Harfleur

Harfleur is a French town with 8197 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2011 ) in the department of Seine- Maritime.

Geographical location

Harfleur is located in the Haute -Normandie, about eight kilometers east of Le Havre, near the mouth of the Seine in the English Channel. At Harfleur rivers flow Lezarde and Leure together.

History

At Harfleur was found in ancient times the port city Caracotinum, the most important city of Caleten, a Belgian tribe, whose settlement area lay in what is now Normandy between the coast and the River Seine.

Until the 15th century then Harfleur was with his inland port of great strategic importance. The harbor silted up in the 15th century to the extent that Le Havre was founded as a port city in 1517 Harfleur and took its crown.

Harfleur was in 1415 besieged and taken by the English king Henry V. In 1435 the city became French again, as during a revolt against the British citizens opened the gates and drove the invaders out of the city. Harfleur came in the wake again in British possession, until it finally came back to France in 1450.

Twinning

Harfleur partners with German communities Bramsche in Lower Saxony and in Brandenburg Lindow, as well as the West African community Rollo ( Burkina Faso).

Sons and daughters of the town

• Albert Brenet (1903-2005), painter
• Georges Buchard (1893-1987), épée fencer
• Grégory Anquetil (* 1970), handball players
• David Auradou (born 1973 ), rugby players
• Vikash Dhorasoo (born 1973 ), football player
• Charles N'Zogbia ( born 1986 ), football player