Fougères

French commune
nomcommune=Fougères
native_name=Felger


caption=View of the old town and the castle


x=74
y=83
lat_long=coord|48|21|09|N|1|11|55|W|region:FR_type:city
région=Bretagne
département=Ille-et-Vilaine
arrondissement=Fougères
canton=Fougères-Nord and Fougères-Sud
insee=35115
cp=35300
maire=Jacques Faucheux
mandat=Since 2001
intercomm=Fougères
alt moy=97 m
alt mini=62
alt maxi=171 m
hectares=1047
km²=10.47
sans=21,779
date-sans=1999
dens=2080
date-dens=1999

Fougères (Felger in Breton, Foujerr in Gallo) is a commune and a sub-prefecture of the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Bretagne in northwestern France.

ights

Fougères' major monument is a medieval stronghold built atop a granite ledge, which was part of the ultimately unsuccessful defence system of the Duchy of Brittany against French aggression, and part of a tripartate with Vitré

Fougères also has one of only three belfries in Brittany. Its location serves as the center of the weekend market. The belfry, built 1397, has symbolic importance funded by local merchants it allowed ordinary people access to timekeeping previously the preserve of the church and nobility. Fougères is a town of Art and History.

A sizable section of the town walls survive stretching from the château in the lower town up the hill to surround the upper town. The citizens in the lower town were outside the fortifications and had to retreat into the fortress in times of trouble.

Economy

There used to be an important shoemaking industry which is now almost extinct. There was also an important glass making industry.

During the Middle Ages, salt was heavily taxed and was imported from the Breton regions to the rest of France. Fougeres was made a stronghold for "salt smugglers," who would creep along the wall of the city with confiscated salt, to sell in other regions. There is a communal garden in modern Fougeres that commemorates this interesting and little known fact.

Demographics

Inhabitants of Fougères are called "Fougerais".

Démographie
1962= 24 279
1968= 26 045
1975= 26 610
1982= 24 362
1990= 22 239
1999= 21 779
sansdoublescomptes= 1962|source=INSEE [ [http://www.recensement.insee.fr/RP99/rp99/co_navigation.co_page?nivgeo=C&codgeo=35115&theme=ALL&typeprod=ALL&lang=FR&quelcas=LISTE Fougères sur le site de l'Insee] ]

Personalities

Fougères was the birthplace of:
* Armand de la Rouerie (1751-1793), cavalry officer
* Georges Franju (1912-1987), filmmaker
* Juliette Drouet (10 April1806- 1883), actress

Twin towns

Fougères is twinned with:
* Ashford, Kent, United Kingdom
* Bad Münstereifel, Germany
* Ouargaye, Burkina Faso
* Somoto, Nicaragua

External links

* [http://www.mairie-fougeres.fr/ Official website] fr icon
* [http://www.ot-fougeres.fr/ Fougères Office of Tourism] fr icon
* [http://www.fougeres.fr.st/ Virtual Visit to Fougères] fr icon
* [http://www.culture.gouv.fr/public/mistral/merimee_fr?ACTION=CHERCHER&FIELD_98=INSEE&VALUE_98=35115 French Ministry of Culture list for Fougères] fr icon