Neufchâteau ( or ) is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. Geography Positioned at the confluence of the rivers Meuse and Mouzon, the little town dominates the Vosges Plain. It is at the centre of the various communications channels in the south-west of Grand Est, connecting with the région of Champagne to the west. The A31 Autoroute loops around the east side of Neufchâteau, approximately away at its closest point. Four junctions are available according to subsequent destination, these being numbered 8.1, 9, 10 and 11 and being located respectively at Robécourt, Bulgnéville, Châtenois and Colombey-les-Belles. National Road RN74 (in parts downgraded following autoroute network development to Departmental Road RD674) passes through Neufchâteau en route from Nancy in the north-east to Dijon further to the south-west. The town is on a main railway line connecting with Metz, Nancy, Dijon, Lyon and the south. For a year, in 2006/07, it also found itself a stop on the TGV line to Nice, though the opening of a more direct line put an end to that. History One of the oldest towns in Lorraine, Neufchâteau was known as Noviomagus during the Roman period, when it was a market town along the Pretorian road connecting Lyon with Trier. Other names from this period include Noviomagus and Neomagus, which had mutated to Novum Castrum by 1094 when Thierry, son of the Duke Gérard I constructed a castle here. Writing in the twelfth century, Hugues Metellus described the town in his poem "Garin le Lohérain" as "large and well populated, with a large fortress and abundant wealth" (« grande et bien peuplée, ayant un chastel principal, des biens en abondance »). It contained all the ingredients necessary for a good time, including musicians, jugglers and actors. In 1231 Neufchâteau was the first town in Lorraine to receive town privileges. Duke Matthew II granted Neufchâteau a charter which included the right to appoint thirteen people to undertake the functions of a jury, and to elect a mayor. The town was regularly chosen to host conferences convened in order to settle differences arising between Lorraine and France. It was also to Neufchâteau that the Duchess of Lorraine, at this time the regent on behalf of her infant son, called a meeting of the Estates General in 1545. The final decades of the neighbouring Duchy of Burgundy had been a particularly troubled period