Vierzon Stadium

Vierzon (French pronunciation: ​[vjɛʁzɔ̃]) is a commune in the Cher department, Centre-Val de Loire, France.

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 Benedictine monastery 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-Pree, 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 feudal motte. They became the seigneurs of Vierzon and the city developed within the western ramparts of the castle.

The Plantagenets, under Richard I Lionheart in 1196, and later Edward, the Black Prince, burned the town and took the castle. Bertrand du Guesclin drove the Plantagenets out in 1370 and restored Vierzon to the crown of France. It became a logistics centre for the armies of Joan of Arc.

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 Jul