Nevers ( , ; la, Noviodunum, later ''Nevirnum'' and ''Nebirnum'') is the prefecture of the

Nièvre Nièvre () is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, central-east France. Named after the river Nièvre, it had a population of 204,452 in 2019.department in the

Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (; , sometimes abbreviated BFC; Arpitan: ''Borgogne-Franche-Comtât'') is a region in Eastern France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions, from a merger of Burgundy and Franche-Comté. The new region ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

in central France. It was the principal city of the former

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

Nivernais Nivernais (, ) was a province of France, around the city of Nevers Nevers ( , ; la, Noviodunum, later ''Nevirnum'' and ''Nebirnum'') is the prefecture of the Nièvre Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions ...

. It is south-southeast of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

History

Nevers first enters written history as Noviodunum, a town held by the

Aedui The Aedui or Haedui (Gaulish: *''Aiduoi'', 'the Ardent'; grc, Aἴδουοι) were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the modern Burgundy region during the Iron Age and the Roman period. The Aedui had an ambiguous relationship with the Roman Republic a ...

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

contact. The quantities of medals and other Roman antiquities found on the site indicate the importance of the place, and in 52 BCE,

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...

made Noviodunum, which he describes as in a convenient position on the banks of the

Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhôn ...

, a depot (''B. G.'' vii. 55). There, he had his hostages, corn and military chest, with the money in it allowed him from home for the war, his own and his army's baggage and a great number of horses which had been bought for him in Spain and Italy. After his failure before Gergovia, the Aedui at Noviodunum massacred those who were there to look after stores, the negotiators and the travellers who were in the place. They divided the money and the horses among themselves, carried off in boats all the corn that they could and burned the rest or threw it into the river. Thinking they could not hold the town, they burned it. That was a great loss to Caesar, and it may seem that he was imprudent in leaving such great stores in the power of treacherous allies. However, he was in straits that year, and probably he could not have done other than he did.

Dio Cassius Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

(xl. 38) tells the story of Caesar out of the affair of Noviodunum. He states incorrectly what Caesar did on the occasion, and he shows that he neither understood his original nor knew what he was writing about. The city was later called Nevirnum, as the name appears in the

Antonine Itinerary The Antonine Itinerary ( la, Itinerarium Antonini Augusti, "The Itinerary of the Emperor Antoninus") is a famous ''itinerarium'', a register of the stations and distances along various roads. Seemingly based on official documents, possibly ...

. In the

Tabula Peutingeriana ' (Latin for "The Peutinger Map"), also referred to as Peutinger's Tabula or Peutinger Table, is an illustrated ' (ancient Roman road map) showing the layout of the '' cursus publicus'', the road network of the Roman Empire. The map is a 13th-ce ...

, it is corrupted into Ebrinum. In still other sources the name appears as Nebirnum or Nivernum. It became the seat of a bishopric at the end of the 5th century. The

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

dates at least from the beginning of the 10th century. The citizens of Nevers obtained charters in 1194 and 1231. For a short time in the 14th century the town was the seat of a university, transferred from

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Gonzaga family, who in 1627 succeeded to the

Duchy of Mantua The Duchy of Mantua was a duchy in Lombardy, northern Italy. Its first duke was Federico II Gonzaga, member of the House of Gonzaga that ruled Mantua since 1328. The following year, the Duchy also acquired the March of Montferrat, thanks to ...

. This line of the Gonzaga Dukes of Nevers itself died out in 1708.

Geography

Nevers is situated on the slope of a hill on the right bank of the river

Climate

Main sights

Narrow winding streets lead from the quay through the town where there are numerous old houses dating from the 14th to the 17th century. Among the ecclesiastical buildings the most important is the Cathédrale of Saint Cyr-Sainte Julitte, dedicated to

Saint Quiricus and Saint Julietta Cyricus ( el, Κήρυκος, am, ቂርቆስ, arc, ܡܪܝ ܩܘܪܝܩܘܣ ܣܗܕܐ ''Mar Quriaqos Sahada''; also Cyriacus, Quiriac, Quiricus, Cyr), and his mother, Julitta ( el, Ἰουλίττα, am, እየሉጣ arc, ܝܘܠܝܛܐ, ''Yul ...

