- Département
- Marne (Grand Est region)
- Site
- Southern Marne, Champagne crayeuse (dry Champagne), on the Superbe (Vaure)
- Inhabitants
- 2,173 (as of 1 January 2023)
- Source
- Wikipedia, eigene Zusammenfassung
Fère-Champenoise is a market town in the south of the Marne, in the heart of the chalky Champagne crayeuse. It is farmland rather than vineyard, but a stop on the Route nationale 4 with a great deal of history.
Location
Fère-Champenoise lies in the south of the Marne département, in the arrondissement of Épernay. The town spreads along both banks of the Superbe, which is also known here as the Vaure. At around 6,600 hectares, the commune is the second largest in the Marne after Sommepy-Tahure. It includes the linear village of Normée, which was independent until 1972. Altitudes range from 104 to 169 metres.
Distances are easy to plan for visitors: Épernay is 38 kilometres away, Châlons-en-Champagne 37, Reims 79 and Paris 133 kilometres. The Route nationale 4 runs right through the area, and the A26 motorway can be reached after about 20 kilometres.
Farmland, not vineyard
Fère-Champenoise belongs to the Champagne crayeuse, the dry Champagne. The subsoil is Cretaceous chalk, which comes to the surface in many places. It is the same geological foundation on which the region's vineyards stand.
Within the commune itself, however, arable farming dominates: a good 91 per cent of the land is used for agriculture, 90.8 per cent of that as arable land. Vineyards do not appear in the land-use figures. The vineyards around Vertus lie to the north, and the canton's main town, Blancs-Coteaux, is 21 kilometres away. For a long time Fère-Champenoise was a market town that processed the grain and produce of the surrounding countryside. Today the local economy is shaped by food production, animal feed made from sugar beet and the building of agricultural machinery.
It includes the linear village of Normée, which was independent until 1972.
History
Settlement here goes back a long way: finds show habitation in the Bronze and Iron Ages, later in Celtic and Roman times, as well as two Merovingian burial grounds. The name derives from the Germanic Fara, meaning settlement or colony. In 1131 it is recorded as Feria Campaniensis.
The town became famous through war:
- On 25 March 1814 the Coalition troops defeated Napoleon's army here and occupied Paris six days later.
- In September 1914 Fère-Champenoise was one of the sites of the First Battle of the Marne.
- On 6 June 1940 an air raid followed by a major fire destroyed around 80 houses in the centre.
As early as 1756, a fire had destroyed almost the whole town. The present layout dates from the rebuilding that followed.
What to see
The church of Saint-Timothée has parts of its tower dating from the 13th century. The choir was built in the 15th century, and the nave was rebuilt, larger than before, after the fire of 1756. A little outside the town stands the Monument aux Morts by Robert Delandre, which commemorates the fallen of the Battle of the Marne.
For champagne travellers, Fère-Champenoise is more of a stopover than a destination: if you are coming from Paris along the RN4, or travelling between Épernay and Troyes, you will find a town with a lot of history. The inhabitants call themselves Fertons and Fertonnes.
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