Editing Vichy (section)

== History ==

=== Roman era ===
The first known settlement at Vichy was established by [[Roman legion]]aries in 52{{nbsp}}BC. Returning south from their defeat at the [[Battle of Gergovia]] by the [[Gauls]] under [[Vercingetorix]], they found the [[hot springs|hot]] [[mineral springs]] beside the ''{{lang|la|Flumen Elaver}}'' ("River Allier") and established the township of Aquae Calidae (Latin for "Hot Waters"). During the first two centuries AD, Vichy became fairly prosperous because of the supposed medicinal value of the thermal springs.

=== Middle Ages ===
On 2 September 1344, [[John II of France]] ceded the noble fiefdom of Vichy to [[Peter I, Duke of Bourbon]]. On 6 December 1374, the last part of Vichy was acquired by [[Louis II, Duke of Bourbon]]. At that point Vichy was incorporated into the [[House of Bourbon]]. In 1410, a [[Celestinian]] monastery was founded with twelve monks. A building located above the Celestinian Spring is still visible.

In 1527, the House of Bourbon was incorporated into the French Kingdom. By the end of the 16th century, the mineral baths had obtained a reputation for having quasi-miraculous curing powers and attracted patients from the noble and wealthy classes. Government officials, such as Fouet and Chomel, began to classify the curing properties of the mineral baths.

=== Vichy's thermal baths ===
[[Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné]] was a patient in 1676 and 1677 and would popularize Vichy's Thermal Baths through the written descriptions in her letters. The Vichy waters were said to have cured the paralysis in her hands, thus enabling her to take up letter-writing. In 1761 and 1762, [[Marie Adélaïde, Madame Quatrième|Adélaïde]] and [[Victoire of France]], the daughters of [[Louis XV of France|Louis XV]], came to Vichy for the first time and returned in 1785. The bath facilities seemed extremely uncomfortable to them because of the muddy surroundings and insufficient access. When they returned to [[Palace of Versailles|Versailles]], they asked their nephew [[Louis XVI]] to build roomier and more luxurious thermal baths, which were subsequently completed in 1787.

In 1799, [[Letizia Ramolino|Laetitia Bonaparte]], mother of [[Napoleon]], came to be cured with her son [[Louis Bonaparte|Louis]]. Under the Empire, ''Le Parc des Sources'', was created on the Emperor's orders (Decree of Gumbinen of 1812).

Under Charles X, the great increase in patients wishing to be healed at the springs led to an expansion of the [[Hydrotherapy|hydrotherapeutic]] facilities. [[Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte of France|Princess Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte]] expanded the ''Janson'' buildings under the plan of ''Rose – Beauvais'' (work completed in 1830). From 1844 to 1853, theatrical and poetry recitals were performed for the wealthy in the comfort of their own homes by {{ill|Isaac Strauss|fr|Isaac Strauss}}.

=== Vichy in style ===
By the 19th century, Vichy was a ''station à la mode'', attended by many celebrities. However, it was the stays of [[Napoleon III]] between 1861 and 1866 that were to cause the most profound transformation of the city: [[Levee|dikes]] were built along the Allier, {{convert|13|ha|acre|abbr=off}} of landscaped gardens replaced the old marshes and, along the newly laid-out boulevards and streets, chalets and pavilions were built for the emperor and his court. [[Recreation|Recreational]] pursuits were not spared: in view of the park, a large [[casino]] was built by the architect Badger in 1865. The Emperor would be the catalyst of the development of a small rail station, which increased the number of inhabitants and visitors tenfold in fifty years.

After the [[Second French Empire]], the [[Belle Époque]] marked the second large construction campaign in Vichy. In 1903, the [[Opéra de Vichy|Opera House]] (l'Opéra), the Hall of Springs and a large bath designed in the eastern style were inaugurated. In 1900, the ''Parc des Sources'' was enclosed by a metal gallery which came from the [[World's Fair|World Fair]] of 1889. {{convert|700|m|ft|abbr=off}} long, it is decorated by a ''frise de chardons'' and was completed by the ironworker Emile Robert. Many private mansions with varied architectural styles were erected during the first half of the 20th century.

