Decize
Encyclopedia
Decize is a commune
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 Nièvre
Nièvre
Nièvre is a department in the centre of France named after the Nièvre River.-History:Nièvre is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...

 department in central 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...

.

Site

The town is situated on a former island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

 in the Loire
Loire
Loire is an administrative department in the east-central part of France occupying the River Loire's upper reaches.-History:Loire was created in 1793 when after just 3½ years the young Rhône-et-Loire department was split into two. This was a response to counter-Revolutionary activities in Lyon...

 ("en Loire assise") at the confluent of the Aron
Aron
-Characters:* Aron , a character from the comic Aron! HyperSpace Boy!* Aron , a character from the Marvel Universe* Aron , a creature in the Pokémon video game series...

 river. The right channel of the Loire was dammed up to reclaim land and now remains as an arm ("la Vieille Loire") stretching upstream to the centre of town. The Loire at this point is an important navigation point as it forms the junction between the Canal du Nivernais
Canal du Nivernais
The Canal du Nivernais links the Loire basin with the Seine basin following approximately the course of the river Yonne in a south to north direction....

 and the Canal Latéral à la Loire
Canal latéral à la Loire
The Canal Latéral à la Loire was constructed between 1827 and 1838 to connect the Canal de Briare at Briare and the Canal du Centre at Digoin, a distance of 196 km. It replaced the use of the River Loire which had reliability problems arising from winter floods and summer droughts...

 both of which are within the town boundaries.

History

Decize is an ancient settlement first noted in the Commentarii de Bello Gallico
Commentarii de Bello Gallico
Commentarii de Bello Gallico is Julius Caesar's firsthand account of the Gallic Wars, written as a third-person narrative. In it Caesar describes the battles and intrigues that took place in the nine years he spent fighting local armies in Gaul that opposed Roman domination.The "Gaul" that Caesar...

 where Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....

 settled a dispute involving the Decetiae from whom comes the town's name.

People

  • Louis de Saint-Just
    Louis de Saint-Just
    Louis Antoine Léon de Saint-Just , usually known as Saint-Just, was a military and political leader during the French Revolution. The youngest of the deputies elected to the National Convention in 1792, Saint-Just rose quickly in their ranks and became a major leader of the government of the French...

     (1767–1794), a major figure in the French Revolution
    French Revolution
    The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

    , was born here.
  • Marguerite Monnot
    Marguerite Monnot
    Marguerite Monnot was a French songwriter and composer best known for having written many of the songs performed by Édith Piaf and for the music in the stage musical Irma La Douce....

    (1903-1961), songwriter and composer

Tourism

As of September 2010 work began on a new port for pleasure boats in the "Bassin de la Jonction" between the Lateral Canal and the Loire. Intended to be ready for spring 2011 it will make this one of the largest pleasure ports in Burgundy.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK