The city and port of Bordeaux were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007.

  11. Producing 900 million bottles of wine annually from approximately 250,000 acres of vineyard, Bordeaux is France’s largest appellation.

  12. Male inhabitants are called Bordelais & Female citizens are called Bordelaise.

  13. Bordeaux is in partnerships with Samsun, Turkey; Riga, Latvia; Kraków, Poland & Saint Petersburg, Russia.

  14. Europe’s longest-span vertical-lift bridge, the Pont Jacques Chaban-Delmas, was opened in 2013 in Bordeaux.

  15. The city is home to 362 monuments historiques, only beaten by Paris, with some buildings dating back to Roman times.

  16. Bordeaux is the capital of five cantons and the Prefecture of the Gironde and Aquitaine.

  17. Bordeaux has the highest number of preserved historical buildings of any city in France.

  18. Bordeaux has a population of 252,040, as of 2016.

  19. Around 567 BC the region was the settlement of a Celtic tribe, the Bituriges Vivisci, who named the town Burdigala.

  20. Since 1947, there have been 4 mayors of Bordeaux: 1947–1995 Jacques Chaban-Delmas; 1995–2004 Alain Juppé; 2004–2006 Hugues Martin; 2006–2019 Alain Juppé & 2019–present Nicolas Florian.

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10 Interesting Colmar Facts

Interesting Colmar Facts
  1. Colmar is the third-largest commune of the Alsace region in north-eastern France.
  2. The Colmar is renowned for its well-preserved old town.
  3. The Colmar Treasure, a hoard of precious objects hidden by Jews during the Black Death, was discovered here in 1863.
  4. The city was conquered by France under King Louis XIV in 1673 and officially ceded by the 1679 Treaties of Nijmegen.
  5. Colmar is twinned with: Hyde, United Kingdom; Lucca, Italy; Sint-Niklaas, Belgium; Schongau, Bavaria, Germany; Vale of White Horse (Abington), United Kingdom; Eisenstadt, Austria; Princeton, United States & Győr, Hungary.
  6. Colmar has a sunny microclimate and is one of the driest cities in France.
  7. Notable people of Colmar: Ryad Boudebouz, Thomas Bloch, Ernst Stadler, Jean-Baptiste Lemire, Charles Xavier Thomas & Jean Rapp (View the Full list of all Notable People of Colmar)
  8. Colmar Population of 67,956, as of 2016.
  9. Colmar is considered the capital of the Alsatian wine region.
  10. Colmar was first mentioned by Charlemagne in his chronicle about Saxon wars.

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10 Fun Facts About Avignon

Facts About Avignon:
  1. Avignon is a city on the Rhône River in the south of France.
  2. Avignon was named the European Capital of Culture in 2000.
  3. The centre of Avignon was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1995.
  4. Avignon is twined with: Colchester, United Kingdom; Guanajuato, Mexico; Diourbel, Senegal; New Haven, Connecticut, USA; Siena, Italy; Tarragona, Spain; Tortosa, Spain & Wetzlar, Germany.
  5. The city of Avignon has an area of 64.78 km2 .
  6. Avignon has 173 sites and buildings, that are registered as historical monuments.
  7. A famous theatre festival is held annually in Avignon. Founded in 1947.
  8. On 16 May 2007 the commune of Les Angles in Gard ceded 13 hectares to Avignon.
  9. Avignon is the administrative capital of the Vaucluse.
  10. The first foundations of the city were around 539 before the birth of Christ.

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