Département: Isère
Grenoble, the old capital of the Dauphiné, is beautifully situated in a basin in the Isère valley, surrounded by mountains rising to 3,000 m/9,900ft. It is the chief town of the département of Isère, an important industrial center and a university town. The city attracted the eyes
of the world when the Winter Olympics were held here in 1968, leading to a great increase in tourist traffic. Important contributions are made to the city's economy by glove manufacture and the walnuts which are grown in the lower Isère valley between Tullins and St- Marcellin.
The city is dominated on the north by Fort Rabot and, higher up, the Fort de la Bastille, both situated on foothills of the 5km/3mi long Mont Rachais range (1,045 m/3,429ft).
Grenoble was the birthplace of the 19th C. novelist Stendhal (Henri Beyle, 1783-1842).
Originally a city of the Allobroges, under the name of Cularo, Grenoble was enlarged by the Emperor Gratian in 379 A.D. and renamed Gratianopolis. Four years earlier, in 375, it had become the see of a bishop. In the fifth C. it fell under Burgundian and later under Frankish rule; then in the 12th C. it passed to the Counts of Albon, who took the style of "Dauphin" and thus gave the Dauphiné its name. The last Dauphin of the Viennois, Humbert II, ceded his territory to the French king Philip VI, after which the title of Dauphin was held by the heir to the French throne. The first stirrings of the French Revolution were felt in Grenoble in 1788. During the 19th C. the city prospered as a result of the development of industry.
Interesting new buildings are the Town Hall (by Maurice Novarina, 1967), the Maison de la Culture (by André Vogenski, 1968, with three large halls and important modern works of art, and the Ice Stadium (by Junillon and Demartini).
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