Saint-Chély-d'Apcher
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Saint-Chély-d'Apcher (; ) is a commune in the
Lozère Lozère (; ) is a landlocked Departments of France, department in the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie in Southern France, located near the Massif Central, bounded to the northeast by Haute-Loire, to the ...
department in southern
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
.


History

Its
inhabitants In law and conflict of laws, domicile is relevant to an individual's "personal law", which includes the law that governs a person's status and their property. It is independent of a person's nationality. Although a domicile may change from time ...
are called Barrabans. This name was allotted to the inhabitants of Saint-Chély-d'Apcher during the
Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...
. In 1363, the town was attacked by the English. The inhabitants defended themselves with bars, and advanced towards the attacking English army to the cry of "barres en avant" ("bars ahead").


Coat of arms

The shield of Saint-Chély-d'Apcher is a red castle with two blue axes and the background is golden. The axes can be a product of the legend of the eight Gévaudan's baronage.


Apcher Castle

Château d'Apcher is a feudal castle. It is situated in the village Prunières, 3 km from Saint Chély. Now, it is a ruin, the donjon and chapel are still intact.


Gévaudan Beast

The Gévaudan Beast is an animal at the origin of many attacks against women and children between 1764 and 1767. It looked like a wolf or a werewolf. The beast is a legend but many people were actually killed.


Geography

Saint-Chély-d'Apcher is located at the centre of the
Gévaudan Gévaudan (; ) is a historical area of France in Lozère ''département''. It took its name from the Gabali, a Gallic tribe. History After the conquest of Gaul, the Romans preserved the capital city of the Gabali, ''Anderitum'', which they ...
area, between
Aubrac Aubrac () is a volcanic and granitic plateau located in the south-central Massif Central of France. This region has been a member of the Natura 2000 network since August 2006. It straddles three ''départements'' (Cantal, Aveyron and Lozère) an ...
and Margeride. It's in the North of Lozère. St Chély-d'Apcher is 935 meters high and it is 28.26 km2. There are 4,455 inhabitants in 2016. The climate is temperate. In summer it is warm, the temperatures can vary from 12 to 30 degrees Celsius. In winter it can be very cold, it can be freezing. It can snow a lot.


Transport

The A75 motorway (
Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, , ; or simply ; ) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population of 147,284 (2020). Its metropolitan area () had 504,157 inhabitants at the 2018 ...
Béziers Béziers (; ) is a city in southern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hérault Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region. Every August Béziers ho ...
passes east of the town. It replaced the old Route nationale 9, which was reclassified as RD 809 and passes the town. The RD 806 (former Route nationale 106) connects Saint-Chély-d'Apcher with Mende. The Saint-Chély-d'Apcher station is served by local and
Intercités Intercités (IC), known before September 2009 as ''Corail Intercités'', is a brand name used by France's national railway company, the SNCF, to denote non High-speed rail in France, high-speed services on the classic rail network in France. The ...
trains between Clermont-Ferrand and Béziers.


Population


Culture

There is an art festival: Saint Chely d'Arte. It takes place during the second week-end of August. There are music, theater and exhibitions. The cinema was renovated in 2014 to welcome both movies and plays. There are 144 seats. The library is in the village square. The cultural centre was created in 1981. There are art exhibitions made by professional and hobbyist artists. Radio Zema is a local radio station, created in July 1981. It is animated by employees and volunteers.


Economy


Industry

The town has a long-standing iron foundry, owned by the
ArcelorMittal ArcelorMittal S.A. is a Luxembourg-based multinational steel manufacturing corporation, headquartered in Luxembourg City. It is ranked second on the list of steel producers behind Baowu, and had an annual crude steel production of 58 millio ...
group. It comprises production lines for
rolling Rolling is a Motion (physics)#Types of motion, type of motion that combines rotation (commonly, of an Axial symmetry, axially symmetric object) and Translation (geometry), translation of that object with respect to a surface (either one or the ot ...
, annealing and scouring, and it also manufactures
steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...
. The Arcelor Mittal factory of Saint chely was created in 1916. It produces 100,000 tonnes of steel per year and it is the European leader in top of the range products. The customers are from the European Union. The factory invested almost €750,000 annually to preserve the environment. The factory is famous on a European scale. It is the only factory of Arcelor Mittal in Europe that produces pieces of sheet metal, more precisely non-oriented electrical steels.


Fire Station

The fire station of Saint-Chély-d'Apcher was inaugurated on July 21, 2010. There are approximately 46 firefighters. There are fire engines, a ladder truck, tankers, rescue trucks and two bikes. In 2014, the firefighters realized more than 548 interventions.


Sports

There are 2 gymnasiums where there is climbing, body building, basketball, football and handball. There are a lot of sports clubs. Dance, tennis and badminton for example. The swimming pool is called Atlantie. There, people can do many activities. There is an island for children. There are also a slide, a sauna and a Jacuzzi. There is a competition pool. There you can practise sporty swimming, synchronized swimming, swimming with fins and scuba-diving.


Monuments and tourist areas

Saint-Chély-d'Apcher has a
bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...
without a
church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...
and a church without a bell tower. The bell tower of the town is also the old town
keep A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residen ...
.


Museums

*Le musée des papillons (Museum of butterflies) contains more than 2700 species of
butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...
. But at the moment, the museum of butterflies is closed. *Le musée de la métallurgie (Metalworking Industry Museum) was created in 1990, by workers of the factory. It shows the life of these men at work and the story and evolution of the factory.


Camping

The town campsite is called "La Croix des Anglais". It is 2 hectares. It's close to the town centre and to the countryside. We can sleep in a tent, in a caravan, or in the open. It is situated between Margeride mountains and Aubrac.


Outdoor Activities

Hiking, horse riding, biking, hunting, fishing, skiing...


Others

Saint-Chély-d'Apcher is a popular area for
ornithologists __NOTOC__ This is a list of ornithologists who have articles, in alphabetical order by surname. See also :Ornithologists. A * John Abbot – US * Clinton Gilbert Abbott – US * William Louis Abbott – US * Humayun Abdulali — India * Joseph ...
, due to wide variety of both rural- and urban-dwelling birds that can be seen. Local dancing involves cartwheels, stamping and clapping, whilst men wear smocks and women wear traditional layered dresses.


Education


Middle schools

There are 2 middle schools in Saint-Chély-d'Apcher. The Haut Gevaudan school (built in 1962) and the Sacre coeur school (built in 1959). This year (2016) there are around 300 students in the Haut Gévaudan school.


High schools

There are four high schools in Saint-Chély-d'Apcher: -> Théophile Roussel high school -> Sacré Coeur general high school -> Sacré Coeur professional high school (industry and cooking fields) -> Rabelais professional high school (nature and environnement fields) There are about 2,600 students in Saint-Chély-d'Apcher.


Higher education and research

Saint-Chély-d'Apcher has a college where it is possible to take a course in BTSA management and nature conservation. The college also proposes to offer a course in electronic and mechanical design and manufacture.


Twin towns

*The town is twinned with
Tadcaster Tadcaster is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, north-east of Leeds and south-west of York. Its historical importance from Roman times onward was largely as the lowest road crossing-point o ...
in
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
.


Climate


See also

*
Communes of the Lozère department The following is a list of the 152 communes of the Lozère department of France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French ...
*
The works of Maxime Real del Sarte This article is a list of public sculptures designed by Maxime Real del Sarte. War Memorials using the composition entitled "Je t'ai cherché" The plaster model entitled "Je t'ai cherché" was first exhibited in 1920 at the Salon des Artistes F ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint-Chely-D'apcher Saintchelydapcher Gévaudan