Feurs (; ) is a commune in the department of

Loire The Loire ( , , ; ; ; ; ) 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. It rises in the so ...

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (; AURA) or ; or ; . is a Regions of France, region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes. The new region came into e ...

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

Antiquity

The city was founded by the Romans. The name ''Feurs'' is a contraction of ''Forum Segusiavorum'', in reference to the forum of the

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...

era.

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

indicates that the city was the capital of the Gallic Segusiavi, and it also appears on the Tabula Peutingeriana. By extension, the city gave its name to

Forez Forez (; ) is a Provinces of France, former province of France, corresponding approximately to the central part of the modern Loire (department), Loire ''département in France, département'' and a part of the Haute-Loire and Puy-de-Dôme ''dépa ...

. Vestiges of the ancient Roman city are located by the current post office.

Archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

s have unearthed a

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...

, sewers, milestones, inscriptions, statuettes and

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...

that reflect the importance of the Roman town, which was located near major Roman roads.

Middle Ages

A church dedicated to St. Baudile is reported in 960. A second dedicated to the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

appears in the texts in 1001. A Castle in Feurs is reported in 1246. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, the city had no bridge over the Loire but there was a harbor (953) and another close to Randans (1060). File:Vestiges de la curie.JPG, Remains of Roman Feurs File:Revelfeurs.jpeg, Feurs in the 1400s File:Map commune FR insee code 42094.png, Map of Feurs

Early modern age

Feurs with the Forez County is forfeited to the Constable of Bourbon along with his other possessions in 1523. It finally enters the royal domain in 1531. In 1542, the city is attached to the generality of Lyon, created by Henry II.

French Revolution

The French Revolution was very active in the town and the horrors of the guillotine marked its inhabitants. During the Revolution, the Revolutionary Court headed by Claude Javogues made many victims. The 80 victims of the Revolutionary Court were almost all executed at the site of the Chapel of the Martyrs. The chapel of the martyrs was erected later by Mayor Pierre-Marie Assier in 1826. It was for a short time capital of the Loire department in 1793-1795. Feurs Railway StationThe town was on one of the first railways: line 3 of France Andrezieux - Roanne opened 1 August 1832 between Saint-Bonnet-les-Oules and Balbigny. This is in Feurs that from this section that are installed the workshops of the company that will build more locomotives under the orders of Régnié engineer. The sites of archaeological interest are many but all are discovered during the various works in the municipality. The city gave its name to the

province in which it is located. Feurs was the capital of the Loire department from 1793 to 1795, during the French Revolution.

Geography

Lignon du Forez River.The

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

Lignon du Forez flows into the

in the commune. Feurs is located in the Forez plain, between the Monts du Lyonnais to the East and the

Forez mountains The Forez mountains (, ) are a mountain range in the Massif Central separating the Dore (river), Dore valley from the Forez plain. They reach their highest point at Pierre-sur-Haute, with an altitude of 1,631 meters. Geography Location The Fo ...

to the West.

Economy

Over 300 small and medium enterprises are settled in Feurs and account for about 3200 jobs, distributed as follows: tertiary sector (1675), metal industry (1280), construction (267).

Leisure

The city offers an Olympic-size swimming pool and horse racetracks, as well as playing fields for soccer, rugby and basketball. Inhabitant from Feurs can also easily access hiking trails towards the "Monts du Forez" or "Monts du Lyonnais".

Mayors

* 1855 - 1865 Auguste Broutin Parti de l'Ordre * 1878 - 1881 C Pariat * 1881 - 1891 Jean-Marie Nigay * 1891 - 1896 Félix Nigay * 1896 - 1900 Charles Dorian * 1900 - 1904 Joseph Ory * 1904 - 1908 Joannès Mollon * 1908 - 1912 Joseph Ory * 1912 - 1940 Antoine Drivet * 1940 - 1944 Charles Maxime Geny * 1953 - 1974 Félix Nigay * 1974 - 1977 Maurice Desplaces * 1977 - 2001 André Delorme * 2001 - 2008 Benoît Gardet * 2008 - 2022 Jean-Pierre Taite Feurs [archive] sur le site de l'association des maires de France (consulté le 13 mars 2015).
. * 2022 - Marianne Darfeuille

Population

Landmarks

* Museum of Archaeology Assier, 3 rue Victor de Laprade * The Chapel of the Martyrs, built in memory of the victims guillotined during the Revolution of 1789. People were guillotined and shot there. * The "font that rains" fountain whose origin is lost in the mists of time. A source of carbonated water is mentioned by Auguste Broutin in his ''History of the town of Feurs and its surrounding'' book in the neighborhood of the way of four. * The Roman Forum instead of the position (remains) * The Jacquemart church Our Lady of Feurs

Twin towns

Feurs and the town of Olching in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, have been twin towns since August 1963, when a delegation of 24 Foréziens, led by the mayor Félix Nigay, visited their German counterparts for the first time.