Orléans

This article is about Orléans, France; for other meanings see Orleans (disambiguation).
, built from 1278 to 1329; the Protestants pillaged it in the 1560s; the Bourbon kings restored it in the 17th century.

Orléans is a city and commune in north-central France, about 200 km (130 miles) south-west of Paris. It is the préfecture (capital) of the Loiret département and of the Centre région. Population (1999): 113,126.

Joan of Arc is sometimes called the Maid of Orléans.

History

Orléans was founded during the Roman Empire as the city of Aureliani. In 451, Attila the Hun made an attempt to capture and sack the city, only to be driven off by the last-minute arrival of an army under the combined command of Theodorid, king of the Visigoths, and the Roman general Aetius.

Orléans is about as far as the English went when they tried to invade France in the Hundred Years' War.