, which is a combination of two buildings, and possesses two

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

s. The apse and transept at the west end are the remains of a Romanesque church, while the nave and eastern apse are in the

Gothic style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

and belong to the 14th century. There is no transept at the eastern end. The lateral portal on the south side belongs to the late 15th century; the massive and elaborately decorated tower which rises beside it dates to the early 16th century. The church of ''Saint Étienne'' is a specimen of the Romanesque style of

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; oc, label= Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Au ...

of which the disposition of the apse with its three radiating chapels is characteristic. It was consecrated at the close of the 9th century, and belonged to a priory affiliated to

Cluny Cluny () is a commune in the eastern French department of Saône-et-Loire, in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. It is northwest of Mâcon. The town grew up around the Benedictine Abbey of Cluny, founded by Duke William I of Aquitaine in ...

. The

Ducal Palace Several palaces are named Ducal Palace (Italian: ''Palazzo Ducale'' ) because it was the seat or residence of a duke. Notable palaces with the name include: France *Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy, Dijon * Palace of the Dukes of Lorraine, Nancy * ...

(now occupied by the courts of justice and an important ceramic museum) was built in the 15th and 16th centuries and is one of the principal feudal edifices in central France. The façade is flanked at each end by a

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * M ...

and a round tower. A middle tower containing the great staircase has its windows adorned by sculptures relating to the history of the

House of La Marck The House of La Marck (german: von der Mar(c)k) was a noble family, which from about 1200 appeared as the counts of Mark. History The family history started with Count Adolf I, scion of a cadet branch of the Rhenish Berg dynasty residing at A ...

by the members of which the greater part of the palace was built. Behind the palace lies an open space with a fine view over the valley of the Loire. The Porte du Croux, a square tower, with corner turrets, dating from the end of the 14th century, is among the remnants of the old fortifications; it now contains a collection of sculptures and Roman antiquities. A

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, cr ...

from the 18th century, commemorating the victory of Fontenoy and the hôtel de ville, a 19th century building which contains the library, are of some interest. The Loire is crossed by a modern stone bridge, and by an iron railway bridge. At the Chapel of Saint Bernadette at the mother house of the

Sisters of Charity of Nevers The Sisters of Charity of Nevers (French: ''Congrégation des Sœurs de la Charité de Nevers''), also known as Sisters of Charity and Christian Instruction, is a Catholic convent founded in 1680 in Nevers, Nièvre department, France, at the inst ...

, it is possible to view the incorrupt body of

Saint Bernadette Soubirous Bernadette Soubirous (; ; oc, Bernadeta Sobirós ; 7 January 184416 April 1879), also known as Saint Bernadette of Lourdes, was the firstborn daughter of a miller from Lourdes (''Lorda'' in Occitan), in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées in F ...

, the famous seer of

Our Lady of Lourdes Our Lady of Lourdes (french: Notre-Dame de Lourdes) is a title of the Virgin Mary. She is venerated under this title by the Roman Catholic church due to her apparitions that occurred in Lourdes, France. The first apparition of 11 February 1858, ...

apparitions, which are presented in a gold and crystal reliquary.

Economy

Nevers is the seat of a

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

, of tribunals of first instance and of commerce and of a

Cour d'assises In France, a ''cour d'assises'', or Court of Assizes or Assize Court, is a criminal trial court with original and appellate limited jurisdiction to hear cases involving defendants accused of felonies, meaning crimes as defined in French law. I ...

and has a

chamber of commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ...

and a branch of the

Bank of France The Bank of France (French: ''Banque de France''), headquartered in Paris, is the central bank of France. Founded in 1800, it began as a private institution for managing state debts and issuing notes. It is responsible for the accounts of the ...

. Its educational institutions include several lycées, a training college for female teachers, ecclesiastical seminaries, a school of art of the automotive engineering college Institut supérieur de l'automobile et des transports. The town manufactures porcelain, agricultural implements, chemical manures, glue, boilers and iron goods, boots and shoes and fur garments, and has distilleries, tanneries and dye works. Its trade is in iron and steel, wood, wine, grain,

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to ani ...

