:''For the saint of this name, see
Saint Drogo.''
'Dreux' is a town and
commune in northwest
France, in the
Eure-et-Loir ''
département''.
Politics
Dreux came to national attention in 1983 when the then-small
National Front made its first electoral breakthrough, winning control of the city council and deputy mayorship. This came at a time of rising
unemployment and popular resentment directed at the visible and impoverished community of
immigrants, many of whom were
Muslims. The
Socialist mayor at the time,
Françoise Gaspard, later wrote a book about her experience and the times, ''
A Small City in France''.
History
In the
Middle Ages, Dreux was the centre of the
County of Dreux. The first large battle of the
French Wars of Religion occurred at Dreux, on December 19, 1562, resulting in a near-run victory for the Catholic-Royal forces.
Miscellaneous
Victor Hugo proposed to his wife here in
1821.
Members of the
Orléans family, including king
Louis-Philippe (reigned
1830-
1848), are buried in the
Royal Chapel of Dreux.
Dreux is the home of one of the strongest cricket teams in France.
Births
Dreux was the birthplace of:
★
Jean Rotrou (
1609-
1650),
poet and
tragedian
★
Louis Charles Delescluze (
1809-
1871),
journalist
Twin towns
Dreux is twinned with:
★
Todi,
Italy, since 1960
★
Melsungen,
Germany, since 1966
★
Koudougou,
Burkina Faso, since 1972
★
Evesham,
United Kingdom, since 1977
★
Bautzen,
Germany, since 1992
External links
★
City council website (in French)
★
Tourist office website
★
Personal website about Dreux (in French)