Nemours () is a commune in the

Seine-et-Marne Seine-et-Marne () is a department in the Île-de-France region in Northern France. Named after the rivers Seine and Marne, it is the region's largest department with an area of 5,915 square kilometres (2,284 square miles); it roughly covers its ...

department in the

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

in north-central France.

Geography

Nemours is located on the

Loing The Loing () is a long river in central France, a left tributary of the Seine. Its source is in Sainte-Colombe-sur-Loing, in the southwest of the departments of France, department of Yonne, and it flows into the Seine in Saint-Mammès, near Mo ...

and its canal, c. south of

Melun Melun () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region, north-central France. It is located on the southeastern outskirts of Paris, about from the centre of the capital. Melun is the prefecture of Seine-et-Marne, ...

, on the Moret–Lyon railway. Nemours – Saint-Pierre station has rail connections to Montargis, Melun, Nevers and Paris.

History

Nemours is supposed to derive its name from the woods (''nemora'') in the midst of which it formerly stood, and discoveries of

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 ...

remains indicate its early origin. It was captured by the English in 1420, but derives its historical importance rather from the lordship (afterwards duchy) of Nemours, and the fief lords the

Duke of Nemours Duke of Nemours was a title in the Peerage of France. The name refers to Nemours in the Île-de-France region of north-central France. History In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Lordship of Nemours, in the Gâtinais, France, was a possession of th ...

to which it gave its name. In 1585 a treaty revoking previous concessions to the Protestants was concluded at Nemours between

Catherine de' Medici Catherine de' Medici (, ; , ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Italian Republic of Florence, Florentine noblewoman of the Medici family and Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to Henry II of France, King Henry II. Sh ...

and the Guises. The Hôtel de Ville was commissioned as a convent in 1669.

Demographics

Inhabitants are called ''Nemouriens''.

Sights

The church, which dates mainly from the sixteenth century, has a handsome wooden spire. The feudal castle, erected around 1120 was turned into a museum in the 20th century. It has a central keep with four rounded towers. A statue of the mathematician Bézout (d. 1783), a native of the town, was erected in 1885. In the vicinity is a group of fine

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

rocks, and sand is extensively quarried. The city also hosts the Musée de Préhistoire d'Île-de-France, museum dedicated to

prehistory Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...

region. Close to the city, at Saint-Pierre-lès-Nemours, is located the forest Massif forestier des Rochers-Gréau.

Hospital

Nemours has a campus of the

Centre hospitalier Sud Seine et Marne The Centre hospitalier Sud Seine et Marne is a teaching hospital in Fontainebleau Fontainebleau ( , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of ...

Notable people

Nemours was the birthplace of: * Pierre Berthier (1782-1861),

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

and

mining engineer Mining engineering is the extraction of minerals from the ground. It is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, metallurgy, geotechnical engineering and surveying. A mining engineer m ...

Étienne Bézout Étienne Bézout (; 31 March 1730 – 27 September 1783) was a French mathematician who was born in Nemours, Seine-et-Marne, France, and died in Avon (near Fontainebleau), France. Work In 1758 Bézout was elected an adjoint in mechanics of th ...

(1730–1783),

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

* Geoffrey Kondogbia (born 1993), professional footballer * Justin-Chrysostome Sanson (1833–1910), sculptor *

Philippe Petit Philippe Petit (; born 13 August 1949) is a French highwire artist who gained fame for his unauthorized highwire walks between the towers of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris in 1971 and of Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1973, as well as between the Twi ...

(1949-), highwire artist

Twin towns – sister cities

Nemours is twinned with: * Mühltal, Germany * Wilmington, United States

Climate

References

External links

Official site

Nemours tourism office website
* Communes of Seine-et-Marne {{Fontainebleau-geo-stub