Valenciennes (/ˌvælɒ̃ˈsjɛn/,[3] also UK: /ˌvælənsiˈɛn/,[4] US: /-nz, vəˌlɛnsiˈɛn(z)/,[5][6] French: [valɑ̃sjɛn] ⓘ; also Dutch: Valencijn; Picard: Valincyinnes or Valinciennes; Latin: Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France.

According to the local tradition, the Virgin Mary held a cordon around the city which, miraculously, has since protected its people from the disease.

[citation needed] Since then, every year at that time, the Valenciennois used to walk around the 14 km (9 mi) road round the town, in what is called the tour of the Holy Cordon.

This innovation initiated the tradition of Dominican scholastic philosophy put into practice, for example, in 1265 at the Order's studium provinciale at the convent of Santa Sabina in Rome, out of which would develop the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum.

On the "Journée des Mals Brûlés" (Bad Burnings Day) in 1562, a mob freed some Protestants condemned to die at the stake.

Following the "révolte des gueux's victory at Brielle, the army of Louis of Nassau, one of the major commanders of the Dutch rebel forces and supported by the Huguenot leader Gaspard de Coligny, invaded the Spanish Netherlands with an army composed of German, English, Scottish and French soldiers, and took Valenciennes on 21 May 1572.

[citation needed] In 1677, the armies of Louis XIV of France (this time led by Vauban[16]) captured the city and in 1678 the Treaty of Nijmegen gave the French control of Valenciennes (1678) and the surrounding southern part of Hainault, roughly cutting the former county in half.

[17] Following a protracted Siege of Valenciennes the city was captured and occupied in July by Anglo-Austrian forces under the Duke of York and the Prince of Saxe-Coburg, and only retaken by the French Revolutionary armies in August 1794.

The building is now used as the town's tourist information office; 4) The Dodenne Tower, the remaining part of the medieval fortifications after Charles V ordered them reduced; 5) Théâtre le Phenix, a theatre and performing arts venue constructed in 1998; 6) The "Beffroi", a large, pin-like monument 45 m (148 ft) in height, built in 2007 on the site of the former belfry.

Valenciennes was picked as the European Railway Agency headquarters in December 2003. International conferences are held in Lille.

9.5 km (5.9 mi) long, this tramway crosses the five communes in the Valenciennois Metropolitan area, at a cost of 242.75 million Euros.