Venarey-les-Laumes, Côte-d'Or Département, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France

🇫🇷 Venarey-les-Laumes is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in eastern France.

History Nearby is the village of Alise-Sainte-Reine where the Battle of Alesia took place in 52 BC. Julius Caesar besieged the Gallic oppidum and captured Vercingetorix.

Middle Ages & Modern Era A family from Venarey held the seigneury from the 13th to the 14th century, with Guy in 1212, Guillaume Chevalier left for the Holy Land in 1231, Stephen in 1324, who recognizes that his fortress of Venarey is sworn and returnable to the Duke of Burgundy. Feudal rights then passed to Guy de Tour in 1371, then to the Crecy family in the 15th century, Jean de Bruneau owning the seigneury in 1618 by his wife Anne de Crecy. The families of Montal, the River, Morges hold the rights in the 17th and 18th centuries15.

Contemporary era The creation of the Paris-Dijon railway line, decided in 1844 under the aegis of the Compagnie des chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon and the Mediterranean, considerably changed the physiognomy of the municipality during the 19th century. The Laumes plain is indeed chosen for the construction of an important railway centre, with a station that will later obtain first-class status with secondary tracks towards Épinac-les-Mines and Avallon, via Semur-en-Auxois. The inauguration of the Paris-Dijon line took place in 1851, this network was then operated by the Compagnie PLM, created in 1857. The peak of this activity, in the first half of the 20th century, was accompanied by the construction of a new city with its shops, school and church, the city becoming canton capital due to its expansion in 1910. From 1938, the SNCF replaced the Compagnie PLM. After the second war, the workforce and activity continued to decrease, with a general maintenance workshop remaining today.

This workshop (EIV) is specialized in the maintenance of electronic and electrotechnical equipment, including safety equipment, for the entire RFF network. It is installed in the former rotunda of the depot, whose locomotives provided the push and double traction in the long Blaisy ramp, until the electrification of this portion of line in 1949.

The other important event for the municipality in the 19th century was the opening of the Canal de Bourgogne, built from 1775 and whose operation began in December 1832. This work is accompanied by the creation of a river port near the Venarey cemetery. Due to the rapid competition of the railway and the road, the expected development for the transport of goods (wood, wines, stones, cement… ) will not be there. The canal is nowadays dedicated to river tourism, the city having a nautical stop.

Geography Venarey-les Laumes, crossed by the Oze and the Brenne, tributaries of the Armançon, itself a tributary of the Yonne, is located about 15 km south-east of Montbard (district capital), 65 km north-west of Dijon (capital of department and region) and about twenty km west of the source of the Seine.

Places and deviations Non-exhaustive list: • Baccarat; • Combe Grimeau; • The Laumes.

Neighboring municipalities • in the canton of Venarey-les-Laumes: Alise-Sainte-Reine, Grésigny-Sainte-Reine, Grignon, Ménétreux-le-Pitois and Mussy-la-Fosse; • in the canton of Semur-en-Auxois (same arrondissement): Lantilly and Massingy-lès-Semur.

Economy The main activities of Venarey-Les Laumes are: the railway with the SNCF, industry and crafts.

One of the main employers is Valtimet, of the Vallourec group, and employs 150 people26.

Transport The municipality is on the main axis connecting Paris to Dijon and beyond the South-East of France. Three historical modes of transport are therefore represented: • it is thus crossed by the old national road 5 linking Paris to Geneva, and is only 22 km from the A6 motorway (exit n°23); • it is served by the Laumes-Alesia station, on the historic PLM line; • it is crossed by the Burgundy Canal, between Montbard and Vitteaux.