Orleans

Orleans was under English siege in 1429 when Joan of Arc arrived and the siege broke within nine days, a turn that made her reputation and gave her the name Maid of Orleans. The city has held the Fetes de Jeanne d'Arc every early May since 1430, one of the longest continuous civic festivals in Europe, with a young local woman chosen each year to ride in the procession. The cathedral of Sainte-Croix is Gothic in style but largely rebuilt from the seventeenth century after wars of religion destroyed it, with nineteenth-century windows telling Joan's story. A reconstructed house in the centre stands for the one she lodged in.

History

Cenabum was a stronghold of the Gaulish Carnutes, among whom the druids held their yearly assembly, until Julius Caesar destroyed it in 52 BC; in the late 3rd century it was renamed civitas Aurelianorum, which became Orléans, and in 442 the Roman commander Aetius settled the Alans of Goar here. Under the Merovingians it was the capital of the Kingdom of Orléans, in 1108 Louis VI was crowned in its cathedral, one of the few French kings crowned outside Reims, and its bridge over the Loire, at the river's most northerly point, made it with Rouen and Paris one of the three richest cities of medieval France. On 8 May 1429 the fight for the Tourelles, the fort guarding the bridge, let Joan of Arc lift the English siege, and the townspeople, who called her the Maid of Orléans, gave her a house and contributed to her ransom when she was captured (Wikipedia, Orléans).

What to look for

• Sainte-Croix cathedral - a Gothic-style church largely rebuilt after destruction.
• The Joan windows - stained glass narrating her campaign.
• The Joan of Arc house - a reconstruction of her Orleans lodging.
• The May festival - processions and pageant held since 1430.

When to go

Late April to early May for the festival, when the city is full and hotels book out. Otherwise April to October. The riverside is good for walking and cycling.

Good to know

The old centre was heavily bombed in 1940 and much of what looks medieval is postwar reconstruction. The Joan of Arc house is a rebuild, not the original. The city is workaday outside the festival.

Nearby

Sully-sur-Loire lies southeast; Chambord is southwest.