Vassy, Yonne

Vassy
Vassy
Location within Burgundy region Vassy
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Department	Yonne
Arrondissement	Avallon
Canton	Guillon
Area1	7.45 km2 (2.88 sq mi)
Population (2006)2	85
• Density	11/km2 (30/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	89431 / 89420
Elevation	264–377 m (866–1,237 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Vassy is a commune in the Yonne department in Burgundy in north-central 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.

Mayors

From	To	Name	Party
1904	1919	Auguste Legast
1919	1925	Charles Legast
1925	1929	Camille Gallon
1929	1944	Guy Verrier
1944	1945	Germain Genty
1945	1969	Emile Gallon
1969	1989	Roger Canat
1989	2008	Michelle Philipot

See also

• Communes of the Yonne department

References

• INSEE

External links

• (French) Vassy on the Quid site
• (French) Vassy and neigbhouring communes on a map of France