A medium-sized town by the banks of the river Cher with some light industry and an area of forestry and farming to the north. It is situated some 33 kilometres (21 miles) northwest of Bourges, at the junction of the D2020, D2076 and the D918 roads.
Motorways encircle the town on three sides: the A85 and A71 on the north and east and the A20 on the north and west. Railways reached Vierzon in 1847 and the central SNCF hub Vierzon-Ville station, serving local and nation rail traffic, has been developed here ever since.
History
Little evidence remains of any pre-Roman occupation, and the Romans themselves didn't leave much trace of their occupation. Not until 926, when a Benedictinemonastery was built (on the site of the current Town Hall) are there any records. The monks came from the abbey of Deuvre, at Saint-Georges-sur-la-Prée, after the abbey was sacked by the Normans in 903. They brought with them the relics of St. Perpetua. These relics were again transferred to the church of Notre-Dame de Vierzon in 1807, where they remain today.
Also in the 10th century, the Normans built a castle atop a feudalmotte. They became the seigneurs of Vierzon and the city developed within the western ramparts of the castle.
Vierzon suffered during the wars of religion, but remained Catholic. The French Revolution of 1789 saw no major shocks except that the parish of Vierzon was divided into two communes: the urban part and the rural (Vierzon-Village), at the request of the rural inhabitants of the parish. In 1887, the part of town on the southern bank of the river was split into Vierzon-Bourgneuf. In 1937, following a public inquiry and a prefectoral decision, the four municipalities were united as one commune.
Vierzon has not been too troubled by more recent wars. In 1870-1871, a vanguard of Uhlan soldiers marched through the city but withdrew quickly. If Vierzon was spared by the First World War, it was sorely tried during World War II. The Cher river was the border that divided the city into two, the south of the city being in the "Free" French zone whilst the north was in the German-occupied area. In July 1944, a massive Allied bombardment destroyed a large portion of the city.
From the late 18th century until the middle of the twentieth century, the town became industrialised. Iron and steel farming tools were produced here, then glasswork and ceramics and later, agricultural machinery, notably tractors. With the demise of many factories in the town during the 1970s and 1980s, the unemployment rate was very high. This has since been reduced to the national average.
Population
The population data in the table and graph below refer to the commune of Vierzon proper, in its geography at the given years. The commune of Vierzon absorbed the former communes of Vierzon-Village, Vierzon-Bourgneuf and Vierzon-Forges in 1937.[3]
Historical population
Year
Pop.
±% p.a.
1793
4,193
—
1800
3,984
−0.73%
1806
3,887
−0.41%
1821
4,159
+0.45%
1831
4,706
+1.24%
1836
4,980
+1.14%
1841
5,679
+2.66%
1846
6,685
+3.32%
1851
6,730
+0.13%
1856
6,836
+0.31%
1861
7,740
+2.52%
1866
8,224
+1.22%
1872
8,296
+0.15%
1876
8,995
+2.04%
1881
9,969
+2.08%
1886
10,514
+1.07%
1891
10,559
+0.09%
1896
11,392
+1.53%
Year
Pop.
±% p.a.
1901
11,796
+0.70%
1906
12,080
+0.48%
1911
11,856
−0.37%
1921
11,378
−0.41%
1926
11,682
+0.53%
1931
11,314
−0.64%
1936
10,039
−2.36%
1946
26,017
+9.99%
1954
28,627
+1.20%
1962
31,549
+1.22%
1968
33,775
+1.14%
1975
35,699
+0.79%
1982
34,209
−0.61%
1990
32,235
−0.74%
1999
29,719
−0.90%
2007
27,723
−0.87%
2012
27,081
−0.47%
2017
25,903
−0.89%
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.