Péronne, Somme

Péronne
Péronne
Subprefecture and commune
	Coat of arms
	Motto(s): Urbs nescia vinci; The town that ignores defeat
	Location of Péronne
	Péronne Péronne
	Coordinates: 49°55′45″N 2°56′06″E / 49.9293°N 2.93500°E
Country	France
Region	Hauts-de-France
Department	Somme
Arrondissement	Péronne
Canton	Péronne
Intercommunality	Haute Somme
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Gautier Maes
Area 1	14.16 km2 (5.47 sq mi)
Population (2021)	7,291
• Density	510/km2 (1,300/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	80620 /80200
Elevation	47–117 m (154–384 ft) ; (avg. 54 m or 177 ft)
	1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Péronne (French pronunciation:

First World War. The Museum of the Great War

(known in French as the Historial de la Grande Guerre) is located in the château.

Geography

Péronne is situated in the old region of Santerre, home of the early French kings. It is located in the Somme valley.

The autoroutes A1 and A16 pass close by. The national road, the N17, traverses the town.

Demography

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1968	7,146	—
1975	8,568	+2.63%
1982	9,129	+0.91%
1990	8,497	−0.89%
1999	8,380	−0.15%
2007	8,155	−0.34%
2012	7,737	−1.05%
2017	7,579	−0.41%
Source: INSEE^[4]

History

On a hill, dominating the

Somme river

and its lakes, Péronne was a well-fortified place during the early Middle Ages. The ramparts were built in the 9th century. All that remains today of the ancient fortress is the Porte de Bretagne.

Few towns have been as involved in the history of France, few towns so often devastated, as Péronne. Burned and pillaged in the time of the Normans; gravely damaged during the time of the Spanish occupation; devastated by the Germans in

Légion d'honneur

:

King
Rudolph, Duke of Burgundy
died here, a captive in the dungeons, in 929. He was buried in the abbey.
In the 12th century, Philippe II built the towers of the château, surrounded by ditches, with a portcullis to defend the main gate.
In 1468,
Louis XI
, who was held prisoner in the castle. Much land was ceded, but eventually won back by Louis.
In 1536,
Charles Quint
unsuccessfully besieged the town. Catherine of Poix, also known as “Marie Fouré" led the defence of the town, throwing a Spaniard off the top of the wall.
On 14 September 1641, Louis XIII and Honoré II, Prince of Monaco signed a treaty at Péronne, placing the principality of Monaco under the protection of France.
On 26 June 1815 following the Battle of Waterloo, a garrison of 1,500 National Guard in the town surrendered to the advancing Allied Army.^[5]^[6]
There was a motor-racing circuit southeast of the town in the 1920s and 1930s which held the Grand Prix de Picardie organised by the Automobile Club de Picardie et de l'Aisne.

Places and monuments

Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Péronne: Destroyed between 1914 and 1918, then slightly damaged in 1944, the west front, is built in "gothique flamboyant" style.
In front of the church stands the statue of Marie Fouré, a local heroine.
Danicourt Museum (named for former mayor Charles Alfred Danicourt), founded in the
Merovingian
funeral artefacts, a panorama of sand production during prehistoric times and some local examples of 19th- and 20th-century paintings.
The city of Péronne is equally known for its "Monument to the Dead", the work of the architect Louis Faille, representing a Picardy woman with clenched fist raised above the body of her son or husband killed by the war.
Monument of the Sailor Delpas, recalling the defence of the city and its fall at the time of the Franco-Prussian War in the winter 1870–1871.
The Australian Monument recalls the heroic actions in a neighbourhood of the town by Australian soldiers in 1918.
The Brittany Gate, with its strengthened stonework, is reminiscent of the defensive aspect of Péronne
The
French Ministry of Culture.^[7]

Within the walls of the ancient château, nowadays run by the Somme département, the "Historial de la Grande Guerre" museum is a ‘must visit’ for those interested in the Great War. Created in 1992, by architect Henri Ciriani, it illustrates the development of the conflict. The building is characterised by the stark whiteness of the cement, inset with small cylinders, symbolic of military graves.
Mont Saint-Quentin