Le Creusot () is a commune and industrial town in the

Saône-et-Loire Saône-et-Loire (; Arpitan: ''Sona-et-Lêre'') is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the rivers Saône and Loire, between which it lies, in the country's central-eastern part. Saône-et-Loire is Bo ...

department,

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 ...

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 ...

, eastern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The inhabitants are known as Creusotins. Formerly a mining town, its economy is now dominated by metallurgical companies such as

ArcelorMittal ArcelorMittal S.A. is a Luxembourgian multinational steel manufacturing corporation headquartered in Luxembourg City. It was formed in 2006 from the takeover and merger of Arcelor by Indian-owned Mittal Steel. ArcelorMittal is the second ...

Schneider Electric Schneider Electric SE is a French multinational company that specializes in digital automation and energy management. It addresses homes, buildings, data centers, infrastructure and industries, by combining energy technologies, real-time automatio ...

, and

Alstom Alstom SA is a French multinational corporation, multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the A ...

. Since the 1990s, the town has been developing its tourism credentials. Its main attraction is the Parc des Combes. The Creusot steam hammer is exposed as a tourist attraction in a square at the entrance to the town from the south. Le Creusot is also the second educational centre of the Bourgogne (after

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 ...

), with its IUT and the Condorcet university centre.

History

In 1836, iron ore mines and forges around Le Creusot were bought by Adolphe Schneider and his brother Eugène Schneider. They developed a business in steel, railways, armaments, and shipbuilding. The Schneider empire developed much of the town itself, until it was much reduced in the second half of the twentieth century. It eventually became known as

. The steel forgings for the French nuclear power plants as well as the special alloys for the

TGV The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...

trains were manufactured in Le Creusot. On 17 October 1942 the Schneider factory was targeted by the RAF in a daylight raid designated

Operation Robinson The RAF bombing raid against the Schneider Works at Le Creusot, known as Operation Robinson, was undertaken during the daylight hours of 17 October 1942. The mission was assigned to No. 5 Group, which had converted to the new Avro Lancaster. Th ...

Population

Transport

About south-east of town centre is the Le Creusot TGV station, a train station on the

LGV Sud-Est The LGV Sud-Est (French: ''Ligne à Grande Vitesse Sud-Est''; English: ''South East high-speed line)'' is a French high-speed rail line which connects the Paris and Lyon areas. It was France's first high-speed rail line. The inauguration of th ...

line, which links the area to Paris, Lyon and beyond with

high-speed rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...

. Le Creusot station is closer to the city centre, and is served by regional trains towards Nevers, Montchanin and Dijon.

Sights

*''Le pilon'' – 1877 steam hammer invented by François Bourdon Le Creusot - Marteau Pilon 5

*''Château de la Verrerie'' – Originally the Cristallerie royale of Queen

Marie-Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child ...

Personalities

* André Billardon (b.1940), mayor * Christian Bobin (b. 1951), writer * François Bourdon (1797–1875), engineer and inventor of the steam hammer ''le pilon'' * Fr. Bruno Cadoré (b. 1954), Dominican priest and current Master of the Order * Mathilde Carré (1908–2007), French Resistance agent during World War II, who turned double agent * Marie-Pierre Casey (b.1937) actress * Jovan Deroko (1912–1941), Serbian Chetnik fighter during World War II * Sébastien Grax (b. 1984), footballer * Claudie Haigneré (b. 1957), astronaut * Catherine Lépront (1951–2012), writer * Adolphe Schneider (1802–1845), mine owner and entrepreneur * Eugène Schneider (1805–1875), mine owner and entrepreneur * Lucien Sergi (b. 1971), former professional footballer * Anthony da Silva (b. 1980), footballer * Adrien Tuison (b. 1984), footballer * Mickaël Vendetta (b. 1987),

Internet celebrity An Internet celebrity (also known as a social media influencer, social media personality, internet personality, or simply influencer) is a celebrity who has acquired or developed their fame and notability through the Internet. The rise of social ...

* John "Iron-Mad" Wilkinson (1728 – 1808) advised Le Creusot on the development of its iron industry * Marie-Alice Yahé (b. 1984), female rugby player *

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. Aft ...

(1904–1997), Chinese leader who briefly worked at the Le Creusot Iron and Steel Plant in the 1920s

International relations

Le Creusot is twinned with: * Bor,

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...

. * Blieskastel,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

989 Year 989 ( CMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Emperor Basil II uses his contingent of 6,000 Varangians to help him defeat ...

* Rumia,