Bar-le-Duc is of Gallo-Roman origin. The name of Bar is very probably derived from the bar which the Ornain forms at the spot where the Notre-Dame Bridge now stands. The few dwellings erected at the edge of the river were called _Barrivilla_, and occupied the site of the present "faubourg" of Couchot, where the "Rue des Romains" still exists. At a later date, and on the opposite bank of the Ornain, rose a fortified township named _Burgum Barri_, which is to-day the district traversed by the Rue du Bourg. In the middle of the tenth century Frederick I., Count of Bar, built a castle on the hill overlooking the Ornain, to the west, and thus the upper town was created. When Frederick I. became Duke of Haute-Lorraine the name of the town was changed into _Barro Ducis_, whence Bar-au-Duc, then Bar-le-Duc. In the middle ages Bar-le-Duc experienced the restless life of fortified places. In the twelfth century Henry V., Emperor of Germany, then, in the fourteenth century, the King of France, Philippe le Bel, declared their suzerainty over the Counts of Bar. In the fifteenth century Anne of Beaujeu gave up the district of Bar to the Dukes of Lorraine. During the seventeenth century Bar changed hands ten times. The most celebrated siege was that by Turenne in 1652, the lower town being taken at the end of a fortnight and the upper town succumbing two days later. In 1670 Louis XIV. caused all the fortifications, with the exception of the "Tour de l'Horloge," to be razed to the ground. In 1737 the last hereditary Duke of Lorraine, Francis II., ceded the province to Stanislas Leczinski, the dethroned King of Poland, on whose death it was to return to France. When this occurred in 1766 Bar was definitely incorporated in French territory. Francis, Duke of Guise, and Marshals Oudinot and Exelmans, were born at Bar. The town was occupied from 1870 to 1873 by the Germans. In 1914 the Crown Prince thought he would be able to enter it without difficulty, but Sarrail's Army undeceived him very decidedly, and the battle of the Marne spent itself a few kilometres from the gates of the town. During the period of trench warfare there were numerous air raids, although Bar is an unfortified town (photo above). [Illustration: LÉGENDE 1. PRÉFECTURE 2. HOTEL DE VILLE 3. TRIBUNAL CIVIL 4. ARCHIVES 5. ST ANTOINE 6. TEMPLE PROTEST. 7. SYNAGOGUE 8. THEATRE 9. BANQUE DE FRANCE 10. CAISSE D'ÉPARGNE 11. HALLES 12. GENDARMERIE 13. TOUR DU BEFFROI 14. ANCIEN CHÂTEAU DES DUCS DE BAR 15. HOSPICE CIVIL ET MILITAIRE 16. -- DES VIEILLARDS 17. COUVENT DES DOMINICAINES 18. ANCIEN COLLÈGE GILLES DE TRÈVES BAR-LE-DUC] VISIT TO THE TOWN (See plan p. 239) [Illustration: LIBERTY BRIDGE AND CHURCH OF NOTRE-DAME] Lower Town.--See +Notre-Dame Bridge+ and Church of Notre-Dame. Upper Town.--See +The Castle+; +Gilles-de-Trèves College+; +The Clock-Tower+ (tour de l'Horloge); +The Esplanade+; +The Place and Church of Saint Pierre+.