Vichy

Vichy Vichèi
Aerial view of Vichy in 2008.
Coat of arms
Vichy
Location within Auvergne region  Vichy
Coordinates: 46°07′40″N 3°25′36″E / 46.1278°N 3.4267°E / 46.1278; 3.4267Coordinates: 46°07′40″N 3°25′36″E / 46.1278°N 3.4267°E / 46.1278; 3.4267
Country	France
Region	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Department	Allier
Arrondissement	Vichy
Canton	Vichy-1 & Vichy-2
Intercommunality	Vichy Val d'Allier
Government
• Mayor (2014–2020)	Claude Malhuret
Area1	5.85 km2 (2.26 sq mi)
Population (2013)2	25,325
• Density	4,300/km2 (11,000/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	03310 / 03200
Elevation	243–317 m (797–1,040 ft) (avg. 263 m or 863 ft)
Website	ville-vichy.fr
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.

Vichy (/ˈvɪʃi/;^[1] French pronunciation: ​[viʃi]; Occitan: Vichèi) is a city in the Allier department in Auvergne in central France. It belongs to the historic province of Bourbonnais.

It is known as a spa and resort town and was the seat of government and de facto capital of Vichy France during the World War II Nazi German occupation from 1940 to 1944. The term Vichyste indicated collaboration or sympathy with the ideology either of the Vichy regime or the German occupation, often carrying a pejorative connotation.^[2]

Today, the town's inhabitants are called Vichyssois. Up until the 18th century they were more properly known as les Vichois which stems from the Occitan name of the town, Vichèi. The writer Valery Larbaud uses the term Vicaldiens after the Ancient Roman Latin name for the community, aquae calidae (hot waters).^[3][4]

Climate

The city enjoys an inland oceanic climate that incorporates some characteristics of a mountain climate because of the nearby Massif Central and Alps. Heavy snows in the Massif Central often make roads impassable, but Vichy is low enough — about 249 metres (817 feet) above sea level — that the climate is more continental than mountain. Rainfall is moderate around Vichy, averaging about 779.5 millimetres (30.7 in) annually.

Geography

Vichy lies on the banks of the Allier River. The source of the Allier is in the nearby Massif Central plateau which lies only a few miles to the south, near the region's capital, Clermont-Ferrand.

The historical existence of volcanic activity in the Massif Central is somewhat visually evident. Volcanic eruptions have happened for at least 150,000 years, but all volcanoes there have been dormant for at least 112 years. Volcanic activity in the area is the direct cause of the many thermal springs that exist in and around Vichy.

Transportation and communication

Highway access

This city is accessible from route départementale 2209 (from the towns of Gannat or Varennes-sur-Allier), the RD 906 from Thiers, the RD 1093 from Randan or the RD 6 from Charmeil.

Vichy is situated 20 km (12 mi) from the A719 autoroute and 35 km (22 mi) from the A89 autoroute.

Currently, this city has no expressways. The expressway A719 (after lengthening) and the northwest and west loops will be the first to directly connect to Vichy. The inclusion of access to the A719 expressway, opened in 1997, in order to avoid the crossing of the town of Gannat, is expected in 2015.

In 2014, only regional two-lane highways (routes départementales) pass through the urban ring of Vichy. The RD 2209 is the principal axis of circulation for heavily loaded trucks, from the west (via Gannat) or the north (via Varennes-sur-Allier or Saint-Germain-des-Fossés) ; other important routes are the following (listed in the clockwise order) :

• the RD 906 (Auvergne), from the south (Abrest, Saint-Yorre, Thiers, Ambert, Livradois and Le Puy-en-Velay) ;
• the route nationale 493/RD 1093, from the southwest (Forest of Randan, Grande Limagne, Maringues, Riom, Clermont-Ferrand);
• the RN 684/RD 984, from the west-southwest (Bellerive-sur-Allier, Effiat, Aigueperse);
• the RD 6 (Allier), from the northwest (Charmeil, Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule).

