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Montreuil (French pronunciation: [mɔ̃tʁœj] (listen); also Dutch: Monsterole), also known as Montreuil-sur-Mer (pronounced [mɔ̃tʁœj syʁ mɛʁ]; Picard: Montreu-su-Mér or Montreul-su-Mér, literally Montreuil on Sea), is a sub-prefecture in the Pas-de-Calais department, northern France.[2] It is located on the Canche river, not far from Étaples. The sea, however, is now some distance away. Montreuil-sur-Mer station has rail connections to Arras and Étaples.

Montreuil Monsterole
Subprefecture and commune
The town hall of Montreuil-Sur-Mer
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Montreuil
Montreuil Show map of France Montreuil Show map of Hauts-de-France
Coordinates: 50°27′53″N 1°45′47″E
Country	France
Region	Hauts-de-France
Department	Pas-de-Calais
Arrondissement	Montreuil
Canton	Berck
Intercommunality	CA Deux Baies en Montreuillois
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Pierre Ducrocq
Area 1	2.85 km2 (1.10 sq mi)
Population  (Jan. 2019)[1]	1,935
• Density	680/km2 (1,800/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	62588 /62170
Elevation	2–43 m (6.6–141.1 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Sights

Montreuil is surrounded by notable brickwork ramparts, constructed after the destruction of the town by troops of Habsburg emperor Charles V in June 1537.[3] These fortifications pre-date the extensive fortification of towns in northern France by Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban in the 17th century.

History

Montreuil was the headquarters of the British Army in France during the First World War from March 1916 until it closed in April 1919. The military academy^[where?] there provided excellent facilities for GHQ.

Montreuil was chosen as GHQ for a wide variety of reasons. It was on a main road from London to Paris—the two chief centers of the campaign—though not on a main railway line, which would have been an inconvenience. It was not an industrial town and so avoided the complications alike of noise and of a possibly troublesome civil population. It was from a telephone and motor transit point of view in a very central situation to serve the needs of a Force which was based on Dunkirk, Calais, Boulogne, Dieppe, and Le Havre, and had its front stretching from the River Somme to beyond the Belgian frontier.[4]

Haig staff member Sir Frank Fox OBE wrote a critically acclaimed contemporary account of the headquarters in 1916, originally published under the pseudonym "GSO", called G.H.Q. (Montreuil-sur-Mer) His work in the QMG's Directorate in the final offensive against the German Army resulted in his being awarded the OBE (Military) He was also Mentioned in Despatches.

General Haig was quartered in the nearby Château de Beaurepaire, two miles (3.2 kilometres) southeast of the town on the D138. There is a plaque on the château wall to commemorate this.

King George V, accompanied by Haig, made a triumphant passage through Montreuil on his way to Paris on 27 November 1918.[5]

A statue of Haig on horseback, commemorating his stay, can be seen outside the theatre on the Place Charles de Gaulle.[6] During the German occupation of the town during the Second World War, the statue was taken down. It was never found and is thought to have been melted down. It was rebuilt in the 1950s, using the sculptor's original mould.

Demographics

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1968	2,944	—
1975	2,840	−0.51%
1982	2,753	−0.44%
1990	2,450	−1.45%
1999	2,428	−0.10%
2007	2,316	−0.59%
2012	2,191	−1.10%
2017	2,014	−1.67%
Source: INSEE[7]

Literature

Laurence Sterne visited the town in 1765. He recounted his visit through the eyes of the narrator of his novel A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy (1768).

In Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables (1862), Montreuil-sur-Mer is the setting for much of volume I, "Fantine," being the hometown of the eponymous heroine. In early English-language editions, the town is identified only as M____-sur-M__,[8] and the name is changed entirely in some film adaptations. E.g., the 1998 film directed by Bille August calls it "Vigaud," a pun on Victor Hugo. However, the English-language version of the popular Schönberg-Boublil musical, and all screen adaptations thereof, restore the full name in the on-screen title cards, although it is never spoken in the libretto.

International relations

Montreuil is twinned with Slough, England, UK.[9]

Gallery

• 
  Church, Montreuil
• 
  Walls of Montreuil
• 
  Ramparts
• 
  Chapelle Sainte-Austreberthe
• 
  A street in Montreuil-sur-Mer
• 
  Église abbatiale Saint-Saulve

See also

• Communes of the Pas-de-Calais department

References

External links

• The equestrian statue of Field Marshal Haig on the website "Remembrance Trails of the Great War in Northern France"

На других языках

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- [en] Montreuil, Pas-de-Calais

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[ru] Монтрёй (Па-де-Кале)

Монтрёй или Монтрёй-сюр-Мер (фр. Montreuil, Montreuil-sur-Mer) — коммуна во Франции, регион О-де-Франс, департамент Па-де-Кале, округ Монтрёй, кантон Берк. Город расположен в 77 км к западу от Арраса и в 105 км к юго-западу от Лилля, в 5 км от автомагистрали А16 «Европейская», на берегу реки Канш.

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