Remiremont is a commune

Communes of France

The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...

 in the Vosges

Vosges

Vosges is a French department, named after the local mountain range. It contains the hometown of Joan of Arc, Domrémy.-History:The Vosges department is one of the original 83 departments of France, created on February 9, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was made of territories that had been...

 department in Lorraine

Lorraine (région)

Lorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...

 in northeastern France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

Inhabitants are called Romarimontains.

Geography

Remiremont is located on the Moselle

Moselle River

The Moselle is a river flowing through France, Luxembourg, and Germany. It is a left tributary of the Rhine, joining the Rhine at Koblenz. A small part of Belgium is also drained by the Mosel through the Our....

, close to its confluence with the Moselotte

Moselotte

The Moselotte is a river in Lorraine, in the French department of Vosges. It is a direct right tributary of the Moselle, and thus a sub-tributary of the Rhine.-Geography:...

, 25 km (15.5 mi) southeast of Épinal

Épinal

Épinal is a commune in northeastern France and the capital of the Vosges department. Inhabitants are known as Spinaliens.-Geography:The commune has a land area of 59.24 km²...

. Remiremont is surrounded by forest-clad mountains.

Sights

The abbey church, consecrated in 1051, has a crypt of the eleventh century in which are the tombs of some of the abbesses, but as a whole belongs to the late thirteenth century. The abbatial residence (which now contains the maine, the court-house and the public library) has been twice rebuilt in modern times (in 1750 and again after a fire in 1871), but the original plan and style have been preserved in the imposing front, the vestibule and the grand staircase. Some of the houses of the canonesses dating from the 17th and 18th centuries also remain.

History

Remiremont (Latin: Romarici Mons) derives its name from Saint Romaric

Romaric

Saint Romaric was a Frankish nobleman who lived in Austrasia from the late 6th century until the middle of the 7th century. He was a former Count Palatine in the court of the Merovingian king, Theodebert II. His parents were killed by Queen Brunhilda and because of the enmity of his family with...

, one of the companions of Saint Columban of Luxeuil

Columbanus

Columbanus was an Irish missionary notable for founding a number of monasteries on the European continent from around 590 in the Frankish and Lombard kingdoms, most notably Luxeuil and Bobbio , and stands as an exemplar of Irish missionary activity in early medieval Europe.He spread among the...

, who in the seventh century founded Remiremont Abbey

Remiremont Abbey

Remiremont Abbey was a Benedictine abbey near Remiremont, Vosges, France.-History:It was founded about 620 by Romaric, a lord at the court of Chlothar II, who, having been converted by Saint Ame, a monk of Luxeuil, took the habit at Luxeuil...

, a monastery and a convent on the hills above the present town.

The town was attacked by the French in 1638 and ruined by the earthquake of 1682. With the rest of Lorraine it was joined to France in 1766. The monastery on the hill and the nunnery in the town were both suppressed in the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

.