Decize

Decize
Decize
	Decize on the Loire River
	Coat of arms
	Location of Decize
Country	France
Region	Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Department	Nièvre
Arrondissement	Nevers
Canton	Decize
Intercommunality	Sud Nivernais
Government
• Mayor (2008–2014)	Alain Lassus
Area 1	48.22 km2 (18.62 sq mi)
Population (2012)	5,711
• Density	120/km2 (310/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	58095 /58300
Elevation	183–243 m (600–797 ft)
	1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Decize (58300) is a commune in the Nièvre department in central France.

Site

The town is situated on a former island in the Loire ("en Loire assise") at the confluence of the Aron river. The right channel of the Loire was dammed up to reclaim land and now remains as an arm ("la Vieille Loire") stretching upstream to the centre of town. The Loire at this point is an important navigation point as it forms the junction between the Canal du Nivernais and the Canal Latéral à la Loire both of which are within the town boundaries.

History

Decize is an ancient settlement first noted in the Commentarii de Bello Gallico where Julius Caesar settled a dispute involving the Decetiae from whom comes the town's name. In later times it belonged to the counts of Nevers, from whom it obtained a charter of franchise in 1226.^[1]

People

Guy Coquille (1523–1603), French jurist, was born here. There is a statue of him in the town.^[2]
Louis de Saint-Just (1767–1794), a major figure in the French Revolution, was born here.
Marguerite Monnot (1903–1961), songwriter and composer

Demographics

At the 1999 census, the population was 6456.

Tourism

As of September 2010 work began on a new port for pleasure boats in the "Bassin de la Jonction" between the Lateral Canal and the Loire. Intended to be ready for spring 2011 it will make this one of the largest pleasure ports in Burgundy.

References

^ One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Decize". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 913.
^ Chisholm 1911.