Épinal

Épinal grew beside the Moselle beneath a castle built by the bishops of Metz on a wooded spur. The fortress and the town below it changed hands amid the struggles of Lorraine and Burgundy. After the conflicts of the fifteenth century, the castle was adapted to artillery with new walls, a casemate and terraces. In 1796 Jean-Charles Pellerin founded the printworks that made the colourful images of Épinal famous far beyond the town.