The RD 67 (Allier) is a loop to the north of the city created to limit traffic jams (access to Creuzier-le-Neuf, afterwards by the RD 907 (Allier), Lapalisse and the RN 7.

• 

  Departmental road 906 towards Thiers.

• 

  Entrance by the Pont de l'Europe.

• 

  Entrance by Bellerive's bridge.

• 

  Rue de l'Hôtel des Postes, a pedestrian way.

Rail transportation

Railway station in May 2011.

Vichy is served by the following train lines: TER and Intercités (national trains, but booking mandatory) to destinations: Paris Gare de Lyon/Clermont-Ferrand, Clermont-Ferrand/Lyon Part-Dieu and by TER, Vichy/Pont-de-Dore/Arlanc.

Public transportation

MobiVie is the network of urban transport for 6 communes of Vichy Val d'Allier intercommunality. This network is composed of nine lines as of 2014.

"Mobival" is an on-call transportation service for Vichy and its neighborhood. This service offers the local communes a reliable transportation service for areas that are not served by the MobiVie network. Created in October 2004, it has 10 lines.

Air transportation

Vichy is 5 kilometres from Vichy — Charmeil Airport, and 90 kilometres from the larger Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne Airport.^[8]

History

Roman era

In 52 BC, on returning from their defeat at the Battle of Gergovia by the Gallic legions of Vercingetorix, the Romans established a township at their crossing on the Flumen Elaver (Allier). These Roman settlers had acknowledged the therapeutic value of the springs in the area and were eager to exploit them. During the first two centuries AD, Vichy was very prosperous because of these thermal springs.

At the end of the 3rd century, the Roman Emperor Diocletian undertook a vast administrative reorganization and land-survey. At that time the hypothetical and reconstructed place name VIPPIACUS first appeared (name of an agricultural field belonging to a certain VIPPIUS)^[9] which, by phonetic evolution, became Vichèi in Occitan (and then, Vichy in French).

Middle Ages

On September 2, 1344, Jean II ceded the noble fiefdom of Vichy to Duke Pierre I of Bourbon. On December 6, 1374, the last part of Vichy was acquired by Louis II, Duke of Bourbon. At that point Vichy was incorporated into the House of Bourbon. In 1410, a Celestinian monastery was founded with twelve monks. A building located above the Celestinian Spring is still visible.

In 1527, the House of Bourbon was incorporated into the French Kingdom. By the end of the 16th century, the mineral baths had obtained a reputation for having quasi-miraculous curing powers and attracted patients from the noble and wealthy classes. Government officials, such as Fouet and Chomel, began to classify the curing properties of the mineral baths.

Vichy's thermal baths

The Marquise de Sévigné was a patient in 1676 and 1677 and would popularize Vichy's Thermal Baths through the written descriptions in her letters. The Vichy waters were said to have cured the paralysis in her hands, thus enabling her to take up letter-writing. In 1761 and 1762, Adélaïde and Victoire of France, the daughters of Louis XV, came to Vichy for the first time and returned in 1785. The bath facilities seemed extremely uncomfortable to them because of the muddy surroundings and insufficient access. When they returned to Versailles, they asked their nephew Louis XVI to build roomier and more luxurious thermal baths, which were subsequently completed in 1787.

In 1799, Laetitia Bonaparte, mother of Napoleon, came to be cured with her son Louis. Under the Empire, Le Parc des Sources was arranged under the Emperor's orders. (Decree of Gumbinen of 1812).

Under Charles X, the great increase in patients wishing to be healed at the springs led to an expansion of the hydrotheraputic facilities. Princess Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte expanded the Janson buildings under the plan of Rose - Beauvais (work completed in 1830). From 1844 to 1853, theatrical and poetry recitals were performed for the wealthy in the comfort of their own homes by Isaac Strauss.