, etc.

hydraulic lime Hydraulic lime (HL) is a general term for calcium oxide, a variety of lime also called quicklime, that sets by hydration. This contrasts with calcium hydroxide, also called slaked lime or air lime that is used to make lime mortar, the other comm ...

kaolin Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedra ...

and clay for the manufacture of faience are worked in the vicinity.

Transport

The Nevers railway station offers connections to

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlie ...

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label= Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, with a population of 146,734 (2018). Its metropolitan area (''aire d'attrac ...

and several regional destinations. The A77 motorway connects Nevers with Paris.

Population

Notable people

Marie Louise Gonzaga Marie Louise Gonzaga ( pl, Ludwika Maria; 18 August 1611 – 10 May 1667) was Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania by marriage to two kings of Poland and grand dukes of Lithuania, brothers Władysław IV and John II Casimir. Together ...

, Queen of Poland, born in Nevers in 1611 *

Marie Casimire Louise de La Grange d'Arquien Marie Casimire Louise de La Grange d'Arquien ( Polish: Maria Kazimiera Ludwika d’Arquien), known also by the diminutive form "Marysieńka" (28 June 1641 – 30 January 1716) was a French noblewoman who became the queen consort of Poland and gra ...

, Queen of Poland, born in Nevers in 1641 *

Pierre Gaspard Chaumette Pierre Gaspard Anaxagore Chaumette (24 May 1763 – 13 April 1794) was a French politician of the Revolutionary period who served as the president of the Paris Commune and played a leading role in the establishment of the Reign of Terror. H ...

, revolutionary, born in Nevers in 1763 *

Bernadette Soubirous Bernadette Soubirous (; ; oc, Bernadeta Sobirós ; 7 January 184416 April 1879), also known as Saint Bernadette of Lourdes, was the firstborn daughter of a miller from Lourdes (''Lorda'' in Occitan), in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées in ...

, better known as ''Saint Bernadette of Lourdes'', died in Nevers in 1879 (aged 35). * Anne Boutiaut, born in Nevers in 1851 and later known as

La Mère Poulard La Mère Poulard is a restaurant and hotel on Mont Saint-Michel. The restaurant dates back to 1879, and is known for the wall of autographs from over a century of famous diners, including Ernest Hemingway and Yves Saint Laurent. History The res ...

Mont St-Michel Mont-Saint-Michel (; Norman: ''Mont Saint Miché''; ) is a tidal island and mainland commune in Normandy, France. The island lies approximately off the country's north-western coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches and is ...

. *

Michel Vieuchange Michel Vieuchange, born in Nevers in 1904 and died in Agadir in 1930, was a French adventurer who was the first European to visit the abandoned ruins of the walled city of Smara, in the interior of the Sahara. On 10 September 1930 Vieuchange set ...

, Saharan explorer, adventurer and writer, born in Nevers in 1904, where there is a street named after him * Jean Vieuchange, editor of Michel Vieuchange's travel notebooks, born in Nevers in 1906 *

Pierre Bérégovoy Pierre Eugène Bérégovoy (; 23 December 1925 – 1 May 1993) was a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France under President François Mitterrand from 2 April 1992 to 29 March 1993. He was a member of the Socialist Party (Fran ...

, former

Prime Minister of France The prime minister of France (french: link=no, Premier ministre français), officially the prime minister of the French Republic, is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of the Council of Ministers. The prime minister i ...

, committed suicide in 1993 in Nevers *

Parfait Mandanda Parfait Mandanda (born 10 October 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. Born in France, he represented DR Congo at international level. Club career Born in Nevers, Mandanda began his career at Stade Malherbe Caen, moving ...

, footballer, born in Nevers in 1989 * Valérie Beauvais, politician, born in Nevers in 1963 * Alexandre Oukidja, Algerian professional footballer, born in Nevers in 1988 *

Roselyne Bachelot Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin, generally known as Roselyne Bachelot (née Narquin; born 24 December 1946) is a French politician who served as Minister of Culture in the government of Prime Minister Jean Castex (2020–2022) and as Minister of Soli ...

