Decazeville
Encyclopedia
Decazeville is a commune
in the Aveyron
department in the Midi-Pyrénées
region
in southern France
.
The commune was created in the 19th century because of the Industrial Revolution
and was named after the Duke of Decazes (1780–1860), the founder of the factory that created the town.
.
Louis XIV and his successors gave mines to their mistresses. The Duke of Decazes inherited such mines, and in 1826 he created, with the help of a technician named Cabrol, the "Houillères et Fonderies de l'Aveyron" (Mines and Foundries of Aveyron) which were to make this small village into a center of ironworking.
Under Napoléon III, the city took the name of Decazeville, and a statue of Decazes dressed in a Roman toga was erected.
The high point of iron production was reached early in the 20th century, with 9000 employees and 1 million tons of steel produced. The production then decreased, and the town has since diversified its industry: metallurgy, woodworking, metal fabrication, and production of steel tubing.
Although it felt the full brunt of the decline in the mining industry, the town has much thriving industry.
A noted strike of mine workers occurred from 1961 to 1962. Some 1500 miners spent 66 days in the mines from 23 December 1961 to 26 Febrruary 1962. The last mine closed in June 2001.
The town has a geological museum named after Pierre Vetter, its founder. It is dedicated to coal strata.
The open-pit mine La Découverte is open to the public.
The modern church of Notre-Dame has a celebrated painting of the Way of the Cross by Gustave Moreau
.
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the Aveyron
Aveyron
Aveyron is a département in southern France named after the Aveyron River.- History :Aveyron is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790....
department in the Midi-Pyrénées
Midi-Pyrénées
Midi-Pyrénées is the largest region of metropolitan France by area, larger than the Netherlands or Denmark.Midi-Pyrénées has no historical or geographical unity...
region
Régions of France
France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...
in southern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
The commune was created in the 19th century because of the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
and was named after the Duke of Decazes (1780–1860), the founder of the factory that created the town.
History
The town is built on coal. La Salle (the former name) produced coal since the 16th century. It was exported in small quantities to BordeauxBordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
.
Louis XIV and his successors gave mines to their mistresses. The Duke of Decazes inherited such mines, and in 1826 he created, with the help of a technician named Cabrol, the "Houillères et Fonderies de l'Aveyron" (Mines and Foundries of Aveyron) which were to make this small village into a center of ironworking.
Under Napoléon III, the city took the name of Decazeville, and a statue of Decazes dressed in a Roman toga was erected.
The high point of iron production was reached early in the 20th century, with 9000 employees and 1 million tons of steel produced. The production then decreased, and the town has since diversified its industry: metallurgy, woodworking, metal fabrication, and production of steel tubing.
Although it felt the full brunt of the decline in the mining industry, the town has much thriving industry.
A noted strike of mine workers occurred from 1961 to 1962. Some 1500 miners spent 66 days in the mines from 23 December 1961 to 26 Febrruary 1962. The last mine closed in June 2001.
The town has a geological museum named after Pierre Vetter, its founder. It is dedicated to coal strata.
The open-pit mine La Découverte is open to the public.
The modern church of Notre-Dame has a celebrated painting of the Way of the Cross by Gustave Moreau
Gustave Moreau
Gustave Moreau was a French Symbolist painter whose main emphasis was the illustration of biblical and mythological figures. As a painter of literary ideas, Moreau appealed to the imaginations of some Symbolist writers and artists.- Biography :Moreau was born in Paris. His father, Louis Jean Marie...
.
Population
Personalities
- Élie Decazes (1780–1860), founder of the town and president of ministers under Louis XVIII.
- François Gracchus Cabrol (1793–1882), captain in the Napleonic army at 21, director of the mining enterprise. Buried in Decazeville.
- Emma Calvé (born 1858), singer born in Decazeville.
- Jean-Pierre Timbaud (1904–1941), World War II Resistance fighter worked briefly in the mines as a child.
- Paul Ramadier, mayor of Decazeville from 1919 to 1959, governor of Aveyron, and minister.
- Jacques Monfrin (1924–1998), philologist born in Decazeville.
- Serge Mesonès (1948–2001), footballer
- Jean-Claude Berejnoï (born in 1939), rugby player born in Decazeville.
- Lilian Bathelot (born 1959), novelist who spent his childhood in Decazeville.
- Henri Agel (1911–2008), cinema critic and philosopher who died in Decazeville.
- Maurice Frot (1928–2004), writer.
See also
- List of places named after people
- HéroïnesHéroïnes-Credits:*Written and directed by Gérard Krawczyk*Based on the novel by Didier Daeninckx*French-Cast:*Virginie Ledoyen as Johanna*Maïdi Roth as Jeanne*Marc Duret as Luc*Saïd Taghmaoui as JP*Dominic Gould as Jasper*Marie Laforêt as Sylvie...
, a 1997 film partly set in Decazeville - Virtual 3D tour in GE
- Communes of the Aveyron department