Nevers ( , ; , later ''Nevirnum'' and ''Nebirnum'') is a city and the

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''praefectura"'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain inter ...

of the

Nièvre Nièvre () is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, central-east France. Named after the river Nièvre, it had a population of 204,452 in 2019.department in the

Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (; , sometimes abbreviated BFC; Arpitan: ''Borgogne-Franche-Comtât'') is a region in eastern France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions, from a merger of Burgundy and Franche-Comté. The new region ...

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 central France. It was the principal city of the former

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Nivernais. It is south-southeast of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

History

Nevers first enters written history as Noviodunum, a town held by the Aedui at Roman contact. The quantities of medals and other Roman antiquities found on the site indicate the importance of the place, and in 52 BCE,

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

made Noviodunum, which he describes as in a convenient position on the banks of the

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 ...

, a depot (''B. G.'' vii. 55). There, he had his hostages, corn and military chest, with the money in it allowed him from home for the war, his own and his army's baggage and a great number of horses which had been bought for him in Spain and Italy. After his failure before Gergovia, the Aedui at Noviodunum massacred those who were there to look after stores, the negotiators and the travellers who were in the place. They divided the money and the horses among themselves, carried off in boats all the corn that they could and burned the rest or threw it into the river. Thinking they could not hold the town, they burned it. That was a great loss to Caesar, and it may seem that he was imprudent in leaving such great stores in the power of treacherous allies. However, he was in straits that year, and probably he could not have done other than he did.

Dio Cassius Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history of ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

(xl. 38) tells the story of Caesar out of the affair of Noviodunum. He states incorrectly what Caesar did on the occasion, and he shows that he neither understood his original nor knew what he was writing about. The city was later called Nevirnum, as the name appears in the

Antonine Itinerary The Antonine Itinerary (, "Itinerary of the Emperor Antoninus") is an , a register of the stations and distances along various roads. Seemingly based on official documents, possibly in part from a survey carried out under Augustus, it describes t ...

. In the

Tabula Peutingeriana ' (Latin Language, Latin for 'The Peutinger Map'), also known as Peutinger's Tabula, Peutinger tablesJames Strong (theologian) , James Strong and John McClintock (theologian) , John McClintock (1880)"Eleutheropolis" In: ''The Cyclopedia of Bibli ...

, it is corrupted into Ebrinum. In still other sources the name appears as Nebirnum or Nivernum. It became the seat of a bishopric at the end of the 5th century. The

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

dates at least from the beginning of the 10th century. The citizens of Nevers obtained charters in 1194 and 1231. For a short time in the 14th century the town was the seat of a university, transferred from

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and Gonzaga family, who in 1627 succeeded to the

Duchy of Mantua The Duchy of Mantua (; ) was a duchy in Lombardy, northern Italy. Its first duke was Federico II Gonzaga, member of the House of Gonzaga that ruled Mantua since 1328. In 1531, the duchy also acquired the March of Montferrat, thanks to the marr ...

. This line of the Gonzaga Dukes of Nevers itself died out in 1708.

Geography

Nevers is situated on the slope of a hill on the right bank of the river

Climate

Nevers has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Cfb'') in spite of being far inland. In spite of moderate averages, temperatures are highly variable depending on weather patterns, with a temperature amplitude of for its records since 1946. While summer nights frequently fall into the single digits, every month between April and October has reached during the afternoon at some point.

Main sights

Narrow winding streets lead from the quay through the town where there are numerous old houses dating from the 14th to the 17th century. Among the ecclesiastical buildings the most important is the Cathédrale of Saint Cyr-Sainte Julitte, dedicated to Saint Quiricus and Saint Julietta, which is a combination of two buildings, and possesses two

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

s. The apse and transept at the west end are the remains of a Romanesque church, while the nave and eastern apse are in the Gothic style and belong to the 14th century. There is no transept at the eastern end. The lateral portal on the south side belongs to the late 15th century; the massive and elaborately decorated tower which rises beside it dates to the early 16th century. The church of ''Saint Étienne'' is a specimen of the Romanesque style of Auvergne of which the disposition of the apse with its three radiating chapels is characteristic. It was consecrated at the close of the 9th century, and belonged to a priory affiliated to Cluny. The Ducal Palace (now occupied by the courts of justice and an important ceramic museum) was built in the 15th and 16th centuries and is one of the principal feudal edifices in central France. The façade is flanked at each end by a

