1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Arcis-sur-Aube

ARCIS-SUR-AUBE, a town of eastern France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Aube, on the left bank of the Aube, 23 m. N. of Troyes on the Eastern railway to Châlons-sur-Marne. Pop. (1906) 2803. Fires in 1719, 1727 and 1814 destroyed the ancient buildings, and it is now a town built in modern style with wide and regular streets. A château of the 18th century occupies the site of an older one in which Diana of Poitiers, mistress of Henry II., resided. The only other building of interest is the church, which dates from the 15th century. In front of it there is a statue of Danton, a native of the town. Arcis-sur-Aube has a tribunal of first instance. Its industries include important hosiery manufactures, and it carries on trade in grain and coal. The town communicates with Paris by means of the Aube, which becomes navigable at this point.

A battle was fought here on the 20th and 21st of March 1814 between Napoleon and the Austro-Russian army under Schwarzenberg (see Napoleonic Campaigns).