Souppes-sur-Loing

Souppes-sur-Loing (French pronunciation: [sup syʁ lwɛ̃] ⓘ, literally Souppes on Loing) is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department at the southern edge of the Île-de-France region in north-central France.

In the 19th and early 20th century the town was known for the creamy white limestone from the Souppes quarry, which was used to build the Basilica of Montmartre and several other monuments in Paris.

A group of eight polissoires, large, exceptionally-hard boulders on which early inhabitants made tools and weapons, was discovered near Souppes in the 19th century, and is classified as a historic monument by the French Ministry of Culture.

[5] The town is first mentioned in a document dated 1090, which recorded the donation of a church called Saint-Marie de Souppes, attached to the Priory of Saint Clair.

To eliminate this difficult leg of the journey, the Loing Canal, parallel to the river, was built by the Royal Marine Regiment.

The local priest of Souppes, Anne Alexander Marie Thibault, played a small but notable role in the French Revolution.

He was very active in the meeting, and, although he was not actually present for the tennis court oath which began the Revolution, Jacques-Louis David included his portrait in the famous painting of the event.

The stone for the statue of Saint Genevieve and the Pont de la Tournelle (1928) on which it stands both came from the quarry of Souppes.

All of the quarries of the valley were engaged in providing stone for the Basilica of Sacré Coeur on Montmartre at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century.

In August 1944 the U.S. Third Army, led By General George Patton, had circled around the German lines in Normandy and was racing toward the gap between Paris and Orleans.

The objective of the 4th Armored Division was to cross the Loing River at Montargis, fifteen miles south of Souppes.