Decazeville
The community Decazeville with 5917 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2011 ) is located in the French region of Midi -Pyrenees in the department of Aveyron and is the capital of the canton of the same name. The municipality is situated on the GR 65, which largely follows the historical course of the French Road to Santiago Via Podiensis. The town developed in the 19th century under the influence of the industrial revolution and was named after the Duke Élie Decazes ( 1780-1860 ).
Geography and transport
Decazeville is located on the southwestern edge of the Massif Central, south over the Lot Valley, about five miles from Livinhac -le-Haut on the river Riou Mort. This leads after a few kilometers in the solder. The next major French cities are Lyon ( 242 km) to the northeast, Toulouse ( 124 km) in the south-west, Bordeaux (227 km ) to the west and Montpellier ( 167 km) to the southeast.
The nearest commercial airport is Rodez - Marcillac, which is served, including the Air France and Ryanair. About the D840 road it lies about 29 kilometers away, in a southeasterly direction. The nearest train station is Viviez - Decazeville, about two kilometers away. Decazeville are connections to the French motorway network via the A20 - exit 56 - (D 802) Figeac - (N 140) Decazeville and the A75 - exit 42 - (N 88) Rodez - (N 140) Decazeville. By Decazeville leads the D 840 in an east-west direction, while the D963 north into the Lot valley and the D 221 leads south.
History
The city developed from the small medieval village of La Salle. Since the 16th century coal was mined on a small scale, which was shipped across the Lot and Garonne to the Bordeaux. In the 19th century a thriving cottage industry developed from the coal production. Élie Decazes founded in 1826 a society for the development of the coal and steel production in the Aveyron region. 1834 a new city was founded in the central municipalities Vialarels, St. Michael and Saint -Roch, which was named in honor of Decazeville Élie Decazes. The structure of the iron and steel industry organized by François Gracchus Cabrol, a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique. Under his leadership emerged blast furnaces and coke ovens. The high point of this cottage industry in the early 20th century, with 9,000 workers and an annual pig iron production of one million tons. Today, on this industry very little to see. The last mine in the area was closed in June 2001. Only the mining museum La Décuverte still bears witness to the once -determining economic factor.
Way of St. James ( Via Podiensis )
In Decazeville there is next to a tourist information, hotels and restaurants is also a campsite. In addition, several pilgrims' hostels (French: Gîte d' étape ) are in place. The next stops of the route are the Chapel of St. Roch, and, as the next larger town, Livinhac -le-Haut. The path leads down to the Lot Valley and then along a forest path to the entrance of Livinhac -le-Haut. On roads can be reached Livinhac -le-Haut via route D963 and D21.
Attractions
- Musée régional de géologie, which is mainly dedicated to the Carboniferous period and then came coal deposits.
- In the Church of Notre -Dame there is a painting of Gustave Moreau in the 19th century, representing the Stations of the Cross Jesus.
Twin Cities
- Utrillas - Spain in the province of Teruel
- Coazze - Italy in the province of Turin
- Bolsover - Great Britain in the East Midlands region
Personalities of the city
- Élie Decazes (1788-1860), namesake of the city, Chairman of the Council of Ministers under Louis XVIII.
- François Gracchus Cabrol (1793-1882), captain in the army of Napoleon, director of the League of coal and smelting of Aveyron, is buried in Decazeville.
- Emma Calvé (1848 - 1942), the French soprano was born in Decazeville.
- Jacques Monfrin (1904-1941), philologist and historian, was born in Decazeville.