Château-Thierry

Château-Thierry stands on the Marne beneath the remains of the castle from which it takes its name. The fortified town occupied a crossing on the route between Paris and Champagne, and its walls and bridge made it a place of military as well as commercial importance.

In 1621 the fabulist Jean de La Fontaine was born here, the son of an officer responsible for waters and forests. He spent his childhood and attended the local college in Château-Thierry before continuing his education in Paris, and later became renowned for his fables and tales, as well as writing opera librettos and a novel. The town's position on the Marne brought war again in 1814, when Napoleon's forces fought the retreating allies near its bridge.