Villefranche-sur-Saône

Subprefecture and commune in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France

Villefranche-sur-Saône Velafranche (Arpitan)
Subprefecture and commune
A general view of Villefranche-sur-Saône
Coat of arms
Location of Villefranche-sur-Saône
(2020–2026)		Thomas Ravier^[1]
Area ¹	9.48 km² (3.66 sq mi)
Population (2021)^[2]	35,913
• Density	3,800/km² (9,800/sq mi)
Demonym	Caladois
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	69264 /69400
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Villefranche-sur-Saône (US: /ˌviːl(ə)ˈfrɒ̃ʃ sʊər ˈsoʊn/,^[3] French: [vilfʁɑ̃ʃ syʁ son] ^ⓘ; Arpitan: Velafranche) is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France.

It lies 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the river Saône, and is around 25 kilometres (16 mi) north of Lyon. The inhabitants of the town are called Caladois.

History

Villefranche-sur-Saône was founded in 1212 by Guichard IV, count of Beaujeu (Arpitan: Bôjor/Biôjœr), and became in the 14th century the capital of the Beaujolais (Arpitan: Biôjolês) province.^[4] It endured three sieges in the 15th and 16th centuries. The town walls were taken down early in the 19th century.

Population

The population data in the table and graph below refer to the commune of Villefranche-sur-Saône proper, in its geography at the given years. The commune of Villefranche-sur-Saône absorbed the former communes of Béligny and Ouilly (partly) in 1853.^[5]

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Source: EHESS^[5] and INSEE (1968-2017)^[6]

Economy

Industries include wine-trading, metallurgy, textiles, and chemicals.

Transport

The Autoroute du Sud (the principal road from Paris to the south of France) is adjacent to the east of the town, running alongside the Saône.

Buildings

The church of Notre-Dame des Marais, begun at the end of the 14th and finished in the 16th century, has a tower and spire (rebuilt in 1862), standing to the right of the 15th century façade, in which are carved wooden doors.^[4]

Sport

FC Villefranche Beaujolais is based in the town.

Notable people

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881–1955), Jesuit priest and scientist, attended school here in 1892–1897
Maurice Baquet (1911–2005), actor and cellist
François Picard (1921–1996), racing driver
Christian Lavieille (born 1965), racing driver
Benjamin Biolay (born 1973), singer, songwriter and musician
Coralie Clément (born 1978), singer
Grégory Bettiol (born 1986), footballer

Twin towns – sister cities

Villefranche-sur-Saône is twinned with:^[7]

Bertinoro, Italy
Bühl, Germany
Călărași District, Moldova
Kandi, Benin
Schkeuditz, Germany

References

^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022.
^ "Populations légales 2021" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
^ "Villefranche". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
^ ^a ^b One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Villefranche-sur-Saône". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 77.
^ ^a ^b Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Villefranche-sur-Saône, EHESS (in French).
^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
^ "Comité des associations de jumelage de Villefranche". villefranche.net (in French). Villefranche-sur-Saône. Retrieved 2021-04-13.