Chalon-sur-Saône

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Chalon-sur-Saône (French pronunciation: 

[ʃa.lɔ̃.syʁ.son]) is a commune in the
Saône-et-Loire department in the region of
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern
France.
 Chalon-sur-Saône
Subprefecture and commune

A general view of Chalon-sur-Saône

Coat of arms

Location of Chalon-sur-Saône
 Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap

Chalon-sur-
Saône

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 Coordinates: 46°46′50″N 4°51′10″E
Country France

Region Bourgogne-Franche-
Comté

Department Saône-et-Loire

Arrondissement Chalon-sur-Saône

Canton Chalon-sur-Saône-1, 2
and 3

Intercommunality Le Grand Chalon

Government

 • Mayor (2014–2026) Gilles Platret

Area1 15.22 km2
(5.88 sq mi)

Population (2017-01- 45,096
01)[1]
 • Density 3,000/km2
(7,700/sq mi)

Time zone UTC+01:00 (CET)

 • Summer (DST) UTC+02:00 (CEST)

INSEE/Postal code 71076 /71100

Elevation 172–190 m (564–

623 ft)
(avg. 185 m or 607 ft)

1 French Land Register data, which excludes

lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or
247 acres) and river estuaries.
It is a sub-prefecture of the department. It
is the largest city in the department;
however, the department capital is the
smaller city of Mâcon.

Geography
Chalon-sur-Saône lies in the south of the
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of
France. It is located on the Saône river, and
was once a busy port, acting as a
distribution point for local wines which
were sent up and down the Saône river
and the Canal du Centre, opened in 1792.
Tribute to Nicéphore Niépce

History

Ancient Times …

Though the site (ancient Cabillonum)[2]

was a capital of the Aedui and objects of
La Tène culture have been retrieved from
the bed of the river here, the first mention
of Cavillonum is found in Commentarii de
Bello Gallico (VII, chs. 42 and 90). The
Roman city already served as a river port
and hub of road communications, of the
Via Agrippa and side routes.[3] In 354 AD
the Roman Emperor, Constantius II
stationed the Roman 7th Army in Chalon
(then called Cabyllona) for an invasion
against the brother kings, Gundomadus
and Vadomarius of the Alamanni.
However, not having received supplies, the
Roman troops revolted, and were pacified
by the grand chamberlain Eusebius with
money. In Late Antiquity the city had
dwindled so much that a wall round it
encircled fifteen hectares.[4]

Christian Center …

(see Ancient Diocese of Chalon-sur-Saône)

Saint Marcellus of Chalons (Saint Marcel)

is said to have been martyred here in 179
AD. Chalon became one of the de facto
capitals of the kingdom of Burgundy under
Guntram, king from 561 to 592, who died
here.[5] Guntram also promoted the cult of
Saint Marcellus.[6] The bishopric of
Chalon-sur-Saône, a suffragan of the
Archdiocese of Lyon, was established here
in the same century, and a Church Council
was held here from 644–655.[7] After the
French Revolution, in accordance with the
Concordat of 1801, the diocese of Chalon
was amalgamated with the diocese of
Autun, which gave the name to the new
entity.

Modern Developments …
Chalon in the 19th century is best known
as the birthplace of photography. Its most
famous resident, Nicéphore Niépce also
has a lycée (secondary school) named
after him. There is a museum which
contains some early photography relics,
located on the Quai des Messageries in the
town, containing more than two million
photographs and many old artefacts such
as cameras and other equipment for old
and modern photography. Also on display
are Niépce's 1807 Pyréolophore which is
probably the world's first internal
combustion engine, plus his 1818
implementation of a dandy horse, for
which he coined the word vélocipède.[8]

Nicéphore Niépce

Another famous resident is Dominique

Vivant Denon (1747–1825) who was
involved in the creation of the Louvre
museum, converting the former royal
palace into a museum after the French
Revolution.

Main sights
St. Vincent's Cathedral on the Place
Saint-Vincent, which has some elements
dating from the eighth century and a
neo-gothic nineteenth century façade.
Chalon Cathedral

This city square also has a number of

cafés and a busy market on Fridays and
Sundays.

Economy
The primary industries are nuclear,
plastics, metallurgy, and mechanics.

The Chamber of Commerce of Saône-et-

Loire manages the École de Gestion et de
Commerce de Chalon-sur-Saône, as well as
the river port on the Saône.
There are 2472 businesses : 764 stores,
454 retail services, 409 schools and health
and social services, 378 wholesale
services, 122 construction companies, 69
agricultural and alimentary businesses, 64
real estate businesses, 60 transportation
business, 49 industries de biens
intermédiaires, 35 industries de biens de
consommations, 34 entreprises d'énergie,
33 industries de biens d'équipements et 1
industrie automobile.