Vichy in style

By the 19th century Vichy was a station à la mode, attended by many celebrities. But the stays of Napoleon III between 1861 and 1866 were to cause the most profound transformation of the city: dikes were built along the Allier river, 13 hectares (32 acres) of landscaped gardens replaced the old marshes, and along the newly laid out boulevards and streets, chalets and pavilions were built for the Emperor and his court. Recreational pursuits were not spared: in view of the park, a large casino was built by the architect Badger in 1865. The emperor would be the catalyst of the development of a small rail station which multiplied the number of inhabitants and visitors by ten in fifty years.

After the Second French Empire, the Belle Époque marked the second large construction campaign in Vichy. In 1903 the Opera House (l'Opéra), the Hall of Springs and a large bath designed in the eastern style were inaugurated. In 1900 the Parc des Sources was enclosed by a metal gallery which came from the World Fair of 1889. 700 metres (2,300 feet) long, it is decorated by a frise de chardons and was completed by the ironworker Emile Robert. Many private mansions with varied architectural styles were erected during the first half of the 20th century.

Vichy welcomed 40,000 curistes in 1900 and this figure had risen to nearly 100,000 just before the onset of the First World War. La vie thermale had its heyday in the 1930s. The success in treating ailments that was attributed to the Vichy Baths led la Compagnie Fermière to enlarge the Baths again by creating the Callou and Lardy Baths. The Art Nouveau-style Opéra, inaugurated in 1903, accommodated all the great names on the international scene. Vichy became the summertime music capital of France, but the war of 1914 would put a brutal end to this development.

Vichy France—seat of the État Français, the Nazi collaborationist government

The Opera in Vichy. In this building, the parliament of the French Third Republic decided to grant full powers to Marshal Philippe Pétain, thereby terminating the republican regime and inaugurating Vichy France (July 10, 1940).

Following the armistice signed on June 22, 1940, the zone which was not occupied by the Germans took the name of the French State (État Français) (as opposed to the traditional name, République française or French Republic) and set up its capital in Vichy on July 1, because of the town's relative proximity to Paris (4.5 hours by train) and because it was the city with the second largest hotel capacity at the time. Moreover, the existence of a modern telephone exchange made it possible to reach the whole world via phone.

On July 1, the Government took possession of many hotels. Six hundred members of the French Parliament (Appointed Members and Senators) would come to Vichy for the meeting of the Chambers. On the 9th and 10th, in the main auditorium of the Opera House, the members of Parliament voted for the end of the Third Republic. The republican system was abolished, and the French State, with Philippe Pétain at its helm as Head of State, replaced it. Only 80 of the 600 members of Parliament voiced their opposition. Starting from this date, Vichy would be, for more than four years, the de facto capital of the French State. Paris was still the official capital. This government is often called the Vichy Regime. The term "Vichyste," which designates partisans of this regime, should not be confused with "Vichyssois" which designates the inhabitants of the city. The latter term is sometimes used erroneously to designate Pétain's supporters.

Reine des villes d'eaux

The 1950s and 1960s would become the most ostentatious period for Vichy, complete with parading personalities, visits from crowned heads (The Glaoui, the Pasha of Marrakech, Prince Rainier of Monaco) and profits from a massive influx of North African French clients who holidayed in Vichy, spending lavishly. There were thirteen cinemas (which sometimes showed special previews), eight dance halls and three theatres. It was at this period that the station would take the title of "Reine des villes d'eaux" (Queen of the Spa Towns).

From June to September, so many French-Algerian tourists were arriving that it almost seemed like there was an airlift set up between Vichy-Charmeil and the airports of Algeria. Mayor Pierre Coulon (1950–1967) decided to create Lake Allier (June 10, 1963) and Omnisports Park (1963–68), giving the city its current look.

Decline of Vichy

The war in Algeria, which led to decolonization, marked once again a halt in the prosperity of this city, which from then on had to deal with much less favorable conditions. The need to continue to pay the debts incurred by the considerable investments that had been made in more prosperous times obligated the new mayor, Jacques Lacarin (1967–1989), the successor of Pierre Coulon, to adopt a much more careful policy of management.

