Bar-le-Duc

Bar-le-Duc , town (1990 pop. 18,577), capital of Meuse dept., NE France, in Lorraine. It has textile mills, iron foundries, printing plants, and metallurgical and food-processing industries. Situated in the picturesque Ornain valley, Bar-le-Duc has preserved many old houses (16th, 17th, and 18th cent.). It has a 15th-century church and one from the 13th and 14th cent. It was the capital of the county (later duchy) of Bar, an irregularly shaped area stretching from the Marne to the Luxembourg frontier. The duchy passed (15th cent.) to René of Anjou, later also duke of Lorraine. Bar thereafter shared the history of Lorraine, with which it passed to France in 1766.

Bar‐le‐Duc, Lorraine/France Castrum Barrum Originally the ‘Camp of Barrum’ from the possibly Celtic barr ‘height’, it became the capital of a county in the 10th century and later of a duchy. Le‐Duc ‘the duke’ was thus added to proclaim its new status and to differentiate between this Bar and others.

Meuse , department (1990 pop. 196,344), NE France, in Lorraine , bordering on Belgium. Bar-le-Duc , the capital, and Verdun are the chief towns. Its industries include the manufacture of metals, foundry products, wood products, ceramics, and glass. Agriculture is concentrated in the Meuse River valley, where most of the department's people live. Part of the Argonne forest is in the north, and in the forested west and central regions there is extensive animal breeding.