Elbeuf

Commune in Normandy, France

(2020–2026) Djoudé Merabet^[1]Area16.32 km² (6.30 sq mi)Population15,951 • Density980/km² (2,500/sq mi)Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET) • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)INSEE/Postal codeElevation2–133 m (6.6–436.4 ft)
(avg. 50 m or 160 ft)¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Elbeuf (French pronunciation: [ɛlbœf]) is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France.

Geography

A light industrial town situated by the banks of the Seine some 11 miles (18 km) south of Rouen at the junction of the D7, D321 and the D313 roads. The commune's territory is largely residential to the north but the southern section is covered by thick woodland. Its position by a meander of the Seine leaves the town susceptible to flooding.

History

The first written record of the town was in the 10th century, on a map of Richard I of Normandy, under the name "Wellebou".^{[citation needed]} It passed into the hands of the houses of Rieux and Lorraine, and was raised to the rank of a duchy in the peerage of France by Henry III in favour of Charles de Lorraine. The last duke of Elbeuf was Charles Eugène of Lorraine.^[3]

Heraldry

The arms of Elbeuf are blazoned : Per pale: 1 Or, a patriarchal cross gules issuant from a base, supporting a grapevine vert fructed purpure, 2 Azure, a beehive Or on a base vert, beset by bees Or.

Population

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1968	19,407	—
1975	19,116	−0.22%
1982	17,224	−1.48%
1990	16,604	−0.46%
1999	16,666	+0.04%
2007	16,975	+0.23%
2012	17,315	+0.40%
2017	16,166	−1.36%
Source: INSEE[4]

Places of interest

• The mairie, also housing the museum.
• Two seventeenth-century churches.
• Some sixteenth-century houses.
• Elbeuf corp headquarters.
• A fifteenth-century stone cross.
• The theatre (1890), renovated in the late twentieth century.

Notable people

• Raoul Grimoin-Sanson, cinematography inventor, was born here.
• André Maurois (né Émile Salomon Wilhelm Herzog), novelist, member of the Académie française
• David Vigor was born here and was a member of the Australian Senate, representing the Australian Democrats and the Unite Australia Party

Twin towns

Lingen, Germany

See also

• List of rulers of Elbeuf
• Communes of the Seine-Maritime department

References

External links