Decize

Commune in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France

Coat of arms

Location of Decize

(2020–2026) Justine Guyot^[1]Area

48.22 km² (18.62 sq mi)Population

(2021)^[2]

5,152 • Density110/km² (280/sq mi)Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET) • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)INSEE/Postal code

58095 /58300

Elevation183–243 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 is a commune in the Nièvre department in central France.^[3]

Geography

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 Roman times the town’s name was Decetia in Gallia Lugdunensis .^[4] In later times it belonged to the counts of Nevers, from whom it obtained a charter of franchise in 1226.^[5]

People

Guy Coquille (1523–1603), French jurist, was born here. There is a statue of him in the town.^[6]
Louis de Saint-Just (1767–1794), a major figure in the French Revolution, was born here.
Marguerite Monnot (1903–1961), songwriter and composer

Demographics

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1968	7,175	—
1975	7,528	+0.69%
1982	7,437	−0.17%
1990	6,876	−0.98%
1999	6,456	−0.70%
2007	5,903	−1.11%
2012	5,711	−0.66%
2017	5,393	−1.14%
Source: INSEE^[7]

Tourism

In 2011 a new port for pleasure boats in the "Bassin de la Jonction" between the Lateral Canal and the Loire was opened.^[8]

References

^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 2 December 2020.
^ "Populations légales 2021". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
^ INSEE commune file
^ "Decetia, Decize". Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
^ 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.
^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
^ "Nièvre : le port de Decize élargit son offre". France 3. 3 June 2015.