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From top to bottom, left to right: view from the Cité du Design, in the centre the Cité des Affaires and the One Station buildings, below the Musée de la Mine, the Place Jean Jaurès garden and the Place du Peuple.
Saint-Étienne is thethirteenth most populated commune in France and the second most populated commune in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Itsmetropolis (métropole),Saint-Étienne Métropole, is the second most populous regional metropolis afterLyon. The commune is also at the heart of a vastmetropolitan area with 406,868 inhabitants (2020),[5] the eighteenth largest in France by population, comprising 105 communes.[6] Its inhabitants are known asStéphanois (masculine) andStéphanoises (feminine).
Long known as the French city of the "weapon, cycle and ribbon" and a majorcoal mining centre, Saint-Étienne is currently engaged in a vasturban renewal program aimed at leading the transition from theindustrial city inherited from the 19th century to the "design capital" of the 21st century. This approach was recognised with the entry of Saint-Étienne into theUNESCO Creative Cities network in 2010. The city is currently undergoing renewal, with the installation of the Châteaucreux business district, the ‘Steel’ retail complex and the manufacturing creative district.
The city is known for its football clubAS Saint-Étienne, which has won theLigue 1 title ten times.
Named afterSaint Stephen, the city first appears in the historical record in the Middle Ages asSaint-Étienne de Furan (after theRiver Furan, a tributary of theLoire). In the 13th century, it was a small borough around the church dedicated to Saint Stephen. On the upper reaches of the Furan, near theWay of St. James, theAbbey of Valbenoîte had been founded by theCistercians in 1222. In the late 15th century, it was a fortified village defended by walls built around the original nucleus.
From the 16th century, Saint-Étienne developed an arms manufacturing industry and became a market town. It was this which accounted for the town's importance, although it also became a centre for the manufacture ofribbons andpassementerie starting in the 17th century.
In the first half of the 19th century, it was only a chief town of an arrondissement in thedépartement of theLoire, with a population of 33,064 in 1832. The concentration of industry prompted these numbers to rise rapidly to 110,000 by about 1880. It was this growing importance of Saint-Étienne that led to its being made seat of the prefecture and the departmental administration on 25 July 1855, when it became the chief town in thedépartement and seat of the prefect, replacingMontbrison, which was reduced to the status of chief town of anarrondissement. Saint-Étienne absorbed the commune of Valbenoîte and several other neighbouring localities on 31 March 1855.
The population data in the table and graph below refer to the commune of Saint-Étienne proper, in its geography at the given years. The commune of Saint-Étienne absorbed the former communes of Beaubrun, Montaud, Outre-Furent and Valbenoîte in 1855, cededPlanfoy in 1863, merged with the exclave Saint-Victor-sur-Loire and with Terrenoire in 1969 and Rochetaillée in 1973.[11]
Saint-Étienne became a popular stop for automobile travelers in the early 20th century.
In 1998, Saint-Étienne set up a designbiennale, the largest of its kind in France.[13] It lasts around two weeks. A landmark in the history of the importance ascribed to design in Saint-Étienne was the inauguration ofLa Cité du design on the site of the former arms factory in 2009.
The climate is temperate at the weather station due to its low altitude, but Saint-Étienne itself is much higher, above 530 m (1,739 ft) in the centre, as well as even above 700 m (2,297 ft) in the southern parts of the city. Saint-Étienne is very close to awarm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen:Dfb); it is generally one of the snowiest cities in France, with an average of 85 cm (2.79 ft) of snow accumulation per year.
Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, home of the AS Saint-Étienne football club
The city's football clubAS Saint-Étienne has won theLigue 1 title a joint-record ten times, achieving most of their success in the 1970s.[18] The British indie-dance bandSaint Etienne named themselves after the club.
Tramway, bus and bicycles run by STAS (Société de Transports de l'Agglomération Stéphanoise)
The nearest airport isSaint-Étienne–Bouthéon Airport which is located inAndrézieux-Bouthéon, 12 km (7.46 mi) north-northwest of Saint-Étienne. As of 2024, there are no scheduled services to and from the airport, although there are occasional holiday charters, mainly to Mediterranean destinations.[19] The nearest major airport isLyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport which is located 77 km (48 mi) to north east of the city centre.
The main railway station isSaint-Étienne-Châteaucreux station, which offers high-speed services to Paris and Lyon (Saint-Étienne–Lyon railway), as well as connects to several regional lines. There are four other railway stations in Saint-Étienne (Bellevue, Carnot, La Terrasse and Le Clapier) with local services.[20]
Saint-Étienne is also notable for its tramway (Saint-Étienne tramway) – which uniquely with Lille, it kept throughout the 20th century – and itstrolleybus system (Saint-Étienne trolleybus system) – which is one of only three such systems currently operating in France.
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