15 - Troyes, Panorama, France, ca 1910
This is a used Vintage postcard with a black and white photograph of the city of Troyes located in the department of Aube in the Grand Est region of northeastern France. Along the left upper margin, the postcard company is identified as Collection, I.G. The back of the card is divided. The handwritten message includes the date: May 19, 1910. The message reads: “Dear Selma, I spent last Thursday in Troyes but found no time to write postals. Troyes is a lovely large historic city. The trip was interesting. I also visited a Lycié- a French state school. And I am so enthusiastic about it that I would get right into one if I could. Helas! I do not know how soon I shall be called home. I am waiting for letters. Yours with love, Frieda.” Note: Frieda and Selma share the same surname suggesting that they might be have been sisters or cousins.
Some prehistoric remains of a settlement in the Troyes area date to as early as 600 BC. Celtic grave-mounds have been found near the city, and artifacts have been excavated from the city. During the Roman Empire the city was known as Augustobona Tricassium. It was a place where highways intersected with Via Agrippa connections to Reims, Langres, Milan, Poitiers, Autun and Oreléans.
By the 4th century the people had become Christian and the city became a seat of a bishop. An early cathedral was constructed on the site where the current one stands today. There was a great fire in 1524 that destroyed much of the medieval city. However, there are still many half-timbered houses from that time period that have survived. Because Troyes did not suffer from bombing during World War I or II, it also still has a number of old religious buildings that were built after the fire that are located close to the center of the city. The Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul Cathedral is the tall structure found in the back center of the photo on the card.
For additional information, see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troyes
