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Saint Etienne

Saint-Étienne is a city in eastern central France. It lies 60 km (40 miles) southwest of Lyon in the Rhône-Alpes region and is the capital of the Loire département. It is situated in the Massif Central.
The city was named after Saint Stephen. From the sixteenth century, Saint-Étienne developed an arms manufacturing industry. It was this which accounted for the town's importance, although it also became a centre for the manufacture of ribbons and passementerie starting in the 17th century. During the French revolution, Saint-Étienne was briefly renamed Armeville - 'arms town' - because of this activity. Later, it became a coal mining centre, and more recently, has been known for its bicycle industry. In the first half of the 19th century, it was only a chief town of an arrondissement in the département of the Loire, with a population of 33,064 in 1832. The concentration of industry prompted these numbers to rise rapidly to 110,000 by about 1880. It was this growing importance of Saint-Étienne that led to its being made seat of the prefecture and the departmental administration on 25 July 1855, when it became the chief town in the département and seat of the prefect, usurping the position hitherto belonging to Montbrison. The latter was reduced to the status of chief town of an arrondissement. Saint-Étienne absorbed the commune of Valbenoîte and several other neighbouring localities on 31 March 1855. In 1990, Saint-Étienne set up the design biennale which is the largest of its kind in France. The next convention is in 2010. It also launched the Massenet Festivals, (the place of birth of the composer) devoted mainly to perform his operas.
  information from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia