Saint-Benin-d'Azy

French commune
nomcommune=Saint-Benin-d'Azy
latitude=47.00028
longitude=3.39333
insee=58232
cp=58270
région=Bourgogne
département=Nièvre
arrondissement=Nevers
canton=Saint-Benin-d'Azy
(chief town)
intercomm=CC des Amognes
maire=Françoise Lereu
mandat=2001-2008
alt mini=202
alt maxi=398 m
area=35.80
sans=1,207
date-sans=1999
dens=34|

Saint-Benin-d'Azy is a small town and commune in the Nièvre "département" of central France.

Three rivers flow in this town : Le Rio, Le Barathon and L'Ixeure.

Administration

Saint-Benin-d'Azy is the chief-town of the canton named Saint-Benin-d'Azy, in the arrondissement of Nevers.

The town is also the administrative centre of the Communauté de communes des Amognes, a community of 16 communes.

Demographics

At the 1999 census, the population was formatnum:1207. On 1 January 2005, the estimate was formatnum:1250.

History

The nameof the town (Saint-Benin) comes from the evangelist "Saint-Begnine" who evangelized Burgundy. Azy is a reference to the roman military camp which was based in Saint-Benin.

At the time of the French Revolution, the name was replaced with Azy aux Amognes which was more revolutionary. During this period, most of the town suffered of destructions. This is the case of the church Saint Christophe which was at the place of the current "Café des Arts" (a new church was build in 1830).

Economy

The economy of this small town is currently agriculture and services.

In the past, there were small industrial companies producing iron. Like the other French small towns, Saint-Benin-d'Azy has some wine growers. The production is consumed locally.

Personalities

;The economist and sociologist Jean Fourastié

His celebrity comes from the invention of the expression «les 30 glorieuses» to qualify the economic situation of European countries after the WW2. He was born in Saint-Benin in 1907.

;The artist Rosa Bonheur

Her quality of painter of animals has made her visit Saint-Benin a lot of times. She became a celebrity after her paint "Labourage Nivernais".

Some others personnalities can be linked to Saint-Benin-d'Azy like Matthieu Poussereau, Paul Vacant or Niki de Saint Phalle.

ee also

*Communes of the Nièvre department

References

* [http://www.insee.fr/fr/methodes/nomenclatures/cog/fichecommunale.asp?codedep=58&codecom=232 INSEE] en icon
* [http://www.ign.fr/rubrique.asp?rbr_id=1&lng_id=EN IGN] en icon