, French politician and former Minister of Culture, born in Nevers in 1946 * Guy Savoy, French chef, born in Nevers in 1953 *

Da Silva Silva is a surname in Portuguese-speaking countries, such as Portugal and Brazil. It is derived from the Latin word , meaning "forest" or "woodland". It is the family name of the House of Silva. The name is also widespread in Galician-speaking ...

, singer-songwriter, born in Nevers in 1976

Culture

Nevers has been known for several centuries for its Nevers faience. The Formula One circuit of

Magny-Cours Magny-Cours () is a commune in the Nièvre department in central France. It is the home of the ''Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours'', a famous motor racing circuit (whose name is often abbreviated to 'Magny-Cours'). It formerly hosted the Formula ...

is located near Nevers, as well as the museum

Conservatoire de la monoplace française The Conservatoire de la monoplace française is a museum dedicated to the French Formula One cars located in Magny-Cours, France and created 1 May 2015. It is located on the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours racetrack. It brings together F1 cars f ...

. The anonymous French woman (played by

Emmanuelle Riva Emmanuelle Riva (; 24 February 1927 – 27 January 2017) was a French actress, best known for her roles in the films ''Hiroshima mon amour'' (1959) and '' Amour'' (2012). Riva was nominated for a BAFTA Award for her role in ''Hiroshima mon ...

) who is the main character in the film '' Hiroshima mon amour'' by

Alain Resnais Alain Resnais (; 3 June 19221 March 2014) was a French film director and screenwriter whose career extended over more than six decades. After training as a film editor in the mid-1940s, he went on to direct a number of short films which included ...

is from Nevers, and the film features many flashbacks to her youth there during World War II. In the final scene of the film, her

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

ese lover tells her "You are Nevers". There is a lot of play on the English translation of the town's name throughout the film, with dialogue such as ''"Nevers ? Jamais !"'' ("Nevers? Never!") Most of the scenes in the film ''

Rosalie Blum ''Rosalie Blum'' is a 2015 French comedy-drama film written and directed by Julien Rappeneau in his directorial debut. The film is based on a graphic novel series of the same name by Camille Jourdy. It stars Noémie Lvovsky, Kyan Khojandi and Al ...

'' were filmed in Nevers between March and April 2015, with the exception of the end scenes, which were filmed at

Leffrinckoucke Leffrinckoucke (; nl, Leffrinkhoeke; vls, Leffrinkoeke) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Heraldry Population Twin towns Leffrinckoucke is twinned with: * Węgorzewo in Poland In popular culture The end scenes o ...

in the

Nord Nord, a word meaning "north" in several European languages, may refer to: Acronyms * National Organization for Rare Disorders, an American nonprofit organization * New Orleans Recreation Department, New Orleans, Louisiana, US Film and televisi ...

. Nevers is also the setting of most of the second half of

Éric Rohmer Jean Marie Maurice Schérer or Maurice Henri Joseph Schérer, known as Éric Rohmer (; 21 March 192011 January 2010), was a French film director, film critic, journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and teacher. Rohmer was the last of the post-World ...

's 1992 film, '' Conte d'Hiver''.

International relations

Nevers is twinned with: *

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman military post by Drusus around 8 B.C. Its nam ...

, Germany * Erzsébetváros (Budapest), Hungary *

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture. In 2017, it was named as the Eur ...

, Italy *

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman ...

, England, United Kingdom *

Lund Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish province of Scania, across the Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipality, Scania County. The Öre ...

, Sweden * Stavroupoli, Greece *

Curtea de Argeș Curtea de Argeș () is a municipality in Romania on the left bank of the river Argeș, where it flows through a valley of the Southern Carpathians (the Făgăraș Mountains), on the railway from Pitești to the Turnu Roșu Pass. It is part ...

, Romania * Taizhou, China *

Charleville-Mézières or ''Carolomacérienne'' , image flag=Flag of Charleville Mezieres.svg Charleville-Mézières () is a commune of northern France, capital of the Ardennes department, Grand Est. Charleville-Mézières is located on the banks of the river Meuse. ...

, France * Hammamet, Tunisia * Neubrandenburg, Germany