Orléans (city, France)

Orléans (city, France), city in north central France, capital of Loiret Department, on the Loire River. It is a transportation and commercial center. Major manufactures include chemicals, processed foods, textiles, and machinery. Tourism is also important to the city's economy; the Sainte-Croix Cathedral, destroyed by the Huguenots (French Protestants) in 1567 and rebuilt by Henry IV and his successors, is a principal attraction. The University of Orléans (1971) is in the city.

Orléans is located on the site of Genabum, the Celtic town burned in 52 bc by the Roman general Gaius Julius Caesar. It was rebuilt by the Roman emperor Lucius Domitius Aurelian and named Aurelianum, from which its modern name was derived. In the 6th and early 7th centuries it was the capital of a Frankish kingdom, and later a favored residence of the kings of France. From 1428 to 1429 it was besieged by the English during the Hundred Years' War, but was liberated by the French heroine Joan of Arc, also known thereafter as the Maid of Orléans. The town was a headquarters for the Huguenots during the Wars of Religion of the 16th century. Louis Philippe, duc d'Orleáns, became king of France in 1830. In 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, it was occupied by the Germans, and during World War II (1939-1945) it suffered bombings. Population (2005 estimate) 113,500.