a city in France, on the Loire River. Administrative center of the department of Loiret. Population 101,000 (1968). Orléans is an important transportation junction and a major industrial center. Approximately 20,000 persons are employed in industry, with more than 50 percent engaged in machine building. Many branches of Paris plants are located in the city. Manufactures include automobile and tractor parts, electric motors, agricultural machinery, pharmaceuticals, and rubber goods. There are food-processing (flour milling, canning, vinegar production) and garment industries. Orléans has a university.
In antiquity, Orléans was known as Genabum, or Cenabum, and was the principal city of the Carnutes, a Celtic tribe. Destroyed by Julius Caesar in the first century B.C., the city was restored in the third century A.D. by the Roman emperor Aurelian. In the fifth century the city was renamed Aurelianum (hence Orléans) in honor of Aurelian. In the sixth and early seventh centuries, Orléans was the center of the Kingdom of Orléans. Church councils met in the city in 511, 532, 541, and 549. In the tenth century, Orléans became an important fortress. In the 12th century the city received a degree of self-government and was converted into an important trading center. The University of Orléans was founded in 1309.
During the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453), Orléans, which had been under English siege for seven months, was liberated in May 1429 by French forces led by Joan of Arc. During the religious wars of the 16th century, the city was a Huguenot center. The Estates General was summoned to Orléans in 1560. In 1870 the city was occupied twice by Prussian forces. It was seized by fascist German troops in June 1940 and was liberated by the Allied forces in August 1944.
Architectural landmarks of Orléans include the Gothic cathedral of Sainte Croix (begun in the 13th century; 18th-century facade, architects J.-A. Gabriel and L. F. Trouard), the Gothic church of Saint-Euverte (begun in 1170, reconstruction in 15th and 17th centuries), the Renaissance church of Notre Dame de Recouvrance (1513–19), and the Gothic-Renaissance city hall (1513–19; now the Museum of Fine Arts, which contains mainly French art). There also are numerous examples of late Gothic, Renaissance, baroque, and classical dwellings. Despite the destruction brought by World War II, Orléans retains its 18th-century look (for example, the main street—the arcaded Rue Royale 1752–60, architect J. Hupeau). There is a historical museum, which houses classical and medieval sculpture.