Charleville-Mézières City Map Poster

About Charleville-Mézières

The city is surrounded by the Ardennes department. It is located at 6 km (3.7 mi) from the Belgian border and 50 km (31 mi) from Luxembourg, Germany and Switzerland. The inhabitants of Charleville-Mézières are known as Charmois or Charmoises.[1] History [ edit ] Charleville-Mézières was founded in 1071 when Eudes II, Duke of Burgundy built a castle on a rocky promontory where the Chiers River flows into the Meuse river.[2] This fortress controlled an important trade route between Noyon and Liège,[3][4] which later became part of one branch of what Napoleon Bonaparte called his "natural frontier" running through Charleville to Verdun via Saarbrücken[5]:p35–37; this was defended by Fort de Battignies some miles upstream on another rock outcrop overhanging both rivers.