Troyes

Troyes is a commune and the capital of the department of Aube in the Grand Est region of northeastern France, on the Seine about 140 kilometres south-east of Paris and within the Champagne wine region. It had 62,088 inhabitants in 2023 and is the centre of an urban community of about 175,000 people. The Romans knew it as Augustobona Tricassium, a hub of roads including the Via Agrippa, and from the late ninth century it was the capital of the counts of Champagne, whose cloth fairs made it a major medieval trading town and gave its name to troy weight. The rabbi and Bible commentator Rashi was born there in 1040. Half-timbered sixteenth century houses survive in the old town, which is designated a City of Art and History, and textile manufacturing gave way to factory outlets after the 1960s.