Saint-Léger-des-Vignes

Saint-Léger-des-Vignes
The church in Saint-Léger-des-Vignes The church in Saint-Léger-des-Vignes
Saint-Léger-des-Vignes
Location within Burgundy region Saint-Léger-des-Vignes
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Department	Nièvre
Arrondissement	Nevers
Canton	La Machine
Intercommunality	Loire et Forêt
Government
• Mayor (2014–2020)	Pascal Thévenet
Area1	9.18 km2 (3.54 sq mi)
Population (2012)2	2,004
• Density	220/km2 (570/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	58250 / 58300
Elevation	186–265 m (610–869 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.

Saint-Léger-des-Vignes is a Burgundian village located in the department of the Nièvre in central France.

Geography

Saint-Léger-des-Vignes is situated in the South of the Nièvre, on the road D981. It is located:

• 86 mile away from Decize
• 72 miles away from La Machine
• Nearly 19, 84 miles to the Southeast of Nevers
• 19. 84 miles North of Moulins (in the department of the Allier)
• Nearly 111. 6 miles to the Southwest of Dijon

Saint-Léger-des-Vignes is the beginning point of the Canal du Nivernais and situated on the edge of the Loire (river). At the confluence of the Loire, the Aron and at the junction of the Canal du Nivernais and the Canal Latéral à la Loire, it is a real crossroads of waterways. The hills of Saint-Léger-des-Vignes are fully facing south. This is the place where vines were planted which gave the name to the village.

History

The name

Over the centuries, Saint-Léger-des-Vignes had several names:

• Sanctus Léodgarius in 1152
• Sancti Léodgarius in Vinéïs in 1396
• Saint Ligier des Vignes in 1457
• Saint Lige les Vignes lès Decize in 1689

The glass factories

On the 29th of May, 1724, Bernard Borniol built his glass factory on the site of Saint-Léger-des-Vignes, which was called Desize at this time. It closed much later in 1840. However, a second glass factory was created where we can currently find the Fresneau Stadium. Here we produced bottles until its shutting down, the 5th of December, 1931.

The rubber factory

The factory located in Decize (the neighbouring town) was very beneficial for Saint-Léger-des-Vignes. The Kleber factory (which is nowadays Anvis) was opened in 1942. It established the remarkable Fresneau Center where the old glass factory used to be before the 1930s.

Demography

The village had a population of 2,021 inhabitants in 2011. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known from the population censuses conducted in the commune since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of communes with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held every five years, contrary to the other communes that have a sample survey every year.

Sports

Saint-Léger-des-Vignes has an important sports complex, the Fresneau Center where rugby is played in particular. The sports facilities are sometimes praised as the best of the whole Nièvre. Grandstands with a seating capacity of 3,000 spectators (including 300 covered) were built in 1951. Several sports are practiced under the aegis of Esperance Saint-Léger sports association (ESL) (athletics, boxing, canoe-kayak, climbing, gymnastics, judo, table tennis…) but the rugby XV is the most popular. The team whichis in factory’s colors (orange and blue), rose the level “National 3” in the 1990s and came close to the level “National 2”.

Personalities associated with the commune

• Jean-Marie Clamamus (1879-1973), politician, born in Saint-Léger-des-Vignes
• Claude de Burine (1931-2005), poet born in Saint-Léger-des-Vignes
• Hubert Védrine (born in 1947), politician, town councillor in Saint-Léger-des-Vignes from 1977 to 1995.
• Père Glencross

See also

• Communes of the Nièvre department

References

• INSEE commune file