Nemours
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Commune of Nemours | |
Administration | |
---|---|
Country | France |
Region | Île-de-France |
Department | Seine-et-Marne |
Arrondissement | Fontainebleau |
Canton | Nemours |
Mayor | Jean-Pierre Béranger (2001-2008) |
Statistics | |
Land area¹ | 10.83 km² |
Population² (1999) |
12,898 habitants |
- Density (1999) | 1,091/km² |
Miscellaneous | |
INSEE/Postal code | 77333/ 77140 |
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 mi² or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
² Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel). | |
Nemours is a town and commune of the Seine-et-Marne département, in France.
Contents |
[edit] Geography
Nemours is located on the Loing and its canal, 26 m. S. of Melun, on the Paris-Lyon railway.
[edit] 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 remains indicate its early origin. It was captured by the English in 1420, but derives its historical importance rather from the lordship (afterwards duchy) to which it gave its name. In 1585 a treaty revoking previous concessions to the Protestants was concluded at Nemours between Catherine de' Medici and the Guises.
[edit] Sights
The church, which dates mainly from the 16th century, has a handsome wooden spire, and there is a feudal castle. 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 rocks, and sand is extensively quarried.
[edit] Miscellaneous
The population in 1906 was 4,814.
Nemours was the birthplace of:
- Jean Aimar (1228-1277), historian
- Étienne Bézout (1730-1783), mathematician
Nemours is twinned with Mühltal, Germany.
[edit] See also
[edit] External link and reference
- Nemours tourism office website
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.