Marne is a department in north-eastern
FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
named after the river Marne which flows through the department. The prefecture (capital) of Marne is
Châlons-en-ChampagneChâlons-en-Champagne is a city in France. It is the capital of both the department of Marne and the region of Champagne-Ardenne, despite being only a quarter the size of the city of Reims....
(formerly known as Châlons-sur-Marne). The subprefectures are
ÉpernayÉpernay is a commune in the Marne department in northern France. Épernay is located some 130 km north-east of Paris on the main line of the Eastern railway to Strasbourg...
,
ReimsReims , a city in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, lies east-northeast of Paris. Founded by the Gauls, it became a major city during the period of the Roman Empire....
,
Sainte-MenehouldSainte-Menehould is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France.The town and its several restaurants pride themselves on serving a local specialty called pied de cochon or pig's trotters....
, and
Vitry-le-FrançoisVitry-le-François is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France. It is located on the Marne River and is the western terminus of the Marne-Rhine Canal.- History :In 1142, Louis VII invaded Champagne and seized Vitry-le-François...
.
The Champagne vineyards producing the world-famous sparkling wine are located within Marne.
History
Marne is one of the original 83 departments created during the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
on March 4, 1790. It was created from the province of
ChampagneThe Champagne wine region is a historic province within the Champagne administrative province in the northeast of France. The area is best known for the production of the sparkling white wine that bears the region's name...
.
Marne has a long association with the
French ArmyThe French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
. The training ground of the
Camp Militaire de Mailly straddles the border with the département of Aube in the south while that of the
Camp de Mourmelon occupies a large area north of
Châlons-en-ChampagneChâlons-en-Champagne is a city in France. It is the capital of both the department of Marne and the region of Champagne-Ardenne, despite being only a quarter the size of the city of Reims....
. The smaller
Camp de Moronvilliers lies to the east of Reims and the
Camp Militaire de Suippes lies to the east of that. These are all on the chalk of the Champagne plateau, a feature comparable in geology but not size, with the British military training ground on
Salisbury PlainSalisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in central southern England covering . It is part of the Southern England Chalk Formation and largely lies within the county of Wiltshire, with a little in Hampshire. The plain is famous for its rich archaeology, including Stonehenge, one of England's best known...
.
Geography
Marne is part of the
regionFrance is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...
of
Champagne-ArdenneChampagne-Ardenne is one of the 27 regions of France. It is located in the northeast of the country, bordering Belgium, and consists of four departments: Aube, Ardennes, Haute-Marne, and Marne. The region is famous for its sparkling white wine . Its rivers, most of which flow west, include the...
and is surrounded by the departments of Ardennes,
MeuseMeuse is a department in northeast France, named after the River Meuse.-History:Meuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
,
Haute-MarneHaute-Marne is a department in the northeast of France named after the Marne River.-History:Haute-Marne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
,
AubeAube is a department in the northeastern part of France named after the Aube River. In 1995, its population was 293,100 inhabitants.- History :Aube is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
,
Seine-et-MarneSeine-et-Marne is a French department, named after the Seine and Marne rivers, and located in the Île-de-France region.- History:Seine-et-Marne is one of the original 83 departments, created on March 4, 1790 during the French Revolution in application of the law of December 22, 1789...
, and
AisneAisne is a department in the northern part of France named after the Aisne River.- History :Aisne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Île-de-France, Picardie, and Champagne.Most of the old...
.
Geologically, it divides into two distinct parts; the Upper Cretaceous
chalkChalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
plain in the east and the more wooded and hilly
EoceneThe Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...
and
OligoceneThe Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 34 million to 23 million years before the present . As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are slightly...
in the west.
Rivers draining the department include the Marne,
VesleThe Vesle is the river on which the city of Reims stands. It is a fourth order river of France and a left-bank tributary of the Aisne River. It is 140 kilometres long, rises in the département of Marne through which it flows most of its course.-Geography:...
,
ArdreThe Ardre is a fifth order river in France which flows into the Vesle thence into the Aisne, Oise and Seine.-Geography:The river lies to the west of Reims and flows on bearing of about 310° from the Parc Régional de la Montagne de Reims to enter the Vesle at Fismes.It rises at an altitude of about...
and Somme-Soude. Numerous other rivers, such as the Grande and the Petite Morin rise in the department but flow mainly in others. Conversely, the Aube joins the
SeineThe Seine is a -long river and an important commercial waterway within the Paris Basin in the north of France. It rises at Saint-Seine near Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre . It is navigable by ocean-going vessels...
in the department of Marne.
Tourism
ReimsReims , a city in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, lies east-northeast of Paris. Founded by the Gauls, it became a major city during the period of the Roman Empire....
, with its famous cathedral in which the kings of France were traditionally crowned, is a major attraction. Other branches of tourism are provided by the bird reserve on the
Lake Der-ChantecoqLake Der-Chantecoq is situated close to the commune of Saint-Dizier in the departments of Marne and Haute-Marne. It is the largest artificial lake in Western Europe, covering 48 km² with 350 million m³ of water...
and the fishing lakes nearby. The
Parc Naturel Régional de la Montagne de Reims is a major area of country recreation. In the west of the département there are many scenic routes to be explored as also are the several wine cellars of
ÉpernayÉpernay is a commune in the Marne department in northern France. Épernay is located some 130 km north-east of Paris on the main line of the Eastern railway to Strasbourg...
.
See also
- Champagne Riots
The Champagne Riots of 1910 and 1911 resulted from a series of problems faced by grape growers in the Champagne area of France. These included four years of disastrous crop losses, the infestation of the phylloxera louse , low income and the belief that wine merchants were using grapes from outside...
- French wine
French wine is produced in several regions throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France has the world's second-largest total vineyard area, behind Spain, and is in the position of being the world's largest wine producer...
- Cantons of the Marne department
- Communes of the Marne department
- Arrondissements of the Marne department
External links
Prefecture website General Council website
/
Official Tourist Board