Decazeville ( oc, La Sala) is a commune in the

Aveyron Aveyron (; oc, Avairon; ) is a department in the region of Occitania, Southern France. It was named after the river Aveyron. Its inhabitants are known as ''Aveyronnais'' (masculine) or ''Aveyronnaises'' (feminine) in French. The inhabitants of ...

department in the

Occitanie Occitanie may refer to: *Occitania, a region in southern France called ''Occitanie'' in French *Occitania (administrative region) Occitania ( ; french: Occitanie ; oc, Occitània ; ca, Occitània ) is the southernmost administrative region of ...

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 and t ...

in southern

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 ar ...

. The commune was created in the 19th century because of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

and was named after the Duke of Decazes (1780–1860), the founder of the factory that created the town. Viviez-Decazeville station has rail connections to Brive-la-Gaillarde, Figeac and Rodez.

History

The town is built on coal. La Salle (the former name) produced coal since the 16th century. It was exported in small quantities to

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ve ...

and his successors gave mines to their mistresses. The Duke of Decazes inherited such mines. In 1826 he created, with the help of a technician named Cabrol, the ''"Houillères et Fonderies de l'Aveyron"'' (Mines and Foundries of Aveyron) which developed to make this small village a center of ironworking and industry. Under

Napoléon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

, the city took the name of Decazeville. A statue of Decazes dressed in a Roman toga was erected. The high point of iron production was reached early in the 20th century, when some 9000 employees produced 1 million tons of steel. Production decreased after changes in the industry that shifted many jobs offshore. A noted strike of mine workers occurred from 1961 to 1962. Some 1500 miners spent 66 days in the mines from 23 December 1961 to 26 February 1962. The last mines closed in June 2001. Although Decazeville felt the full brunt of the decline in the mining industry, the town has diversified its economy. It now has metallurgy, woodworking, metal fabrication, and production of steel tubing. The town has a geological museum named after Pierre Vetter, its founder. It is dedicated to coal strata. The open-pit mine ''La Découverte'' is open to the public. The modern church of Notre-Dame has a celebrated painting of the ''Way of the Cross'' by

Gustave Moreau Gustave Moreau (; 6 April 1826 – 18 April 1898) was a French artist and an important figure in the Symbolist movement. Jean Cassou called him "the Symbolist painter par excellence".Cassou, Jean. 1979. ''The Concise Encyclopedia of Symbolism.' ...

Population

Twin towns — sister cities

Decazeville is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: *

Utrillas Utrillas is a municipality located in the province of Teruel, Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Ar ...

, Spain * Coazze, Italy

Personalities

*Élie Decazes (1780–1860), founder of the town and president of ministers under

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in e ...

. *Henri Agel (1911–2008), cinema critic and philosopher who died in Decazeville. *Lilian Bathelot (born 1959), novelist who spent his childhood in Decazeville. *Jean-Claude Berejnoï (born in 1939), rugby player born in Decazeville. *François Gracchus Cabrol (1793–1882), captain in the Napleonic army at 21, director of the mining enterprise. Buried in Decazeville. *Emma Calvé (born 1858), singer born in Decazeville. *Maurice Frot (1928–2004), writer. *Serge Mesonès (1948–2001), footballer *Jacques Monfrin (1924–1998), philologist born in Decazeville. *Paul Ramadier, mayor of Decazeville from 1919 to 1959, governor of Aveyron, and minister. *Jean-Pierre Timbaud (1904–1941), World War II Resistance fighter worked briefly in the mines as a child.

History

Population

Twin towns — sister cities

Personalities

See also