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Saint-Étienne is a city in eastern central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, on the trunk road that connects Toulouse with Lyon. Saint-Étienne is the prefecture of the Loire department. Saint-Étienne is the 13th most populated commune in France and the 2nd most populated commune in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Saint-Étienne Métropole is the 3rd most populous regional metropolis after Grenoble Alpes and Lyon. The municipality is also at the heart of a vast metropolitan area with 497,034 inhabitants (2018), the 18th largest in France by population, comprising 105 municipalities. Long known as the French city of the "weapon, cycle and ribbon" and a major coal mining centre, Saint-Etienne is currently engaged in a vast urban renewal program aimed at leading the transition from the industrial city inherited from the 19th century to the "design capital" of the 21st century. This approach was recognized with the entry of Saint-Etienne into the UNESCO Creative Cities network in 2010. The city is currently undergoing renewal, with the installation of the Châteaucreux business district, the Steel shopping centre and the Manufacturing creative district. The city is known for its football club AS Saint-Étienne who have won the Ligue 1 title a record ten times. [edit] History
Named after Saint Stephen, the city first appears in the historical record in the Middle Ages as (after the River Furan, a tributary of the Loire). In the 13th century, it was a small borough around the church dedicated to Saint Stephen. On the upper reaches of the Furan, near the Way of St. James, the Abbey of Valbenoîte had been founded by the Cistercians in 1222. In the late 15th century, it was a fortified village defended by walls built around the original nucleus. From the 16th century, Saint-Étienne developed an arms manufacturing industry and became a market town. 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. Later, it became a mining centre of the Loire coal mining basin, and more recently, has become known for its bicycle industry. In the first half of the 19th century, it was only a chief town of an arrondissement in the 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 and seat of the prefect, replacing Montbrison, which was reduced to the status of chief town of an . Saint-Étienne absorbed the commune of Valbenoîte and several other neighbouring localities on 31 March 1855. [edit] Research Tips
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