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{{Short description|Commune in Calvados, France}}
{{other uses}}
{{Infobox French commune
|name               = Vire, Normandie
|image              = FranceNormandieVireVueVersSteAnne.jpg
|caption            = Vire from the ''Place du Château''
|image coat of arms = Blason ville fr Vire (Calvados).svg
|arrondissement     = Vire
|canton             = Vire Normandie
|INSEE              = 14762
|postal code        = 14500
|commune            = [[Vire Normandie]]
|coordinates        = {{coord|48.84|-0.89|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|elevation m        = 134
|elevation min m    = 85
|elevation max m    = 225
|area km2           = 22.50
|population         = 10906
|population date    = 2022
|population footnotes   = <ref name=pop2022>{{cite web|url=https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/fichier/8290591/ensemble.pdf|title=Populations de référence 2022|language=fr|trans-title=Reference populations 2022|publisher=[[Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques|INSEE]]|date=December 2024}}</ref>
}}
'''Vire''' ({{IPA|fr|viʁ|-|Fr-Paris--Vire.ogg}}) is a town and a former [[Communes of France|commune]] in the [[Calvados (department)|Calvados]] [[Departments of France|department]] in the [[Normandy (administrative region)|Normandy]] [[Regions in France|region]] in northwestern [[France]]. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of [[Vire Normandie]].<ref>[https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/eli/arrete/2015/12/31/INTB1600512A/jo/texte Arrêté préfectoral] 31 December 2015 {{in lang|fr}}</ref>

==Geography==
The town is located on the river [[Vire (river)|Vire]]. Much of its surroundings consist of the ''[[bocage]] virois'', a type of mixed woodland and pasture common in Normandy.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Le Bocage Virois|url=http://www.tourisme-en-france.com/fr/regions-france/191/le-bocage-virois|access-date=2021-11-07|website=www.tourisme-en-france.com|language=fr}}</ref>
[[File:FranceNormandieBocageViroisCarville.jpg|thumb|left|The "bocage virois"]]
{{clear left}}

== History ==
In 1123, [[King of England]] and [[Duke of Normandy]] [[Henry I of England|Henry I]] had a redoubt constructed on a rocky hill top, which was surrounded by the [[Vire (river)|Vire]] river. The redoubt was stoned square at the bottom to assure the defense of the [[Duchy of Normandy]] against any attacks from [[Brittany]] or [[Maine (province)|Maine]].<ref name="newgaso.fr">{{Cite web|url= http://www.newgaso.fr/lecture_fiche_commune.php3?page=f14762 |title= GASO, la banque du blason - Vire Calvados |access-date= 8 August 2009}} {{dead link|date=August 2015}}</ref>
 
At the beginning of the 13th century, King [[Louis IX of France]] ordered that the existing stonework be supplemented with exterior ramparts. However the second precinct was finished only in the early the 14th century.<ref name="Vire1000"/>{{rp|7}}

At the end of the Middle Ages, the village prospered first with leather and then with textiles<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vire-tourisme.com/pages.php?page=103 |title=Vire-tourisme : Vire et les alentours consulté le |access-date=14 October 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080911060828/http://www.vire-tourisme.com/pages.php?page=103 |archive-date=September 11, 2008 }}</ref> During the [[Hundred Years' War]], Vire was plundered in 1368 by large military companies,<ref name="Vire1000">{{cite journal|first=Yves |last=Buffetaut |title=La prise de Vire par les Grandes Compagnies |journal=Itinéraires de Normandie |volume=15 |date=September 2009 |pages=60–64 |issn=1950-9324 |url=http://itineraires-de-normandie.com/article.php?idarticle=284 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713065232/http://itineraires-de-normandie.com/article.php?idarticle=284 |archive-date=July 13, 2011 }}</ref> and delivered to the English in 1418. The English occupation would end in 1450, with many considering it a time of brutality and oppression. Notably, the execution of Hugues Vaux, owner of the largest farm of the village, after refusing to give up his farm to the English sergeant Fields, caused much grief among the population.  Some inhabitants nevertheless benefited from the English occupation. Eugène Vergny, who provided Fields with information about the movement of the French troops, received the property of Vaux after his execution.<ref name="newgaso.fr" />

During the reign of [[Louis XIII]], because a number of [[Fortifications]] of the [[Middle Ages]] served in rebellions by the [[Huguenots]] in particular, the castle and its precinct were dismantled on orders of [[Cardinal Richelieu]].<ref name="Vire1000"/>{{rp|7}}

[[File:Vire 1944.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Aerial view after the bombardment in 1944]]
During the 19th century, the village did not respond well to the [[Industrial Revolution]] and went into an important recession.

The castle of Tracy, the manor of 19th-century the French historian [[Arcisse de Caumont]], can be found just north of Vire in the old community of Neuville.<ref>Arcisse de Caumont, Statistique monumentale du Calvados, editeur= Hardel year= 1857 tome= 3 title: Arrondissements de Vire et de Bayeux passage 92</ref>

Like many other Norman cities and villages, Vire suffered heavily from British bombings on June 6, 1944, or [[Normandy landings|D-Day]], during the [[Second World War]]. 95% of the town was destroyed.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}} One of the two target-marking flare groups was out of alignment and much of the bombing fell across the town of Vire. The [[Master Bomber]] in charge of the operation identified the problem and issued corrections to the incoming aircraft.  Much of the bombing from the first wave of aircraft fell across the town of Vire killing many of the inhabitants. It was a distressing night for many families.<ref>Coulonces.com - 2009 – David FELL.</ref>
After two days of heavy fighting, with 108 soldiers killed and four missing, the town was liberated on 8 August 1944 by the 1st Bn of the 116th Regiment of Infantry of the 29th Infantry Div. of the US Army.

The reconstruction of Vire began in the 1960s.

[[File:FranceNormandieVireChateauVueNord.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Donjon de Vire]], ruins of the 11th century castle]]
{{clear left}}

==Population==
{{Historical populations
|title=Population of Vire since 1793
|align=none
|cols=2
|percentages=pagr
|source   = [[School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences|EHESS]]/Cassini until 1999,<ref name=ehess>{{Cassini-Ehess|40806|Vire}}</ref> [[Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques|INSEE]] from 2007<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/2123878?geo=COM-14762|title=Populations légales 2012: Commune de Vire (14762)|access-date=31 August 2020}}</ref><ref name=pop2017>[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/fichier/4265429/ensemble.pdf Téléchargement du fichier d'ensemble des populations légales en 2017], [[Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques|INSEE]]</ref><ref name=pop2022/>
| 1793|7873
| 1800|7700
| 1806|8183
| 1821|8381
| 1831|8043
| 1836|7339
| 1841|7375
| 1846|7658
| 1851|7266
| 1856|7036
| 1861|7647
| 1866|6863
| 1872|6778
| 1876|6718
| 1881|6597
| 1886|6736
| 1891|6635
| 1896|6600
| 1901|6517
| 1906|6353
| 1911|6298
| 1921|5949
| 1926|5871
| 1931|5766
| 1936|5917
| 1946|3929
| 1954|7963
| 1962|9518
| 1968|11140
| 1975|13399
| 1982|13709
| 1990|12895
| 1999|12805
| 2007|12385
| 2012|11562
| 2017|11091
| 2022|10906
}}

==Administration==
In 1953 Vire was merged with the former commune of Neuville and in 1972 with the former commune of Saint-Martin-de-Tallevende. Since January 2016 it has been a delegated commune within the commune of [[Vire Normandie]].<ref>[https://www.insee.fr/fr/metadonnees/geographie/commune-deleguee/14762-vire Commune déléguée de Vire], INSEE</ref> Vire is part of the [[canton of Vire Normandie]].<ref>[http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000028625983 Décret n° 2014-160 du 17 février 2014 portant délimitation des cantons dans le département du Calvados]</ref>

== Transport ==
Vire has a large railway station ([[Gare de Vire]]) which has frequent services to Paris and Granville. The nearest airport is [[Caen – Carpiquet Airport]] in Caen (40 min drive).

Vire is connected to [[Saint-Lô]] and [[Cherbourg-en-Cotentin]] via RN 174 and to Caen via RD 577 and [[A84 autoroute|A84]]. Vire is also connected to [[Granville, Manche|Granville]], [[Villedieu-les-Poêles]], [[Flers, Orne|Flers]], [[Argentan]], [[Dreux]] and [[Paris]] via RD 924.

==Gastronomy==
*[[Andouille]], a speciality of Vire.

==International relations==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in France}}

Vire is [[Twin towns and sister cities|twinned]] with:<ref name="Vire twinnings">{{cite web |url=http://www.cncd.fr/frontoffice/bdd-region.asp?action=getRegion&id=4#tabs3 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20131127063207/http://www.cncd.fr/frontoffice/bdd-region.asp?action=getRegion&id=4#tabs3 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-11-27 |title=National Commission for Decentralised cooperation |access-date=2013-12-26 |work=Délégation pour l’Action Extérieure des Collectivités Territoriales (Ministère des Affaires étrangères) |language=fr }}</ref>
{|class="wikitable"
|- valign="top"
|
* {{flagicon|UK}} [[Totnes]], South [[Devon]], United Kingdom since 1972<ref name="Vire twinnings"/>
* {{flagicon|ESP}} [[Santa Fe, Granada|Santa Fe]], Spain since 1987<ref name="Vire twinnings"/>
* {{flagicon|GER}} [[Baunatal]], Germany since 1983<ref name="Vire twinnings"/>
||

