Bessèges (; oc, Besseja) is a commune in the

Gard Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

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 ...

. It is situated on the river

Cèze The Cèze (; oc, Céser) is a karstic French river, a right tributary of the Rhône. It runs through the departments of Lozère and Gard in the Occitanie region. It is long, and its basin area is . Its source is in the Cévennes mountains, ...

History

Historically Bessèges was a hamlet of Robiac. Its importance began with the opening of a coal mine in 1809, followed by an iron and steel plant in 1833, and eventually the

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

reached it in 1857. The commune was created in 1857 from parts of

Gagnières Gagnières (; oc, Castilhon de Ganhièira) is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Gard department This is a list of the 351 Communes of France, communes of the Gard Departments of France ...

and

Robiac-Rochessadoule Robiac-Rochessadoule (; oc, Robiac e Ròca-sadola) is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Gard department This is a list of the 351 Communes of France, communes of the Gard Departments o ...

. At its peak in the late 19th century, the population was over 11,000. However, during the 20th century it declined and eventually the mine was abandoned in 1964, and the steel-works in 1987. Today its

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

is based on

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

, and it is home to the

Étoile de Bessèges The Étoile de Bessèges () is an early-season five-day road bicycle racing stage race held annually around Bessèges, in the Gard department of the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. First organized in 1971 as a one-day race, it became a sta ...

road bicycle race.

Population

References

External links

Official website (in French)
Communes of Gard Gard communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia {{Gard-geo-stub