About
Nièvre
Clamecy lies in the north of the
region and is at the confluence of two rivers, Yonne and
Beuvron, it also lies on the banks of the Nivernais Canal.
This dependence on water made it an important centre from
the 16th to 19th centuries for the
transportation of wood cut largely in the Morvan and
surrounding areas and transported by floating it to Paris.
Lying in the heavily wooded Yonne
valley Clamecy is a pretty town. Head for the centre at the
Church of Saint-Martin and discover medieval buildings in
the narrow streets that fan out from this central point.
La Charité-sur-Loire. In the 12c
the Order of Cluny sent 100 monks who built two churches and
a priory at the place that was later named Charité-sur-Loire.
The priory was built on the main pilgrimage trail near a
bridge over the River Loire and became a popular stop over
on the trail. The two churches were the St. Laurent’s
church, the smaller of the two, and Notres Dame’s church
which was the second largest church in France after Cluny
itself and the third largest in the World. The city
developed around the Priory, named la Charité and became so
wealthy that thick walls were built with ten towers for
defence.
The city was largely destroyed by fire
in 1559 and by the time of the French Revolution in 1789
there were only 12 monks left at the Priory. The Church of
Notre Dame has been completely restored and is one of the
finest examples of Burgundian Romanic style to be found. In
1990 La Charité was listed as a Grand Site Culturel et
Touristique and in 1998 became a World Heritage Site.
Nevers, the capital of modern
day Nièvre is the largest of the cities in the region, built
on the banks of the River Loire and set on the pilgrim route
from Vezeley to Santiago de Compestela in Northern Spain.
There are two routes on this famous pilgrim journey, one
through Charite-sur-Loire and Bourges and the other through
Nevers and St Amand-Montrond.
In Nevers lies the body of Bernadette
Soubirous at the Espace Bernadette Soubirous, 34 rue St
Gilard. Bernadette, a simple country girl from Lourdes,
claimed that the Virgin Mary appeared to her 18 times
resulting in several miracles from which Lourdes became one
of the most important sites in the world for pilgrims.
Bernadettes visions persuaded her of her calling and she
became a nun at St Gilard, a convent of the Sisters of
Charity at Nevers.
Certainly whilst in Nevers you should
visit the Palais Ducal and then from there follow the fils
bleu, blue line, which will lead you into the pottery
quarter of the town. Here you can see faience that is still
made today using traditional methods following on from the
Italian influenced china that was first produced in Nevers
in the 16c.
Just south of Nevers is the famous
racing circuit at Magny Cours. 2008 may be the last
opportunity to witness Formula 1 racing here. No-one seems
to know for certain although, after deciding to host the
French Grand Prix here for a further year in 2007, Bernie
Ecclestone, head of F1, has stated that 2008 will be the
last with the French GP moving to Paris, possibly even a
street circuit. You will however still be able to see a full
calendar of events including the Bol D’Or 24 hour motor
cycle race and World Superbikes.
Decize is situated on a rocky
island in the river Loire at the confluence of the Aron and
Loire and at the canal du Nivernais, where a dam connects it
to the Canal Laterial à la Loire. Because of these waterway
connections it is a busy trade centre and has an eventful
history during which time many monuments were built and
destroyed.
Visit the Promenades des Halles a 985m
long walkway, comprised of plane trees and lime trees,
planted from 1770. The city walls with the gate of Marquis
d’Ancre thought to have been built in 1194, the towers and
the Ravelin et Echuguette, fortifications dating from the
16c. The Church of St-Are and its crypt and the Couvent
des Minimes, the ancient convent and cloister which houses a
Roman chapel and the Eglise St Are with its choir which
dates from 11c.
St Honore les Bains is the
furthest south of the towns we are featuring from La Nievre.
It differs from the others and gets its name from one
specific feature, its thermal spa. Dating back to the Romans
as far back as 50bc the troops of Julius Caesar discovered
the hot springs whilst crossing the solid mass of the Morvan
and created the thermal baths which would function until the
2c. At this time the Romans give it the name Aqua Nisinae.
For several centuries the baths were not used and vanished
under the silts from a marsh.
In 1010 a priory was created by Hugues
de Chatillon under the name St Honore which would become the
name of the borough with the addition of “the baths” later
on. The first part of this 11c priory still remains today.
In 1789 a Dr Regnault de Lormes was
first to recognise the therapeutic properties of the water
from the warm springs. Bacon Parr endeavoured to develope
the use of the water but had to give up due to lack of
funds. Then in 1839 excavations carried out by Marquis
Antoine Theodore d’Espeuilles led to the update of the roman
structures and in 1855 opened to the public with it being
declared a public utility in 1860.