* {{flagicon|MEX}} [[Atlacomulco]], Mexico<ref name="Vire twinnings"/>
* {{flagicon|ROU}} [[Săcele]], Romania since 2001<ref name="Vire twinnings"/>
* {{flagicon|GAB}} [[Franceville]], Gabon<ref name="Vire twinnings"/>
|}

==Personalities==
* [[Olivier Basselin]] (c. 1400 – c. 1450, poet.
* [[Charles-Julien Lioult de Chênedollé]] (1769–1833), poet
* [[Jean-Baptiste du Hamel]] (1624–1706), physicist
* [[Henry I of England]] (c. 1068–1135)
* [[Raymond Lefebvre]] (1891–1920), writer
* [[Francis Letellier]] (born 1964), journalist
* [[Thomas Pichon]] (1700–1781), government agent and traitor

==Climate==

{{Weather box|width=auto
|metric first=y
|single line=y 
|collapsed = Y
|location =  Vire (2003–2020 normals, extremes 2003–present)
|Jan record high C = 17.2
|Feb record high C = 21.9
|Mar record high C = 24.4
|Apr record high C = 28.0
|May record high C = 30.5
|Jun record high C = 37.0
|Jul record high C = 39.3
|Aug record high C = 37.2
|Sep record high C = 32.7
|Oct record high C = 28.7
|Nov record high C = 22.7
|Dec record high C = 17.7
|Jan record low C = -11.1
|Feb record low C = -10.3
|Mar record low C = -12.1
|Apr record low C = -5.1
|May record low C = -2.4
|Jun record low C = 1.4
|Jul record low C = 3.5
|Aug record low C = 3.4
|Sep record low C = -0.1
|Oct record low C = -2.7
|Nov record low C = -7.7
|Dec record low C = -16.6
|Jan high C = 8.5
|Feb high C = 9.0
|Mar high C = 11.7
|Apr high C = 15.6
|May high C = 18.2
|Jun high C = 21.4
|Jul high C = 23.5
|Aug high C = 22.8
|Sep high C = 20.8
|Oct high C = 16.6
|Nov high C = 12.0
|Dec high C = 9.1
| year high C = 15.8
|Jan mean C = 5.6
|Feb mean C = 5.6
|Mar mean C = 7.4
|Apr mean C = 10.1
|May mean C = 13.0
|Jun mean C = 16.2
|Jul mean C = 18.0
|Aug mean C = 17.5
|Sep mean C = 15.3
|Oct mean C = 12.6
|Nov mean C = 8.7
|Dec mean C = 6.0
| year mean C = 11.3
|Jan low C = 2.7
|Feb low C = 2.2
|Mar low C = 3.0
|Apr low C = 4.6
|May low C = 7.8
|Jun low C = 11.0
|Jul low C = 12.5
|Aug low C = 12.1
|Sep low C = 9.7
|Oct low C = 8.6
|Nov low C = 5.4
|Dec low C = 2.9
| year low C = 6.9
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 101.2 
|Feb precipitation mm = 78.6
|Mar precipitation mm = 70.6
|Apr precipitation mm = 58.4
|May precipitation mm = 67.2
|Jun precipitation mm = 58.0
|Jul precipitation mm = 61.7
|Aug precipitation mm = 71.1
|Sep precipitation mm = 51.8
|Oct precipitation mm = 95.1
|Nov precipitation mm = 101.1
|Dec precipitation mm = 116.6
|year precipitation mm = 931.4
|unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm
| Jan precipitation days = 15.2
| Feb precipitation days = 12.5
| Mar precipitation days = 11.5
| Apr precipitation days = 9.7
| May precipitation days = 10.7
| Jun precipitation days = 8.9
| Jul precipitation days = 9.5
| Aug precipitation days = 10.5
| Sep precipitation days = 8.1
| Oct precipitation days = 12.8
| Nov precipitation days = 14.2
| Dec precipitation days = 15.2
| year precipitation days =138.9
|source 1 = Meteociel<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.meteociel.fr/obs/clim/normales_records.php?code=14762004
|title=Normales et records pour Vire (14)
|publisher=Meteociel
|access-date=20 November 2024}}</ref>}}

==See also==
*[[Communes of the Calvados department]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Vire}}
{{Wikisource1911Enc|Vire}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Former communes of Calvados (department)]]