Modern revival

Claude Malhuret, former Minister of Human Rights, born in Strasbourg in 1950, has been mayor since 1989. He and Bernard Kouchner are the co-founders of Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières). The City and its economic partners started and concluded an important program of restoration and modernization. These projects include:

• creation of a vast pedestrian zone in the city centre,
• a program of modernization,
• upgrading of hotels to the sector standards,
• rebuilding and restoration of the thermal baths,
• organization of a balneotherapy center dedicated to well-being,
• development of the architectural heritage,
• construction of a congress center within the old Casino, and
• restoration of the Opera.
• rebuilding of the covered market, called "Grand Marché" (2006)
• restoration of the train station and sourroundings. (2009)
• restoration of the "Rue de Paris", a main street in the city center. (2010)

Administration

Town hall in 2014.

Population

Demography

Economy

The city was first noted for its thermal cures in Roman times. Its waters come from springs, including the Vichy Celestins and Vichy Saint-Yorre.

Vichy Pastilles (made in Vichy) are octagon-shaped candies made from soda contained in the spring waters.

The health and beauty business, with the laboratories of the L'Oréal company, also make it possible to publicize the city's name to a worldwide audience under the Vichy brand. (This French website discusses the history of this brand.)

Unlike the neighbouring communes on the Allier, such as industrial Montluçon and administrative seat Moulins, Vichy's economy is centred on the tertiary sector, with companies like the Compagnie de Vichy developing the health and well-being sector to mitigate the decline of medical hydrotherapy. The local market, open on Sundays, attracts shoppers from tens of kilometres around.

The closing of two important local employers, the Manurhin company and the Sediver company, has reduced employment in the Vichy basin. Job creation by developing companies such as the NSE electronics company or the Satel call center company does not probably compensate for the removal of jobs which will result from this, despite the Internet tour operator Karavel's (www.promovacances.com) establishment of a new call center in May 2005.

Nevertheless, the three most important employers of the city belong to the public sector; the hospital (1120 employees), the town hall (720) and the college of Presles (370).

Since 1989 Vichy has been one of the 7 sites of the European Total Quality Institute (Institut Européen de la Qualité Totale).^[12]

Pôle University and Lardy Technology, born from a project of thermal waste land rehabilitation and launched during the mid-nineties, is an economic priority. This 9,000 m² (2.2 acres) campus accommodates 600 students in the downtown area, in ten areas of study including the fields of biotechnology, international trade, multi-media and languages. The CAVILAM (Centre of Live Approaches to Languages and the Media), created in Vichy in 1964, is now installed with Pôle-Lardy.

The Palace of the Congresses is a venue primarily for the conferences of trade associations and learned societies. The structure is 1,800 m² (19,000 sq ft) in area, including two plenary rooms and fifteen multi-use rooms. With 25,000 visitors yearly, the conferences must now carry the economic role once held by the hydrotherapy, which today counts only 12,000 patients each year. The hydrotherapy business will now have to reorganise itself to take a less strict therapeutic-only role, and re-orient itself for patients' stays shorter than the traditional 3 weeks.

Building projects

Under the authority of the local communities, much work is being done on building sites and projects, which will deeply modify Vichy in the years to come. The construction by the Hotel of the Community of Agglomeration in September 2005 on the old site of the "Commercial City" may precede the total restoration of the market hall (which would cost €5.9 Million) which would be delivered in September 2006. Other projects include the creation of a 12,000 m² (130,000 sq ft) mother-child centre in the hospital complex, the restoration of the spa façade (removal of the metal boarding to uncover the original style of 1862), the transformation of the spa into a multi-use center, creation of parks with fountains in place of parking lots, the demolition and the transformation of the buildings in a congested area to create an enterprise center intended to create 800 jobs (opening of the site envisioned at the end of 2007), the construction of a new aquatic stadium including 5 basins (initially envisaged to cost €14.3 million but may end up costing €20 Million) whose delivery is envisaged with the autumn 2007, and finally motorway connection in 2011.

