The French National Anthem, La Marseillaise was written, not in Marseille, but in 1792 in Strasbourg at the instigation of the Mayor of Strasbourg who felt the revolution needed a stirring song for its troops to march by.

A young army engineer Claude Rouget de Lisle composed the French national anthem, naming it Chant de Guerre de l'Armée du Rhin or 'War Song of the Army of the Rhine'.

Little did he know at that time, that it would become, in time, the French National Anthem.

The Mayor of Strasbourg himself, in his own house, sang the first performance of what became the French national anthem.

To this day you can visit this building, which still stands in Strasbourg, and now house the Banque de France.

The stirring, blood-curdling lyrics immediately struck a chord with the troops of the French Revolution.

The name, La Marseillaise, by which it soon became known, came about by virtue of its singing by the Marseille volunteer troops as they marched north in defence of the Revolution.

The French national anthem is sung at official events and is also sung at major international sporting events.

While most French people know the words to the first verse and the chorus, very few know any of the other many verses of La Marseillaise, the French national anthem.

French National Anthem
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La Marseillaise - French National Anthem
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