Dreux

The past of Dreux is also illustrated by archaeological collections, superb stained glass windows and medieval capitals, or the memories of the Orleans family and the Royal Chapel. A unique place, open to all, the Museum of Art and History of Dreux is above all a place of exchange. The watchwords are curiosity and pleasure. Activities and conferences are offered throughout the year. The legend tells that Dreux would be born from a myth and would have been founded by Drius after the Flood. He would have given his name to Dreux and called its inhabitants the "Druids" who settled on the borders of the ancient forest of the Carnutes, of which the state forest is now partly the heir. Although the origins of Dreux are still unknown, the only certainty is that it was born in the Middle Ages. It was at this time that Dreux was built on the left bank of the Blaise river, the source of its activity, notably the cloth industry. A busy river and road crossroads, the small town prospered and fortified itself. Its castle, one of the most powerful in the whole of Ile-de-France, stood as an advanced sentinel of the Capetian domain against the rival power of the Dukes of Normandy. Under the reign of Clovis, the city became the County of Dreux and asserted itself as a strategic place for the defense of the kingdom of France. In 1108, the County of Dreux belonged to Louis VI the Fat who granted the bourgeois the "rights of commune", giving birth to the Commune of Dreux. Preserved from the hazards of history, Dreux has kept its initial morphology, divided between upper and lower town, protected from the winds by a high hill on which stands the royal chapel, one of the jewels of the city of Dreux, which houses the necropolis of the illustrious Orleans family. Below its majestic park, walls and round towers still surround the city, vestiges of the old castle of Dreux. Built in 1816 on the site of the former fortress of the Counts of Dreux, the chapel is the first building erected in the neoclassical style by the Duchess of Orleans. Her son, King Louis-Philippe, enlarged it a few years later in a neo-gothic style and it became "royal". The past has bequeathed to Dreux and its inhabitants other monuments such as the belfry, the chapel of the Hôtel-Dieu and its tower of foundlings, the Romanesque house or the church of Saint-Pierre. In total, there are 9 monuments protected as Historic Monuments.