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Optical microscope#Objective turret (revolver or revolving nose piece), Objective turre ...

and a round tower. A middle tower containing the great staircase has its windows adorned by sculptures relating to the history of the

House of La Marck The House of La Marck () was an ancient German nobility, German noble family, which from about 1200 appeared as the Counts of Mark. History The family history started with Count Adolf I, Count of the Mark, Adolf I, scion of a cadet branch of th ...

by the members of which the greater part of the palace was built. Behind the palace lies an open space with a fine view over the Loire Valley. The Porte du Croux, a square tower, with corner turrets, dating from the end of the 14th century, is among the remnants of the old fortifications; it now contains a collection of sculptures and Roman antiquities. A

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road, and usually standing alone, unconnected to other buildings. In its simplest form, a triumphal ...

from the 18th century, commemorating the victory of Fontenoy and the hôtel de ville, a 19th-century building which contains the library, are of some interest. The Loire is crossed by a modern stone bridge, and by an iron railway bridge. At the Chapel of Saint Bernadette at the mother house of the Sisters of Charity of Nevers, it is possible to view the incorrupt body of Saint Bernadette Soubirous, the famous seer of

Our Lady of Lourdes Our Lady of Lourdes (; ) is one the Marian devotions, devotional names or titles under which the Catholic Church venerates the Mary, mother of Jesus, Virgin Mary. The name commemorates a series of Lourdes apparitions, 18 apparitions reported by ...

apparitions, which are presented in a gold and crystal reliquary.

Economy

Nevers is the seat of a

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

, of tribunals of first instance and of commerce and of a

cour d'assises In France, a ''cour d'assises'', or Court of Assizes or Assize Court, is a Criminal law, criminal trial court with original jurisdiction, original and Appellate jurisdiction, appellate limited jurisdiction to hear cases involving defendants accu ...

and has a

chamber of commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...

and a branch of the

Bank of France The Bank of France ( ) is the national central bank for France within the Eurosystem. It was the French central bank between 1800 and 1998, issuing the French franc. It does not translate its name to English, and thus calls itself ''Banque de F ...

. Its educational institutions include several lycées, a training college for female teachers, ecclesiastical seminaries, a school of art (Esaab) and an automotive and transports engineering school ( Institut supérieur de l'automobile et des transports) being part of the University of Burgundy. The town manufactures porcelain, agricultural implements, chemical manures, glue, boilers and iron goods, boots and shoes and fur garments, and has distilleries, tanneries and dye works. Its trade is in iron and steel, wood, wine, grain,

livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

, etc.

hydraulic lime Hydraulic lime (HL) is a general term for a variety of lime different from calcium oxide (quicklime), that sets by hydration and consists of calcium silicate and calcium aluminate, compounds that can harden in contact with water. This contras ...

kaolin Kaolinite ( ; also called kaolin) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral sheet of alumina (). ...

and clay for the manufacture of faience are worked in the vicinity. The Rossignol Skis Group produces 89% of its Look Brand alpine ski bindings in Nevers.

Transport

Nevers railway station offers connections to

Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

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 ...

and several regional destinations. The A77 motorway connects Nevers with Paris.

Population

Notable people

* Marie Louise Gonzaga, Queen of Poland, born in Nevers in 1611 * Marie Casimire Louise de La Grange d'Arquien, Queen of Poland, born in Nevers in 1641 * Pierre Gaspard Chaumette, revolutionary, born in Nevers in 1763 *

Bernadette Soubirous Bernadette Soubirous, Sisters of Charity of Nevers, SCN (; ; ; 7 January 184416 April 1879), also known as Bernadette of Lourdes (religious name, in religion Sister Marie-Bernarde), was a miller's daughter from Lourdes ( in Occitan), in the Dep ...

