Évreux

Évreux (āvrö`), town (1990 pop. 51,452), capital of Eure dept., N France, in Normandy. It is an industrial town where metals, textiles, rubber, radio and television parts, and pharmaceuticals are manufactured. Founded in Roman times and known as Mediolanum, the town became (10th cent.) the seat of a county that frequently changed hands throughout the Middle Ages. From 1349 to 1425 the counts of Évreux were also kings of Navarre. The French crown, which had held the county in the 12th cent. and again from 1404 to 1569, acquired it permanently in 1584. In 1642, Louis XIV exchanged Évreux for Sedan with Frédéric Maurice, duc de Bouillon, who kept it until the county was abolished during the French Revolution. Devastated many times during the course of its history, the town was extensively rebuilt following World War II. Several monuments remain, the most famous of which are the Notre Dame Cathedral (14th–17th cent.), noted for its magnificent stained-glass windows, and St. Taurin Church, with its remarkable 13th-century shrine.