ORLEANS (ORLEANS), a city of France, the chief town of Loiret, on the Loire, 77 m. S.S.W. of Paris by rail. Pop. (1931) 63,653. Les Aubrais, a mile to the north, is one of the chief rail way junctions in the country. An early trading post among the Gauls, Orleans was known as Genabum by the Romans, and led the revolt against Julius Caesar in 52 B.C. In the 5th century it had taken the name Aurelianum from either Marcus Aurelius or Aurelian. It was vainly besieged in 451 by Attila, and by Odoacer in 471, but Clovis took it in 498 and held there in 511 the first ecclesiastical council assembled in France. It then became the capital of a separate kingdom, but was united with that of Paris in 613. In the loth century the town was given in fief to the counts of Paris, who in 987 ousted the Carolingians. Philip, fifth son of Philip VI., was the first duke of Orleans. After the assassination of his successor Louis the people of Orleans sided with the Armagnacs, and thus brought upon themselves the at tacks of the Burgundians and the English. Joan of Arc relieved the city in 1429. In 1562 it became the headquarters of Louis I. of Bourbon, prince of Conde, the Protestant commander-in-chief. In 1563 Francis, duke of Guise, laid siege to it, but was assas sinated. Orleans was surrendered to the king, who raised the fortifications. It was held by the Huguenots from 1567 to 1568. The St. Bartholomew massacre there in 1572 lasted a week. It was given as a lieu de siirete to the League under Henry III., but surrendered to Henry 1V. in person in 1594. The town is sur rounded by boulevards, and is connected with the suburb of St. Marceau by an 18th century stone bridge of nine arches. The river is canalized on the right, and serves as a continuation of the Orleans Canal.
In the Place du Martroi is a statue of Joan of Arc. A simple cross marks the site, on the left bank of the Loire, of the Fort des Tourelles, captured by Joan of Arc in 1429. The cathedral of Ste. Croix, begun in 1287, was burned by the Huguenots in 1567 before its completion. Henry IV., in 1601, laid the first stone, the build
ing of which continued until 1829. The church of St. Aignan mutilated by the Protestants consists of a transept and choir of the second half of the r5th century; it contains in a gilded and carved wooden shrine the remains of its patron saint. St. Euverte, dedicated to one of the oldest bishops of Orleans (d. 391), is an early Gothic building dating from the r3th, completely restored in the 15th century. The church of St. Paul ( r 5th and 16th century) has an isolated tower, and Notre-Dame de Recouvrance was re built between 1517 and 1519 in the Renaissance style and dedi cated to the memory of the deliverance of the city. The hotel de vile, built under Francis I. and Henry II. and restored in the r9th century, was formerly the residence of the governors of Orleans, and was occupied by the kings and queens of France from Francis II. to Henry IV. The public library comprises among its manuscripts a number dating from the 7th century. The salle des fetes, formerly the corn-market, stands within a vast cloister formed by 15th-century arcades, once belonging to the old ceme tery. Among old houses are that of Agnes Sorel (r 5th and r6th centuries), containing objects relating to Joan of Arc, that of Francis I., of the first half of the r6th century, that occupied by Joan of Arc during the siege of 1429, and that known as the house of Diane de Poitiers (r6th century), which contains the historical museum. The anniversary of the raising of the siege in 1429 by Joan of Arc is celebrated yearly. Orleans is the seat of a bishopric under the archbishop of Paris, a prefect, a court of appeal, and a court of assizes and headquarters of the V. army corps.
The more important industries are the manufacture of tobacco (by the state), blankets, pins, vinegar, machinery, agricultural implements, hosiery, tools and ironware, and the preparation of preserved vegetables. Wine, wool, grain and live stock are com mercial staples, round which there are important nurseries.