Inhabitants of Meaux are called
Meldois. Both names
Meaux and
Meldois originated with the
Meldi, the
Latin name of the original
Gaulish tribe who occupied this area of the valley of the
Marne river. Although during the Roman period the city was called Iantinum by the Romans, the name of the Meldi persisted and was finally kept for naming both the city and its inhabitants. can be seen behind the palace. Historical buildings and monuments in Meaux are mainly located in the old city, inside the old defensive walls, still nowadays partially kept thanks to an important segment of the original surrounding wall from the
Gallo-Roman period. A
meander of the Marne river divides the old city into the North Quarter (called among the
Meldois as the Cathedral Quarter) and the South Quarter (known among the locals as the Market Quarter). In the North Quarter there is the
Meaux Cathedral, the episcopal palace and its gardens (outlining the shape of a
bishop's
mitre), the old seat of the
chapter (
le vieux chapitre), part of the defensive walls (as mentioned), some keeps and towers, and the archaeological remains of the sanctuary of La Bauve, all-embracing the Gaulish period (4th, 3rd and 1st centuries
BC), the era of the early Roman Empire (Gallo-Roman: 1st, 2nd and 3rd centuries
AD) and the early Christian Era and subsequent centuries (from the 3rd to the 18th centuries, with the remains, among others, of the
Saint-Faron Abbey, demolished during the
French Revolution). The South Quarter of the old city mainly includes the historic covered market and the
Canal Cornillon, built during the Middle Ages, in the year 1235. Centuries later, in 1806, during the
Napoleonic era, was built the
Canal de l'Ourcq, destined to the
inland navigation when the Marne river is not navigable because of temporary sandbanks. At 73, Rue du Marché stood the house of Etienne Mangin in which he started the first Calvin-inspired Protestant church in France. The house was ordered by the Parliament in Paris to be razed and a chapel built in its place following the execution at the stake of
fourteen members of the congregation for heresy in 1546. Rather than a chapel, there remains a fairly nondescript building on the site to this day with a plaque which bears the following inscription (translated): "Here stood the house of ETIENNE MANGIN in which was constructed the first Reformed Church of France. In front of this location 14 Reformists, arrested during a cult, were burned on 8 October 1546 at the decree of the Parliament in Paris on 4 October 1546. Offered by the City of Meaux 1985." Meaux is nowadays mainly known for
Brie de Meaux (a variety of
Brie cheese) and the local variety of
mustard. Following the official administrative French
AOC there are two designations of Brie de Meaux:
Brie de Meaux fermier ("farm Brie de Meaux", made out of the milk from the cows of a single unique producer) and
Brie de Meaux laitier (
laitier, that is from the French
lait, "milk", which designates here an agreement, a mixture of the milk of different producers). The
Moutarde de Meaux ("Meaux Mustard") recipe is since the 18th century a label commercially owned by the Pommery company and is nowadays derived not only in its traditional well known form but also in a variety of new different ingredient combinations: Honey Mustard, Green Pepper Mustard,
Moutarde Royale (that latter including
Cognac in its composition) etc. Several festivals and concerts are celebrated in Meaux, venues for live music like the Music Festival "Musik'elles" (usually at the end of every summer). There is a local public
concert band in Meaux: ''L'Harmonie du Pays de Meaux
. It is constituted by three different ensembles, following different ages: Les Minimes
(children), Les Juniors
(teenagers) and L'Harmonie de Meaux'' (adults). The band is also one of the two official music academies of the town. The other one is the conservatory of the city. Also, every summer for more than 30 years, during several weekends per summer, a show is played by stage actors in the esplanade situated between the cathedral and the episcopal palace: the
Spectacle historique ("History show"). The show represents the history of Meaux all along the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and also, more recently, during
World War I (the German advance had been halted at Meaux in 1914 during the
First Battle of the Marne). There is only one cinema in Meaux: The Majestic, a former stage theatre. In modern days there are three stage theatres in the city. One is the
Théâtre Gérard Philippe, a private theatre, situated close to the covered market. Not far from the market, in the same area but in a bigger and more recent building, there is the official subsidised theatre of the city, the
Théâtre Luxembourg, divided in two separated
auditoriums in the same building: the
Salle Luxembourg (601 seats) and the
Salle du Manège (107 seats). In an eastern area of Meaux, the Beauval quarter, there is the third stage theatre of the town, the
Salle Champagne (200 seats), located in the
Espace Caravelle, a building dedicated to cultural activities. Private theatre companies and
community arts associations play in all three theatres. Two museums can be found in Meaux: the
Musée Bossuet (located in the episcopal palace, this is the art and history museum of Meaux) and the
Musée de la Grande Guerre du pays de Meaux [fr] (the largest World War I Museum in the world). The
Hôtel de Ville was completed in 1900. ==Relevant historical episodes==