Chalon-sur-Saône

Chalon-sur-Saône
Coat of arms
Chalon-sur-Saône
Location within Burgundy region Chalon-sur-Saône
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Department	Saône-et-Loire
Arrondissement	Chalon-sur-Saône
Intercommunality	Le Grand Chalon
Government
• Mayor (2014–2020)	Gilles Platret
Area1	15.22 km2 (5.88 sq mi)
Population (2006)2	48,376
• Density	3,200/km2 (8,200/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	71076 / 71100
Elevation	172–190 m (564–623 ft) (avg. 185 m or 607 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Chalon-sur-Saône (French pronunciation: ​[ʃa.lɔ̃.syʁ.son]) is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Burgundy in eastern France.

It is a sub-prefecture of the department. It is the largest city in the department; however, the department capital is the smaller city of Mâcon.

Geography

Chalon-sur-Saône lies in the south of the Burgundy region of France. It is located on the Saône river, and was once a busy port, acting as a distribution point for local wines which were sent up and down the Saône river and the Canal du Centre, opened in 1792.

Tribute to Nicéphore Niépce

History

Though the site was a capital of the Aedui and objects of La Tène culture have been retrieved from the bed of the river here, the first mention of Cavillonum is found in Caesar's Gallic Wars (VII, chs. 42 and 90). The Roman city already served as a river port and hub of road communications, of the Via Agrippa and side routes. In 354 AD the Roman Emperor, Constantius II stationed the Roman 7th Army in Chalon (then called Cabyllona) for an invasion against the brother kings, Gundomad and Vadomar of the Alamanni. However, not having received supplies, the Roman troops revolted, and were pacified by the grand chamberlain Eusebius with money. In Late Antiquity the city had dwindled so much that a wall round it encircled fifteen hectares.

Saint Marcellus of Chalons (Saint Marcel) is said to have been martyred here in 179 AD; his cult was encouraged by Guntram, king of Burgundy from 561 to 592, who died at Chalon. The bishopric of Chalon-sur-Saône, a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Lyon, was established here in the same century, and a Church Council was held here from 644-655. The see was merged into the diocese of Autun shortly after the French Revolution.

Chalon in the 19th century is best known as the birthplace of photography. Its most famous resident, Nicéphore Niépce also has a lycée (secondary school) named after him. There is a museum which contains some early photography relics, located on the Quai des Messageries in the town, containing more than two million photographs and many old artefacts such as cameras and other equipment for old and modern photography. Also on display are Niépce's 1807 Pyréolophore which is probably the world's first internal combustion engine, plus his 1818 implementation of a dandy horse, for which he coined the word vélocipède.

Nicéphore Niépce

Another famous resident is Dominique Vivant Denon (1747–1825) who was involved in the creation of the Louvre museum, converting the former royal palace into a museum after the French Revolution.

Main sights

• St. Vincent's Cathedral on the Place Saint-Vincent, which has some elements dating from the eighth century and a neo-gothic nineteenth century façade.

Chalon Cathedral

• This city square also has a number of cafés and a busy market on Fridays and Sundays.

Economy

The primary industries are nuclear, plastics, metallurgy, and mechanics.

The Chamber of Commerce of Saône-et-Loire manages the École de Gestion et de Commerce de Chalon-sur-Saône, as well as the river port on the Saône.

There are 2472 businesses : 764 stores, 454 retail services, 409 schools and health and social services, 378 wholesale services, 122 construction companies, 69 agricultural and alimentary businesses, 64 real estate businesses, 60 transportation business, 49 industries de biens intermédiaires, 35 industries de biens de consommations, 34 entreprises d'énergie, 33 industries de biens d'équipements et 1 industrie automobile.

The most important companies are Areva, Saint-Gobain, Nordeon, Cartonnerie Laurent, Chalondis, Carrefour 2000, Géant Casino, Comptoirs des Fers, Cayon, and Le journal de Saône-et-Loire. Until the early 2000s, Kodak was the largest employer in town. Their production site became the campus of Le Grand Chalon en Bourgogne in 2005.

Transport

The Gare de Chalon-sur-Saône railway station offers connections with Paris, Dijon, Lyon and several regional destinations. The public transportation company STAC offers a bus network ZOOM, with a free bus in the center completed with a bike sharing scheme Réflex.

Education

An institute of research of the engineering school Arts et Métiers ParisTech was established in Chalon in 1997. This institute offers graduate and doctoral programs in the domain of virtual reality and image engineering.

Events

Every year in July, Chalon-sur-Saône hosts an international street artists festival, called Chalon dans la Rue ("Chalon in the street"). Over four days, artists from across Europe and beyond come to the streets of Chalon to perform, mostly for free, in music, theatre, acrobatics, comedy, etc. A program is made available by the town, so people know of the main groups performing, and several newspapers report what performances are must-see and where and when to find them.

Personalities

Notable people associated with the city include:

• Dominique Vivant Denon, involved in creating the Louvre
• Roger Grosjean, double agent in World War II and later a noted archaeologist in Corsica
• Nicéphore Niépce, pioneer of photography, took the earliest surviving photograph

Tourism

Main article: Tourism in Saône-et-Loire, South Burgundy

In South Burgundy, you can see :

• The Arboretum de Pézanin, one of the richest forest collection in France,
• The Rock of Solutré,
• The Cluny abbey, and its medieval city,
• Charolles and the "boeuf charolais",
• Mâcon, Paray-le-Monial,...

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in France

Twin towns – Sister cities

Chalon-sur-Saône is twinned with:

• St. Helens, United Kingdom.
• Solingen, Germany
• Novara, Italy
• Næstved, Denmark

See also

• Élan Sportif Chalonnais
• Communes of the Saône-et-Loire department
• Côte Chalonnaise
• Neuilly sa mère !, 2009 film set partially in Chalon-sur-Saône

References

• INSEE
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: 
• Westermann, Großer Atlas zur Weltgeschichte (German)

External links

• Official website (French)
• Local web portal www.vivre-a-chalon.com (French)