Country France Arrondissement Avallon Time zone CET (UTC+1) Local time Saturday 5:52 PM | Department Yonne Canton Guillon Area 7.45 km² Population 83 (2006) | |
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Region Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Weather 12°C, Wind S at 11 km/h, 72% Humidity | ||
Vassy is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France.
Contents
Map of 89420 Vassy, France
Geography
The town is built on the summit of 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."
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.