Personalities

Vichy was the birthplace of:

• Valéry Larbaud (1881–1957), Writer
• Albert Londres (1884–1932), Journalist
• Wilfried Moimbe footballer
• Claude Vorilhon, Raël (Born September 30, 1946), Religious Leader of the Raëlian Movement

Religion

A wide variety of faiths are practiced. Various Christian denominations such as diverse Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches are found throughout the area along with adherents of Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and others.

• Catholicism: Presbytère Saint-Louis Saint-Blaise de Vichy (French) at 33 Rue Sainte-Cécile and Presbytère Sainte Jeanne d'Arc at 2 Rue Jeanne d'Arc
• Russian Orthodox Church: the nearby Château de Saint-Hubert in Chavenon
• Calvinism: Église reformée^[13] located at 9 Rue de l'Intendance
• Lutheranism: Église Saint-Blaise de Vichy (French) located on the Rue de l'Église
• Judaism: the Synagogue of Vichy^[14] located at 2 Bis Rue Maréchal Foch
• Islam: the Mosquée al-Rahma^[15] located at 51 Allée des Ailes
• Buddhism: the nearby Pagode Phap Vuong in Noyant-d'Allier

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Vichy is twinned with:^[16]

City	Region	Country
Wilhelmshaven[16]	Lower Saxony	Germany
Bad Tölz[16]	Bavaria	Germany
Rhein-Neckar-Kreis[16]	Baden-Württemberg	Germany
Dunfermline[16]	Fife	United Kingdom
Logroño[16]	La Rioja	Spain
Cluj-Napoca	Cluj County	Romania
Saratoga Springs[16]	New York	United States

See also

• Hydrotherapy
• List of spa towns in France
• Vichy France
• Vichy cosmetics
• Communes of the Allier department
• Incident At Vichy

References

• INSEE

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vichy.

• Official website (in French)
•  "Vichy". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. 
•  "Vichy". The American Cyclopædia. 1879. 

