1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
Bar-le-Duc (French pronunciation:[baʁlədyk]ⓘ), formerly known as Bar, is a commune in the Meusedépartement, of which it is the capital. The department is in Grand Est in northeastern France.[3]
The lower, more modern and busier part of the town extends along a narrow valley, shut in by wooded or vine-clad hills, and is traversed by the Ornain, which is crossed by several bridges. It is bordered on the north-east by the Marne–Rhine Canal and on the south-west by a small arm of the Ornain called the Canal des Usines, on the left bank of which the upper town (Ville Haute) is situated.[4]
The highly rarefied Bar-le-duc jelly, also known as Lorraine jelly, is a spreadable preparation of white currant or red currantfruit preserves. First mentioned in the historical record in 1344, it is also colloquially referred to as "Bar caviar".
Bar-le-Duc was at one time the seat of the county, from 1354 the Duchy of Bar.
Though probably of ancient origin, the town was unimportant until the 10th century when it was fortified by Frederick I of Upper Lorraine.[4]
Bar was an independent duchy from 1354 to 1480, when it was acquired by Duchy of Lorraine.
The Ville Haute, which is reached by steps and steep narrow thoroughfares, is intersected by a long, quiet street, bordered by houses of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. In this quarter are the remains (16th-century) of the château of the dukes of Bar, dismantled in 1670, the old clock-tower and the college, built in the latter half of the 16th century. The church of Saint-Étienne (constructed during the 14th and 15th centuries) contains the Cadaver Tomb of René of Chalon, a skilfully carved effigy in white stone of a half-decayed corpse. It was erected to the memory of René of Châlon (died 1544) and is the work of 16th-century artist Ligier Richier, a pupil of Michelangelo.[4]
The lower town contains the official buildings and the churches of Notre-Dame, the most ancient in the town, and St Antony, with 14th-century frescoes. Among the statues of distinguished natives of the town is one of Nicolas Oudinot, whose house serves as the hôtel-de-ville.[4] Other sights include Notre-Dame Bridge, with five arches surmounted by a chapel in the middle.
Bar-le-Duc served as the assembly point for essential supplies going to the besieged city of Verdun during the Battle of Verdun in 1916. Thousands of trucks, carrying men, equipment and food, travelled north, around the clock, on the road linking Bar-le-Duc to Verdun. The route was given the name Voie Sacrée (Sacred Way) by the writer and politician Maurice Barres in April 1916, a reference to the ancient Roman Sacra Via, leading to triumph.
In 2023, it served as the end location of the seventh season of the travel based competition “Jet Lag: The Game”.
Population
Historical population
Year
Pop.
±% p.a.
1793
9,111
—
1800
8,961
−0.24%
1806
9,970
+1.79%
1821
11,432
+0.92%
1831
12,496
+0.89%
1836
12,383
−0.18%
1841
12,526
+0.23%
1846
13,191
+1.04%
1851
14,816
+2.35%
1856
13,835
−1.36%
1861
14,922
+1.52%
1866
15,334
+0.55%
1872
15,175
−0.17%
1876
16,728
+2.47%
1881
17,485
+0.89%
1886
18,860
+1.53%
1891
18,761
−0.11%
1896
18,249
−0.55%
Year
Pop.
±% p.a.
1901
17,693
−0.62%
1906
17,307
−0.44%
1911
17,068
−0.28%
1921
16,261
−0.48%
1926
16,365
+0.13%
1931
16,550
+0.23%
1936
16,697
+0.18%
1946
15,460
−0.77%
1954
16,609
+0.90%
1962
18,346
+1.25%
1968
19,159
+0.73%
1975
19,288
+0.10%
1982
18,471
−0.62%
1990
17,545
−0.64%
1999
16,944
−0.39%
2007
16,002
−0.71%
2012
15,759
−0.31%
2017
14,985
−1.00%
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
This article's list of residents may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are residents, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations.(April 2019)
Bar-le-Duc was the birthplace of:
Jean de Lorraine (1498–1550), Cardinal de Lorraine, Bishop of Metz, Archbishop of Narbonne
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