Bavay

Bavay
Bavay
Location within Nord-Pas-de-Calais region  Bavay
Administration
Country	France
Region	Nord-Pas-de-Calais
Department	Nord
Arrondissement	Avesnes-sur-Helpe
Canton	Bavay
Intercommunality	Bavaisis
Mayor	Alain Fréhaut (2008–2014)
Statistics
Elevation	108–156 m (354–512 ft) (avg. 123 m or 404 ft)
Land area1	10.12 km2 (3.91 sq mi)
Population2	3,436  (2004)
- Density	340 /km2 (880 /sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	59053/ 59570
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Bagacum

Bavay is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.

It lies 15 m. ESE of Valenciennes by railway.

History

Under the name of Bagacum or Bavacum, the town was the capital of the Nervii and, under the Roman Empire, an important center of roads, the meeting-place of which was marked by a milestone, destroyed in the 17th century and replaced in the 19th century by a column. Bavay was destroyed during the barbarian invasions and never recovered its old importance. It suffered much during the wars of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. One of the Roman highways connected Bavay to Tongeren via the relay of Liberchies, and later on continued to Cologne.

Heraldry

The arms of Bavay are blazoned : Argent, a lion gules charged on its shoulder with an inescutcheon Or, a lion sable.

Economy

The town carries on the manufacture of iron goods and of fertilizers.

See also

• Communes of the Nord department

References

• INSEE commune file
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.