, better known as ''Saint Bernadette of Lourdes'', died in Nevers in 1879 (aged 35). * Anne Boutiaut, born in Nevers in 1851 and later known as La Mère Poulard in Mont St-Michel * Michel Vieuchange, Saharan explorer, adventurer and writer, born in Nevers in 1904, where there is a street named after him * Jean Vieuchange, editor of Michel Vieuchange's travel notebooks, born in Nevers in 1906 * Pierre Bérégovoy, former

Prime Minister of France The prime minister of France (), officially the prime minister of the French Republic (''Premier ministre de la République française''), is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of its Council of Ministers. The prime ...

, committed suicide in 1993 in Nevers * Parfait Mandanda, footballer, born in Nevers in 1989 *

Valérie Beauvais Valérie Beauvais (born 8 March 1963) is a French politician of The Republicans (LR) who represented Marne's 1st constituency in the National Assembly from the 2017 election until 2022. Political career Beauvis succeeded Arnaud Robinet ...

, politician, born in Nevers in 1963 * Alexandre Oukidja, Algerian professional footballer, born in Nevers in 1988 * Roselyne Bachelot,

French politician The politics of France take place within the framework of a semi-presidential systems, semi-presidential system determined by the Constitution of France, French Constitution of the French Fifth Republic. The nation declares itself to be an "in ...

and former

Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organiza ...

, born in Nevers in 1946 * Guy Savoy, French chef, born in Nevers in 1953 * Da Silva, singer-songwriter, born in Nevers in 1976

Culture

Nevers has been known for several centuries for its

Nevers faience The city of Nevers, Nièvre, now in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in central France, was a centre for manufacturing faience, or Tin-glazed pottery, tin-glazed earthenware pottery, between around 1580 and the early 19th c ...

. The Formula One circuit of

Magny-Cours Magny-Cours () is a Communes of France, commune in the Nièvre Departments of France, department in central France. It is the home of the ''Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours'', a famous Motorsport#Motor racing, motor racing circuit (whose name is o ...

is located near Nevers, as well as the museum Conservatoire de la monoplace française. The anonymous French woman (played by Emmanuelle Riva) who is the main character in the film '' Hiroshima mon amour'' by Alain Resnais is from Nevers, and the film features many flashbacks to her youth there during World War II. In the final scene of the film, her

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese lover tells her "You are Nevers". There is a lot of play on the English translation of the town's name throughout the film, with dialogue such as ''"Nevers ? Jamais !"'' ("Nevers? Never!") Most of the scenes in the film '' Rosalie Blum'' were filmed in Nevers between March and April 2015, with the exception of the end scenes, which were filmed at

Leffrinckoucke Leffrinckoucke (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department in northern France. Heraldry Population Twin towns Leffrinckoucke is Twin towns and sister cities, twinned with: ...

in the Nord. Nevers is also the setting of most of the second half of

Éric Rohmer Jean Marie Maurice Schérer or Maurice Henri Joseph Schérer, known as Éric Rohmer (; 21 March 192011 January 2010), was a French film director, film critic, journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and teacher. Rohmer was the last of the Post-war, p ...

's 1992 film, '' Conte d'Hiver''.

International relations

Nevers is twinned with: *

Koblenz Koblenz ( , , ; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz'') is a German city on the banks of the Rhine (Middle Rhine) and the Moselle, a multinational tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman military p ...

, Germany * Erzsébetváros (Budapest), Hungary *

Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...

, Italy *

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

, England, United Kingdom *

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

, Sweden * Stavroupoli, Greece *

Curtea de Argeș Curtea de Argeș () is a municipiu, city in Romania on the left bank of the river Argeș (river), Argeș, where it flows through a valley of the Southern Carpathians (the Făgăraș Mountains), on the railway from Pitești to the Turnu Roșu Pass ...

, Romania * Taizhou, China * Charleville-Mézières, France * Hammamet, Tunisia *

Neubrandenburg Neubrandenburg (, Low German ''Niegenbramborg'', both lit. ''New Brandenburg an der Havel, Brandenburg'') is a city in the southeast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is located on the shore of a lake called Tollensesee and forms the urban c ...

, Germany

References

External links

Official website
* *

{{Authority control Communes of Nièvre Prefectures in France Aedui Nivernais Nièvre communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia