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For other uses, see Vichy (disambiguation). Vichy (Occitan: Vichèi) is a French commune, situated in the département of Allier and the région of Auvergne. It is known as a spa and resort town. The inhabitants are known as Vichyssois. It was the capital of Vichy France during the World War II Nazi German occupation from 1940 to 1944. It has a population of 78,000 (1999). Ancient Times Roman Gauls established a village at a ford on the "Flumen Elaver" (Allier) and its sources. This was the site of the bridge that Julius Caesar had to use in 52 BCE, during his return to Gergovia. These settlers were the first to know of the therapeutic value of the Springs and to exploit them. During the first two centuries CE, Vichy was very prosperous because of these thermal springs. At the end of the 3rd century, Roman Emperor Diocletian undertook a vast administrative and land-surveying reorganization. At that time the place name VIPIACUS first appeared (name of an agricultural field belonging to a certain VIPIUS) which, by phonetic evolution, became VICHIACUS, then VICHIET or VICHIER, and rapidly ended up being written VICHY. Middle Ages In the Middle Ages, by an act of September 2, 1344, Jean II ceded the châtellenie 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 Bourbonnais. In 1410, the convent of Célestins was founded with twelve monks. A building located above of this original site is still visible. In 1527, Bourbonnais was acquired by the Crown of France. At the end of the 16th century, patients came to take care of themselves in Vichy, and the waters quickly obtained a reputation for having quasi-miraculous powers. Certain administrative officials, such as Fouet and Chomel, began a codification of the cures and gave great renown to the Station by attracting well known people. The Baths gather renown It was, however, the marquise de Sévigné, a patient herself, who in 1676 and 1677 would popularize the description of the tanks and baths in her letters. The Vichy waters were said to have cured her paralysis of the hands, indeed enabling her to take up the letter-writing for which she is most famous. In 1761 and 1762, Adélaïde and Victoire of France, the daughters of Louis XV, came for the first time to Vichy, and returned in 1785. The Bath facilities seemed extremely inconvenient to them because of the muddy waters and because of insufficient access for the large number of patients. On their return to Versailles, they asked their nephew Louis XVI to build more roomy and pleasant thermal baths (built in 1787.) In 1799, Laetitia Bonaparte, mother of Napoleon, came to be cured in company of her son Louis. Under the Empire, the Park of the Springs was arranged on the order of the Emperor (Decree of Gumbinen of 1812). Under Charles X, the great increase in patients wishing to be healed at the springs led to an increase in the capacity of the Hydropathic establishment. Princess Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte expanded the Janson Building using the same style, thanks to the plan of Rose - Beauvais (work completed in 1830.) From 1844 to 1853, theatrical and lyrical demonstrations were developed in the living rooms of the Establishment under the baton of the conductor Isaac Strauss. Vichy in Style At the 19th century, Vichy was a station à la mode, attended by the celebrities of the time. But in fact the stays of Napoleon III between 1861 and 1866 caused a deep transformation of the city: the Allier river was dammed up, 13 hectares of landscaped gardens replaced the old marshes, and along the newly laid out boulevards and streets, country cottages and houses were built for the Emperor and his court to lodge in. The distractions were not forgotten: an eclectic garden-view Casino was built by the architect Badger, inaugurated in 1865. The emperor would be the catalyst of the development of a small station which, without industrial contribution and being placed on a major road, will multiply the number of inhabitants and visitors tenfold in fifty years. After the Second French Empire, the Belle Époque marked the second large construction campaign in Vichy. In 1903 the Opera, the hall of the Springs and a great bath of the eastern style were inaugurated. In 1900, the park of the springs was girdled by a metal covered gallery coming from the World Fair of 1889. 700 meters (2,300 feet) long, it is decorated by a frieze of thistles and was carried out by the ironworker Emile Robert. Many private mansions, with extremely varied architectural references, were erected during the first half of the 20th century. Vichy welcomed 40,000 patients in 1900, nearly 100,000 on the day before of the first war. The "thermal life" had its apex in the Thirties. The success of the thermal springs treatment led those in charge with the Farmer Company to increase the capacity of the establishments by creating the Callou Baths and the Lardy Baths. The Art Nouveau-style Opera, inaugurated in 1903, accommodated all the great names of the international scenes. Vichy became the summertime music capital of France, but the war of 1914 would put a brutal end to this development. The inter-war period would see a resumption of hydrotherapy, but the city would recover well in spite of being in the spotlight at the time of the Second World War. Vichy as capital of the État Français
Reine des villes deaux The Fifties and Sixties would be 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 the massive arrival of North African French clients, who holidayed in Vichy, having a lot of fun by getting dressed up and spending a lot. 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." 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 aerodromes 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 The war in Algeria, following decolonization, marked once again a brutal halt in prosperity for the 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 happier times obliged the new mayor Jacques Lacarin(1967-1989), 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 cofounders 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: Administration Source: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/carteret/ Site essentiel sur la ville Economy The city has been known for its thermal cures since Roman times. Its waters are famous worldwide (coming from springs including Vichy Celestins and Vichy Saint-Yorre) but lozenges made from soda contained in the spring waters are also famous. 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 neighboring communes on the Allier, like industrial Montluçon and administrative seat Moulins, Vichy's economy is centered on the tertiary sector and aims at the development of the health and well-being sector to mitigate the decline of medical hydrotherapy. The local market, open Sunday, attracts purchasers from tens of kilometers around. The closing of two important local employers, Manurhin and Sediver, threatens employment in the Vichy basin. Job creation by developing companies like NSE (electronics) or Satel (calls center) can't compensate for the removals of stations which will result from this, even if the tour operator on Internet Karavel (promovacances.com) establishes a new calls center in May 2005, which should create 300 jobs over 3 years. 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 (''l'Institut Européen de la Qualité Totale .'') 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 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 (Center 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 large, 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 reorganize itself to take a less strict therapeutic-only role, and reorient itself for patients' stays shorter than the traditional 3 weeks. Current Building Projects Currently, 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. Some believe that 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. Some also note the creation of a 12 000 m² mother-child center 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. This French website gives key economic figures for the Vichy area. Births Vichy was the birthplace of: Twin towns Vichy is twinned with: See also Sources Translated from the French-language page, 29 June 2006. | |||||||||
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