The most important companies are Areva,

Saint-Gobain, Nordeon, Cartonnerie
Laurent, Chalondis, Carrefour 2000, Géant
Casino, Comptoirs des Fers, Cayon,
Amazon and Le journal de Saône-et-Loire.
Until the early 2000s, Kodak was the
largest employer in town. Their production
site became the campus of Le Grand
Chalon en Bourgogne in 2005.

Transport

Railway …

The Gare de Chalon-sur-Saône railway

station offers connections with Paris,
Dijon, Lyon and several regional
destinations.

The station is located along the PLM

mainline from Paris Gare de Lyon to
Marseille-Saint-Charles, at kilometre post
382.150 from Paris.

Road …

The primary national roads serving Chalon

are the A6 autoroute from Paris to Lyon,
the route nationale 73, from Chalon to
Besançon and the route nationale 80, from
Chalon to Montchanin.
The city is also located on the pan-
European bicycle route the EuroVelo 6,
which stretches from Saint-Nazaire on the
Atlantic Ocean near Nantes to Constanta
on the Black Sea.

Air Transport …

The closest major commercial airport is

Lyon-Saint-Exupéry, located about 120
kilometres away.

Public Transport …
The public transportation company STAC
offers a bus network ZOOM, including a
free bus in the center, lines to surrounding
communities, and services for
handicapped riders. There also exists a
bike sharing scheme Réflex.

Education
An institute of research of the engineering
school Arts et Métiers ParisTech was
established in Chalon in 1997. This
institute offers graduate and doctoral
programs in the domain of virtual reality
and image engineering.
Events
Every year in July, Chalon-sur-Saône hosts
an international street artists festival,
called Chalon dans la Rue ("Chalon in the
street"). Over four days, artists from
across Europe and beyond come to the
streets of Chalon to perform, mostly for
free, in music, theatre, acrobatics, comedy,
etc. A program is made available by the
town, so people know of the main groups
performing, and several newspapers
report what performances are must-see
and where and when to find them.
Personalities
Notable people associated with the city
include:

Joseph Touchemoulin (1727–1801),

composer
Dominique Vivant Denon, involved in
creating the Louvre
Roger Grosjean, double agent in World
War II and later a noted archaeologist in
Corsica
Nicéphore Niépce, (1765-1833) pioneer
of photography, took the earliest
 surviving photograph
Jean Baptiste Félix Descuret, physician
and writer
Omer Letorey (1873–1938), composer

Tourism
The Arboretum de Pézanin, one of the
richest tree collections in France,
The Rock of Solutré
Cluny abbey, and its medieval city
Charolles and the "boeuf charolais"
Mâcon, Paray-le-Monial

International relations
Twin towns – sister cities …

Chalon-sur-Saône is twinned with:[9]

Saint Helens, United Kingdom

Solingen, Germany
Novara, Italy

See also
Élan Sportif Chalonnais
Communes of the Saône-et-Loire
department
Côte Chalonnaise
 Neuilly sa mère !, 2009 film set partially
in Chalon-sur-Saône

Notes
1. "Populations légales 2017" . INSEE.
Retrieved 6 January 2020.
2. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Chalon-
sur-Saône"  . Encyclopædia Britannica.
5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University
Press. pp. 811–812.
3. Pierre Lévêque. ed.Histoire de Chalon-
sur-Saône :19.
4. Gérard Coulon, Les Gallo-Romains :
vivre, travailler, croire, se distraire - 54
 av. J.-C.-486 ap. J.-C., Paris : Errance,
2006. Collection Hespérides, ISBN 2-
87772-331-3, p. 21.
5. Van Dam, Raymond (2005),
"Merovingian Gaul and the Frankish
conquests", The New Cambridge
Medieval History, Cambridge
University Press, pp. 193–231,
doi:10.1017/chol9780521362917.010
, ISBN 9781139053938
. Jacques Le Goff, Time, Work, and
Culture in the Middle Ages :160 note 5.
7.  Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "St.
Peter Damian". Catholic Encyclopedia.
 New York: Robert Appleton Company.
. Niepce Museum, Other Inventions
Archived 2005-12-20 at the Wayback
Machine
9. "Les villes partenaires" .
comitejumelagechalonsursaone.org
(in French). Chalon-sur-Saône.
Retrieved 2019-11-20.

References
INSEE
 This article incorporates text from a
publication now in the public
domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed.
 (1913). "article name needed". Catholic
Encyclopedia. New York: Robert
Appleton Company.
Westermann, Großer Atlas zur
Weltgeschichte (in German)

External links
Official website (in French)
Local web portal www.vivre-a-
chalon.com (in French)

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related to Chalon-sur-Saône.
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