Langres is a commune and a subprefecture of the Haute-Marne département. The town is built on a limestone promontory of the same name. This stronghold was originally occupied by the Gauls, and, at a later date the Romans fortified the town belonging to the Celtic tribe the Lingones; Andemantunum the strategic cross-roads of twelve Roman roads. The 1st century Triumphal Gate and the many artefacts exhibited in the museums are witnesses to the Gallo-Roman town.
Langres is a cheese from the plateau of Langres. It has benefited from an Appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC) since 1991. Langres is a cow’s milk cheese, cylindrical in shape, weighing about 180g. The central pâte is soft, creamy in colour, and slightly crumbly, and is surrounded by a white penicillium candidum rind. It is a less pungent cheese than Époisses de Bourgogne, its local competition. Marc de Champagne is a pomace brandy that is used for washing the cheese specialty Langres. During the ripening period, the cheese is not reversed, leading to a deepening of the surface towards the center. In this deepening often Champagne is filled in, which then seep into the cheese. Instead of champagne Calvados is used as well and the cheese is then served flambé.
After the period of invasions, the town prospered in the Middle Ages due, in part, to the growing political influence of its bishops. The diocese covered Champagne, the Duchy of Burgundy and Franche-Comté, and the bishops gained the right to coin money in the 9th century and to name the military governor of the city in 927. The Bishop of Langres was a duke and peer of France. The troubled 14th and 15th centuries were reason enough for the town to strengthen its fortifications, which still give the old part of the city its fortified character, and Langres entered a period of royal tutelage. The Renaissance, which returned prosperity to the town, saw the construction of numerous fine civil, religious and military buildings that still stand today. In the 19th century, a Vauban citadel was added.
Today Langres is a historical town with numerous art treasures within the ancient defensive walls surrounding the old city (3.5 km), including a dozen towers and seven gates. The cathedral of Saint-Mammès is a late 12th-century structure dedicated to Mammes of Caesarea, a 3rd-century martyr.
[caption id="attachment_153861" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Ola Ericson / Stockholmsfoto[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Most unique and spectacular of all is of course the Stockholm Archipelago – a vast, fan-shaped maritime world of...
