Between the great cultures of cambrésien plate and primer groves of Avesnes, the city of Le Cateau was developed in the valley of the Selle, picturesque river 45 km.
Located on a major road (National 43) Le Cateau-Cambrésis is the third city of Cambrai by its population (7460 inhabitants in the last census) and is the capital of a district of 18 towns (17 486 inhabitants) forming the Catésis.
Le Cateau is twinned with the towns of Wiesbeke (Belgium), Westerburg (Germany) and Cave (Italy).
Small industrial and commercial city, Le Cateau-Cambrésis is located 30 km from the main motorways (A3, A23, A26). It is in tune with the French road and motorway network and European. The city is 1 hour from Lille, 2 hours from Paris and Bruges and Brussels 1h30. The railway station is on the main line Paris - Brussels and Paris - Cologne.
Le Cateau owes its origin to the meeting, around the year one thousand, two villages Vendelgies and Peronne. In 1001, the bishop of Cambrai, who had built the first wooden fortress, receives the Holy Roman Emperor Otto the third charter confirming its privileges. The city developed under the authority of the bishops of Cambrai often had difficulty in enforcing neutrality. It destroyed several times during the Middle Ages and during the 16th and 17th centuries (Franco-Spanish rivalry).
It is famous by the treaties signed in 1559, which put an end to the wars in Italy and trying to establish a new European order.
By the Treaty of Nijmegen in 1678 (Louis XIV), the town is part of France, but will retain the privileges (including tax), up to the Revolution.
In the 19th century became a thriving industrial town (textile and metallurgy), she suffered a lot during the first World War when the British army is illustrated at the Battle of Le Cateau (26 August 1914) and during the Liberation ( October 1918).