Communes of the Allier department Abrest Agonges Ainay-le-Château Andelaroche Archignat Arfeuilles Arpheuilles-Saint-Priest Arronnes Aubigny Audes Aurouër Autry-Issards Avermes Avrilly Bagneux Barberier Barrais-Bussolles Bayet Beaulon Beaune-d'Allier Bègues Bellenaves Bellerive-sur-Allier Bert Bessay-sur-Allier Besson Bézenet Billezois Billy Biozat Bizeneuille Blomard Bost Boucé Le Bouchaud Bourbon-l'Archambault Braize Bransat Bresnay Bressolles Le Brethon Le Breuil Broût-Vernet Brugheas Busset Buxières-les-Mines La Celle Cérilly Cesset La Chabanne Chambérat Chamblet Chantelle Chapeau La Chapelaude La Chapelle La Chapelle-aux-Chasses Chappes Chareil-Cintrat Charmeil Charmes Charroux Chassenard Château-sur-Allier Châtel-de-Neuvre Châtel-Montagne Châtelperron Châtelus Châtillon Chavenon Chavroches Chazemais Chemilly Chevagnes Chezelle Chézy Chirat-l'Église Chouvigny Cindré Cognat-Lyonne Colombier Commentry Contigny Cosne-d'Allier Coulandon Coulanges Couleuvre Courçais Coutansouze Couzon Créchy Cressanges Creuzier-le-Neuf Creuzier-le-Vieux Cusset Deneuille-lès-Chantelle Deneuille-les-Mines Désertines Deux-Chaises Diou Domérat Dompierre-sur-Besbre Le Donjon Doyet Droiturier Durdat-Larequille Ébreuil Échassières Escurolles Espinasse-Vozelle Estivareilles Étroussat Ferrières-sur-Sichon La Ferté-Hauterive Fleuriel Fourilles Franchesse Gannat Gannay-sur-Loire Garnat-sur-Engièvre Gennetines Gipcy Gouise La Guillermie Haut-Bocage Hauterive Hérisson Huriel Hyds Isle-et-Bardais Isserpent Jaligny-sur-Besbre Jenzat Laféline Lalizolle Lamaids Langy Lapalisse Laprugne Lavault-Sainte-Anne Lavoine Lenax Lételon Liernolles Lignerolles Limoise Loddes Loriges Louchy-Montfand Louroux-Bourbonnais Louroux-de-Beaune Louroux-de-Bouble Luneau Lurcy-Lévis Lusigny Magnet Malicorne Marcenat Marcillat-en-Combraille Marigny Mariol Le Mayet-d'École Le Mayet-de-Montagne Mazerier Mazirat Meaulne Meillard Meillers Mercy Mesples Molinet Molles Monestier Monétay-sur-Allier Monétay-sur-Loire Montaiguët-en-Forez Montaigu-le-Blin Montbeugny Montcombroux-les-Mines Monteignet-sur-l'Andelot Le Montet Montilly Montluçon Montmarault Montoldre Montord Montvicq Moulins Murat Nades Nassigny Naves Néris-les-Bains Neuilly-en-Donjon Neuilly-le-Réal Neure Neuvy Nizerolles Noyant-d'Allier Paray-le-Frésil Paray-sous-Briailles Périgny La Petite-Marche Pierrefitte-sur-Loire Le Pin Poëzat Pouzy-Mésangy Prémilhat Quinssaines Reugny Rocles Rongères Ronnet Saint-Angel Saint-Aubin-le-Monial Saint-Bonnet-de-Four Saint-Bonnet-de-Rochefort Saint-Bonnet-Tronçais Saint-Caprais Saint-Christophe Saint-Clément Saint-Désiré Saint-Didier-en-Donjon Saint-Didier-la-Forêt Saint-Éloy-d'Allier Saint-Ennemond Sainte-Thérence Saint-Étienne-de-Vicq Saint-Fargeol Saint-Félix Saint-Genest Saint-Gérand-de-Vaux Saint-Gérand-le-Puy Saint-Germain-de-Salles Saint-Germain-des-Fossés Saint-Hilaire Saint-Léger-sur-Vouzance Saint-Léon Saint-Léopardin-d'Augy Saint-Loup Saint-Marcel-en-Marcillat Saint-Marcel-en-Murat Saint-Martin-des-Lais Saint-Martinien Saint-Menoux Saint-Nicolas-des-Biefs Saint-Palais Saint-Pierre-Laval Saint-Plaisir Saint-Pont Saint-Pourçain-sur-Besbre Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule Saint-Priest-d'Andelot Saint-Priest-en-Murat Saint-Prix Saint-Rémy-en-Rollat Saint-Sauvier Saint-Sornin Saint-Victor Saint-Voir Saint-Yorre Saligny-sur-Roudon Sanssat Saulcet Saulzet Sauvagny Sazeret Serbannes Servilly Seuillet Sorbier Souvigny Sussat Target Taxat-Senat Teillet-Argenty Terjat Le Theil Theneuille Thiel-sur-Acolin Thionne Tortezais Toulon-sur-Allier Treban Treignat Treteau Trévol Trézelles Tronget Urçay Ussel-d'Allier Valignat Valigny Vallon-en-Sully Varennes-sur-Allier Varennes-sur-Tèche Vaumas Vaux Veauce Venas Vendat Verneix Le Vernet Verneuil-en-Bourbonnais Vernusse Le Veurdre Vichy Vicq Vieure Le Vilhain Villebret Villefranche-d'Allier Villeneuve-sur-Allier Viplaix Vitray Voussac Ygrande Yzeure