Saint-Léger-des-Vignes () is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the department 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.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 ...

, in central

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

.INSEE commune file
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Geography

Saint-Léger-des-Vignes is situated in the South of the Nièvre, on the road D981. It is the beginning point of the

Canal du Nivernais The Canal du Nivernais links the Loire with the Seine, following approximately the course of the river Yonne in a south to north direction. It first climbs northeast and north to cross the Morvan watershed, then roughly follows the course of the ...

and situated on the edge of the river

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 Rhône ...

. At the confluence of the Loire, the

Aron Aron may refer to: Characters *Aron (comics), from the Marvel Universe comic ''Aron! HyperSpace Boy!'' *Aron (Pokémon), in the ''Pokémon'' franchise * Aron Trask, from John Steinbeck's novel ''East of Eden'' *Áron or Aaron, the brother of Mos ...

and at the junction of the Canal du Nivernais and the

Canal latéral à la Loire The Canal latéral à la Loire (, "canal parallel to the 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 . It replaced the use of the river Loire, which wa ...

, it is a real crossroads of waterways. The hills of Saint-Léger-des-Vignes are fully facing south. This is the place where vines were planted which gave the name to the village.

History

The name

Over the centuries, Saint-Léger-des-Vignes had several names: * Sanctus Léodgarius in 1152 * Sancti Léodgarius in Vinéïs in 1396 * Saint Ligier des Vignes in 1457 * Saint Lige les Vignes lès Decize in 1689

The glass factories

On 29 May 1724, Bernard Borniol built his glass factory on the site of Saint-Léger-des-Vignes, which was called Desize at this time. It closed much later in 1840. However, a second glass factory was created where we can currently find the Fresneau Stadium. Here we produced bottles until its shutting down, 5 December 1931.

The rubber factory

The factory located in Decize (the neighbouring town) was very beneficial for Saint-Léger-des-Vignes. The Kleber factory (which is nowadays Anvis) was opened in 1942. It established the remarkable Fresneau Center where the old glass factory used to be before the 1930s.

Demography

The village had a population of 1,886 inhabitants in 2017.

Sports

Saint-Léger-des-Vignes has an important sports complex, the Fresneau Center where rugby is played in particular. The sports facilities are sometimes praised as the best of the whole Nièvre. Grandstands with a seating capacity of 3,000 spectators (including 300 covered) were built in 1951. Several sports are practiced under the aegis of Esperance Saint-Léger sports association (ESL) (athletics, boxing, canoe-kayak, climbing, gymnastics, judo, table tennis...) but the rugby XV is the most popular. The team which is in factory's colors (orange and blue), rose the level "National 3" in the 1990s and came close to the level "National 2".

Personalities associated with the commune

* Jean-Marie Clamamus (1879-1973), politician, born in Saint-Léger-des-Vignes * Claude de Burine (1931-2005), poet born in Saint-Léger-des-Vignes * Hubert Védrine (born in 1947), politician, town councillor in Saint-Léger-des-Vignes from 1977 to 1995. * Père Glencross

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saintlegerdesvignes Communes of Nièvre