Chalon-sur-Saône

Chalon-sur-Saône is a city and a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of France. It is the largest city of the department; however, the department capital is the smaller city of Mâcon.

History
Though the place where is Chalon-sur-Saône now was an important town of the Aedui (Celtic people that lived between the Saône and Loire rivers) and objects of La Tène culture have been found here, the first mention of the town, as Cavillonum or Cabillonum, is found in Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars (VII, chs. 42 and 90).Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico, Book 7, 42, 90. There is an English translation in Wikisource.

Geography
Chalon-sur-Saône is on the sides of the Saône river, in the south of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. The city is at  to the southeast of Paris and at  to the north of Lyon.

It has an area of , and its average altitude is ; at the city hall, the altitude is .

The Saône river flows through the eastern part of the city and the small river Thalie flows through the western part of the commune.

+ Chalon-sur-Saône and its neighboring communes 350px|Map of the commune of Chalon-sur-Saône

Chalon-sur-Saône is surrounded by the communes Fragnes, Crissey, Châtenoy-en-Bresse, Saint-Marcel, Lux, Saint-Rémy, Châtenoy-le-Royal and Champforgeuil.

Climate
The climate of Chalon-sur-Saône, in the Köppen climate classification, is Cfb - Oceanic climate with template summers.

Population
The inhabitants of Chalon-sur-Saône are known, in French, as Chalonnais (women: Chalonnaises).

With a population of 44,985, Chalon-sur-Saône has a population density of  inhabitants/km2.

Evolution of the population in Chalon-sur-Saône

Chalon-sur-Saône forms, with other 9 communes, the urban area of Chalon-sur-Saône, with a population of 74.357 inhabitants (2013) and an area of . This urban area is the centre of the metropolitan area of Chalon-sur-Saône, formed by 90 communes with a population of 134,568 inhabitants (2013) and an area of .

Administration
Chalon-sur-Saône is a subprefecture of the Saône-et-Loire department since 1800. It is also the capital of the arrondissement of Chalon-sur-Saône and the administrative centre () of three cantons:
 Chalon-sur-Saône-1 formed by 5 communes and part of Chalon-sur-Saône, with 19,093 inhabitants (2014).
 Chalon-sur-Saône-2 formed by part of Chalon-sur-Saône, with 20,983 inhabitants (2014).
 Chalon-sur-Saône-3 formed by the commune Châtenoy-le-Royal and part of Chalon-sur-Saône, with 19,559 inhabitants (2014).

It is part of the intercommunality Le Grand Chalon ().

 Twin cities 
Chalon-sur-Saône is a twin town of:
 St. Helens, United Kingdom
 Solingen, Germany
 Novara, Italy
 Næstved, Denmark

Places of interest
Some interesting places in Chalon-sur-Saône are:
 St. Vincent's Cathedral on the Saint-Vincent Square, which has some elements from the eighth century.
 Musée Nicéphore-Niépce, a museum on photography.
 Musée Vivant-Denon, an art museum.

Gallery

People from Chalon-sur-Saône
 Nicéphore Niépce (1765-1833), pioneer of photography.

Related pages
 Arrondissement of Chalon-sur-Saône
 Communes of the Saône-et-Loire department

References

Other websites

 Chalon-sur-Saône - official website 
 Le Grand Chalon Agglomération 

Category:Subprefectures in France
Category:Communes in Saône-et-Loire