Vassy, Yonne

French commune
nomcommune=Vassy
latitude=47.56972
longitude=4.16861
insee=89431
cp=89420
région=Bourgogne
département=Yonne
arrondissement=Avallon
canton=Guillon
maire=
mandat=
alt mini=264
alt maxi=377 m
area=7.45
sans=96
date-sans=1999
dens=13|

Vassy is a commune in France, situated in the Yonne département and the Bourgogne région.

Geography

The town is built on the summit of a a 310 m high conical hill or "monticule".

History

The ancient route from Paris to Lyon passed through Vassy, and in the 13th century we find a mention of the town, under the name of "Vasseium". In 1786 investigations were made into the possibility of coal mining here. In the 19th century the town gained a train station on the Auxerre-Avallon line, thanks to the factory of Honoré Gariel. He and his brother Hippolyte had created a company or Société able to produce hydraulic lime.

" A depot was founded in Paris; the cement, named from then on Ciment romain de Vassy, was employed by considerable businesses, and made the Société's fortune, though Honoré Gariel had by then ceased to take a part in the Société." [fr icon Victor Petit: "Description des villes et campagnes du département de l'Yonne"]

A modest hamlet previously dependent on Étaule, Vassy would thus become — with an influx of blue-collar workers — a commune in its own right.

The hamlet surpassed the town's administrative center: The Gariel family endowed a town girls school (directed by the soeurs de la Providence, or sisters of Providence) with a chapel and a presbytery. As the population uniformly increased, a new church was begun in 1859 and finished in 1862.

Demographics

As of the census of 1999, the population was 96.
On 1 January 2006, the estimate was 83.

Mayors

ee also

*Communes of the Yonne department

Notes

External links

* [http://www.ign.fr/affiche_rubrique.asp?rbr_id=1087&CommuneId=80562 Vassy on the Institut Géographique National site]
* [http://www.recensement.insee.fr/RP99/rp99/co_navigation.co_page?nivgeo=C&codgeo=89431&theme=ALL&typeprod=ALL&lang=FR&quelcas=LISTE Vassy on the Insee site]
* [http://www.quid.fr/communes.html?mode=detail&id=8285&req=Vassy Vassy on the Quid site]
* [http://www.lion1906.com/Pages/ResultatLocalisation.php?InseeVille=890431 Vassy and neigbhouring communes on a map of France]