SAINT-ÉTIENNE, LA VILLE DU DESIGN ET DE LA CRÉATIVITÉ

Today, Joseph de Cath Lon, Claire Fontaine and The Grandma return to Basel and Barcelona, ​​their cities. It has been a short but intense trip, and they have been able to see the Northern Star again, who shines with her own light over these Gallic lands. 

They haven't had enough time to visit Saint-Étienne, so during the return trip they are reading a little about this city that is known as the city of design. 

Saint-Étienne, in Franco-Provençal Sant-Etiève, also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, 60 km southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.

Saint-Étienne is the thirteenth most populated commune in France and the second most populated commune in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Its metropolis, Saint-Étienne Métropole, is the second most populous regional metropolis after Lyon. Its inhabitants are known as Stéphanois (masculine) and Stéphanoises (feminine).

Long known as the French city of the weapon, cycle and ribbon and a major coal mining centre, Saint-Étienne is currently engaged in a vast urban renewal program aimed at leading the transition from the industrial city inherited from the 19th century to the design capital of the 21st century. This approach was recognised with the entry of Saint-Étienne into the UNESCO Creative Cities network in 2010. The city is currently undergoing renewal, with the installation of the Châteaucreux business district, the Steel retail complex and the manufacturing creative district.

The city is known for its men football club AS Saint-Étienne, which has won the Ligue 1 title ten times.

Named after Saint Stephen, the city first appears in the historical record in the Middle Ages as Saint-Étienne de Furan (after the River Furan, a tributary of the Loire). In the 13th century, it was a small borough around the church dedicated to Saint Stephen. On the upper reaches of the Furan, near the Way of St. James, the Abbey of Valbenoîte had been founded by the Cistercians in 1222. In the late 15th century, it was a fortified village defended by walls built around the original nucleus.

From the 16th century, Saint-Étienne developed an arms manufacturing industry and became a market town. It was this which accounted for the town's importance, although it also became a centre for the manufacture of ribbons and passementerie starting in the 17th century.

Later, it became a mining centre of the Loire coal mining basin. The Hôtel de Ville (City Hall) was completed in 1830.

In the first half of the 19th century, it was only a chief town of an arrondissement in the département of the Loire, with a population of 33,064 in 1832. The concentration of industry prompted these numbers to rise rapidly to 110,000 by about 1880. It was this growing importance of Saint-Étienne that led to its being made seat of the prefecture and the departmental administration on 25 July 1855, when it became the chief town in the département and seat of the prefect, replacing Montbrison, which was reduced to the status of chief town of an arrondissement. Saint-Étienne absorbed the commune of Valbenoîte and several other neighbouring localities on 31 March 1855.

During the repression of January and February 1894, the police conducted raids targeting the anarchists living there, without much success.

Saint-Étienne became a popular stop for automobile travelers in the early 20th century.

In 1998, Saint-Étienne set up a design biennale, the largest of its kind in France. It lasts around two weeks. A landmark in the history of the importance ascribed to design in Saint-Étienne was the inauguration of La Cité du design on the site of the former arms factory in 2009.

The city also launched the Massenet Festivals, (the composer Jules Massenet hailed from the area) devoted mainly to perform Massenet's operas. In 2000, the city was named one of the French Towns and Lands of Art and History.

On 22 November 2010, it was nominated as City of Design as part of UNESCO's Creative Cities Network.

Saint-Étienne has four museums:

-The Musée d'Art Moderne has one of the largest collections of modern and contemporary art in France

-Musée de la Mine

-Musée d'Art et d'Industrie

-Musée du vieux Saint-Étienne

Saint-Étienne has 38 Monuments historiques, 6 buildings labeled Architecture contemporaine remarquable (Remarkable Contemporary Architecture), 2 sites classés (Classified sites) and 5 sites patrimoniaux remarquables (Remarkable heritage sites).

The city's football club AS Saint-Étienne has won the Ligue 1 title a joint-record ten times, achieving most of their success in the 1970s. The British indie-dance band Saint Etienne named themselves after the club. The city also has the women football club AS Saint-Étienne.

Saint-Étienne has many sports stadiums, the largest being Stade Geoffroy-Guichard used for football and Stade Henri-Lux for athletics. 

St. Étienne was the capital of the French bicycle industry. The bicycle wheel manufacturer Mavic is based in the city and frame manufacturers Motobécane and Vitus are also based here. The city often hosts a stage of the Tour de France.

Saint-Étienne resident Thierry Gueorgiou is a world champion in orienteering. The local rugby union team is CA Saint-Étienne Loire Sud Rugby.

More information: Saint-Étienne

We cannot both preach and administer

financial matters.

Saint Stephen