Digoin

Digoin is a French town with 8146 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2011 ) in the department of Saône -et -Loire, in the west of the Burgundy region, directly on the border with neighboring region Auvergne.

Geography

The city is situated on the right bank of the Loire, at the mouth of the creek Arroux. In addition, here take the following shipping channels together:

  • Canal in the Loire ( German: Loire Lateral Canal )
  • Canal de Roanne à Digoin ( German: Roanne - Digoin channel)
  • Canal du Centre ( German: Center channel)

Thus Digoin lies at an important junction of the French inland waterways.

History

A large number of leaf tips of flint, dating from the Solutrean ( Old Stone Age ), were close to Digoin Volgu, was found, indicating a very early human habitation. More Gallo- Roman and Merovingian traces of a settlement have been found. The place was known by the Latin name Denegontium, later Digonium.

For several centuries, the activities of the city developed on the river bank, where a port was established on the Loire. From there, local wines of Mâcon and Chalon -sur -Saône, wood from the Morvan, and blocks of stone was exported to the Loire Valley and Paris.

At the end of the 18th century, the construction of the Canal du Charolais (now the Canal du Centre ) was driven out of Burgundy, to connect the Saône with the Loire. This channel is navigable from 1794 and intensified the problems with unreliable navigability of the Loire.

By construction of the Roanne - Digoin Canal (1832 ) and the Loire lateral canal gradually reduces the navigation on the Loire itself and is all set for the second half of the 19th century. A stone canal bridge of 243 meters in length ( eleven arcs) allows the linking of the center channel to the Loire Lateral Canal. At the end of the 19th century, the river water is diverted at Arroux Gueugnon and passed through a supply channel east of the city into the Canal du Centre to improve the water supply of the channel. This channel was then navigable for small vessels. In the 1950s, the port Gueugnon was closed and the shipping set to this supply channel.

Even after the decline of inland navigation Digoin was an important transport hub for rail and road links due to its central Lange.

Thanks to good transport links Digoin could its economy expand by settlement of pottery and the pottery industry of Sarreguemines.

Culture and sights

  • Canal bridge Digoin (built in 1834). It connects the Loire Lateral Canal with the center channel and spans while the Loire.
  • ObservaLoire ( Interactive exhibition around the river Loire)
  • Church of Notre- Dame de la Providence ( built in 1869 )
  • Ceramics Museum
  • Chiseuil Castle ( 18th century )

Twin Cities

  • Gerolstein, Germany (since 1987)

Sons and daughters of the town

Arrondissement Arrondissement of Charolles Cantons of France Postal codes in France Auvergne (region) Canal du Centre (France)
240157
de