Givet
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{For|the French football player|Gaël Givet}}
{{Infobox French commune
|name = Givet
|native name = {{nativename|wa|Djivet}}
|commune status = Commune
|image coat of arms = Blason de la ville de Givet (Ardennes).svg
|image = 0 Givet - Meuse, pont des Américains, ville et fort Charlemont.JPG
|caption = The river Meuse, the American Bridge, the Quai des Remparts, the Saint-Hilaire quarter and the Charlemont fort
|arrondissement = Charleville-Mézières
|canton = Givet
|INSEE = 08190
|postal code = 08600
|term = 2020–2026
|intercommunality = Ardenne Rives de Meuse
|coordinates = {{coord|50.1389|4.825|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|elevation m = 124
|elevation min m = 103
|elevation max m = 124
|area km2 = 18.41
|population = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_total}}
|population date = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_as_of}}
|population footnotes = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_footnotes}}
|website = {{URL|https://givet.fr}}
}}
Givet ({{IPA|fr|ʒi.vɛ}}) ({{langx|de|Gibet}}; {{langx|wa|Djivet}}) is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France surrounded on three sides by the Belgian border.
It lies on the river Meuse where Emperor Charles V built the fortress of Charlemont. It borders the French municipalities of Fromelennes to the east and Rancennes to the south and Foisches to the southeast.
The Pointe de Givet National Nature Reserve is partly located on the commune.
History
The town's history claims that Saint Hubert lived there in 720 and performed a miracle. The town has changed hands several times since the Roman era before becoming part of France in 1678, and was later invaded by Russians and Germans.
During the Nine Years' War in 1696 Givet functioned as a supply depot for the French army and was bombarded by and Anglo-Dutch force under Menno van Coehoorn.
During the Napoleonic Wars, the French maintained a camp here for British naval prisoners of war from 1804 to 1814. One of the officer prisoners, Captain Jahleel Brenton, Royal Navy, who had been captured when his ship, H.M. frigate Minerve ran aground off Cherbourg, and Naval Chaplain the Reverend Robert B. Wolfe, also a prisoner, established a school of navigation for the imprisoned British sailors. This was a successful unofficial initiative for teaching navigation that also provided a center for the growth of religious piety in the Royal Navy.Mark J. Gabrielson, "Enlightenment in the Darkness: The British Prisoner of War School of Navigation. Givet, France. 1805–1814," Northern Mariner, vol. 25 (2015), pp. 7-41. https://www.cnrs-scrn.org/northern_mariner/vol25/tnm_25_7-41.pdf An example of student work in the navigation school is
preserved in the notebook by British seaman William Carter.William Carter Navigation Journal, MSC-364- File MSI 21, Naval Historical Collection, Naval War College, Newport, RI. The document is online at [https://usnwcarchives.org/repositories/2/archival_objects/39992] British seaman, John Wetherell, a survivor of the British 38-gun frigate {{HMS|Hussar}} that had wrecked near Brest and was burnt by her crew to prevent her capture, was imprisoned at Givet from 1804 to 1814 and left an account of his experiences.C.S. Forester, ed., The Adventures of John Wetherell (New York: Doubleday & Co., 1953), pp. 146-246.
In World War II, Givet was occupied by the Germans on May 12, 1940 and liberated by the allies on September 7, 1944. By December 1944, 11,000 American soldiers were billeted in the ancient Charlemont fortress. The German Ardennes Offensive targeted Givet and its crossing of the Meuse. The British, under General Montgomery, organized a last-ditch defense, and on 24 December, the German drive was stopped about {{convert|10|km|0}} from Givet.
Givet is also the birthplace of writer Henry Bidou (1873 – 1943), pianist Jeanne-Marie Darré (1905-1999) and oboist Gilles Silvestrini (born 1961).
Population
{{Historical populations
|align = none
|cols = 2
|percentages = pagr
|source = EHESS{{Cassini-Ehess|15577|Givet }} and INSEE (1968-2017)[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/4515315?geo=COM-08190#ancre-POP_T1 Population en historique depuis 1968], INSEE
|1793 |4100
|1800 |3643
|1806 |3879
|1821 |4068
|1831 |4220
|1836 |4293
|1841 |5689
|1846 |5855
|1851 |5639
|1866 |5801
|1872 |5104
|1876 |5575
|1881 |6972
|1886 |7820
|1891 |7083
|1896 |7100
|1901 |6947
|1906 |7468
|1911 |7759
|1921 |5519
|1926 |6803
|1931 |6826
|1936 |6923
|1946 |5524
|1954 |6656
|1962 |7444
|1968 |7865
|1975 |7804
|1982 |7587
|1990 |7775
|1999 |7372
|2007 |6777
|2012 |6574
|2017 |6749
}}
Transport
SNCF's TER Grand Est trains run at about hourly intervals from Givet station to Charleville-Mézières, taking about an hour{{Cite web|title=Aller de Charleville-Mézières à Givet|url=https://www.sncf-connect.com/train/horaires/charleville-mezieres/givet|website=SNCF Connect}} for the {{Convert|64|km|abbr=on}} route. Compagnie des chemins de fer des Ardennes opened the station in 1862.
TEC bus 154A runs every hour or two from the station to Dinant, taking about 42 minutes.{{Cite web|title=Trouver votre itinéraire|url=https://www.letec.be/#/Itinerary/Search/OriginStopId=N301ajb&JourneyFrom=GIVET%20Gare&OriginLatitude=50.1403074&OriginLongitude=4.8182521&DestinationStopID=N232aqb&JourneyTo=DINANT%20Gare&DestinationLatitude=50.2617458&DestinationLongitude=4.9076987&Type=Time&How=bus&How=tram&How=train&How=delijn&How=stib&How=sncb&DateForm=09.03.2022%20%C3%A0%2006:50&WhenForm=go&ArriveDate=09.03.2022%20%C3%A0%2006:46&RequestTimePreference=Respect&IncludeEarliers=No&When=go&LeaveDate=09.03.2022%20%C3%A0%2007:44|access-date=2022-02-20|website=www.letec.be}} It replaces railway line 154A, which took about 30 minutes{{Cite web|date=23 May 1982|title=154 Givet - Dinant - Namur|url=https://timetableworld.com/ttw-viewer.php?token=c436a981-0179-4efb-bfd7-6b83188ea516|access-date=2022-02-20|website=timetableworld.com}} for the {{Convert|22|km|abbr=on}} route{{Cite web|date=15 May 1931|title=Chemin de Fer Belges, Horaires des Trains|url=https://www.tassignon.be/trains/PDF/IO-OR-19310515-19311003.pdf}} and closed in 1988. In 2021 a study began into reopening a single track, with a cycleway alongside.{{Cite web|date=2022-01-25|title=Des études en 2022 pour rouvrir la ligne de chemin de fer Givet-Dinant|url=https://www.francebleu.fr/infos/transports/des-etudes-en-2022-pour-rouvrir-la-ligne-de-chemin-de-fer-givet-dinant-1643094023|access-date=2022-02-20|website=France Bleu|language=fr}}
The former Line 138A to Florennes and Châtelet has been converted to a RAVeL cycleway.{{Cite web|title=De Mariembourg (Couvin) à Hastière * Ligne 156|url=https://ravel.wallonie.be/home/itineraires/local/ligne-156/de-mariembourg-couvin-a-hastiere.html|access-date=2022-02-21|website=ravel.wallonie.be}}
The River Meuse is navigable from the North Sea to Givet. The Canal de la Meuse links to the rest of the French canal network. The port declined after the canal was enlarged to allow 1,350 ton barges in the 1960s,{{Cite web|date=2015-05-11|title=Port Givet: a true multimodal platform close to the big North Sea ports|url=https://blog.ardennes-developpement.com/en/news/port-givet-true-multimodal-platform-close-to-the-big-north-sea-ports|access-date=2022-02-21|website=blog.ardennes-developpement.com|language=en}} but, when it was reconnected to the railway in 2013, it was still handling about 760,000 tonnes of freight a year.{{Cite web|title=SNCF : Le renouveau de la ligne Charleville-Givet|url=https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/grand-est/2013/07/11/sncf-le-renouveau-de-la-ligne-charleville-givet-286199.html|access-date=2022-02-20|website=France 3 Grand Est|language=fr-FR}}
Givet is served by several main roads, including D8051 to Rocroi, formerly N51, and D949, which is the French section of Belgium's N40, linking Arlon and Mons.
In literature
Georges Simenon set his Maigret novel The Flemish House in Givet. Published first in 1932, it evokes the nature of the town at that time.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- [https://givet.fr/ Official Web site] (in French)
- {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Givet}}
{{Ardennes communes}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Communes of Ardennes (department)
Category:Ardennes communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia
Category:Prisoner-of-war camps