Vichy welcomed 40,000 ''curistes'' in 1900, and that figure had risen to nearly 100,000 just before the onset of the [[First World War]]. ''La vie thermale'' had its heyday in the 1930s. The success in treating ailments that was attributed to the Vichy Baths led ''la Compagnie Fermière'' to enlarge the Baths again by creating the Callou and Lardy Baths. The [[Art Nouveau]]-style Opéra, inaugurated in 1903, accommodated all the great names on the international scene. Vichy became the summertime music capital of France, but the war of 1914 would put a brutal end to that development.

=== World War II – Seat of the pro-German collaborationist government ===
{{Main|Vichy France}}
[[File:Palais des Congrès-Opéra de Vichy 2016-07-09.JPG|thumbnail|alt=The Opera in Vichy|The Opera in Vichy. In this building, parliamentarians of the [[French Third Republic]] granted full powers to Marshal [[Philippe Pétain]] on 10 July 1940.]]
Following the stunning [[Battle of France|defeat of Allied forces]] in just four weeks, on 10 June 1940 the French government fled Paris for [[Bordeaux]]. On 22 June France signed an [[Armistice of 22 June 1940|armistice]], which stipulated German occupation of the north and west of the country, including Paris and all of the Atlantic coast. The remaining two-fifths of France became the unoccupied Free Zone (''Zone Libre''). On 29 June the government and its parliamentarians moved to [[Clermont-Ferrand]].  Finding that city too cramped, on 1 July it moved on to Vichy. 

German forces had taken the city unopposed on 19 June, but departed with the Armistice. Vichy had the country's second largest hotel capacity, and a modern telephone exchange and post office built for its international visitors. The city was in the unoccupied zone 45 km south of the [[Demarcation line (France)|Demarcation Line]], relatively close to [[Paris]] (4.5 hours by train), and surrounded by productive agricultural lands. [[Pierre Laval]], soon to be Prime Minister, hailed from [[Châteldon]], a village 20 km south of Vichy. The city was, in any case, expected to be only a temporary seat of government until signature of the peace treaty.<ref>Nazi Germany was never to sign a peace treaty with any of its defeated opponents, but this was not foreseen in 1940-41. The armistice arrangements with France perfectly satisfied its military, economic, and administrative requirements. </ref>

On 9–10 July, 670 of the 846 members of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies met in the Vichy Opera House, where they overwhelmingly voted full powers to [[Philippe Pétain]] and authorized him to revise the constitution. The new regime called itself simply the French State (''État Français''), but it quickly came to be known as [[Vichy France]]. While Paris remained the official capital and much of the bureaucracy stayed there, Vichy was the ''de facto'' capital. It was home to Pétain's cabinet, top civil servants, the diplomatic corps, and the neutered parliamentarians. As the volume of individuals engaged in government activity adversely affected locals and the spa business, a system of residence permits was established that permitted only five days' maximum stay between 1 June and 30 September.<ref name=":0">"[https://vichymonamour.com/discover/visit/our-tours/circuit-vichy-1939-1945/ Circuit Vichy 1939-1945]," ''Vichy Mon Amour'' [Vichy tourist office website]</ref>

Following the Anglo-American [[Operation Torch|invasion of North Africa]] in November 1942, Germany occupied the Free Zone, including Vichy. The Pétain government remained, albeit with an even smaller range of effective action. The city became a center for [[Gestapo]] and the Vichy ''[[milice]]''. After the Allied breakout from Normandy in August 1944, the Germans took Pétain and his entourage to [[Sigmaringen enclave|exile in Germany]]. The Swiss Ambassador, Walter Stucki, arranged for the peaceful withdrawal of local German forces and the ''milice''. The [[French Forces of the Interior|FFI]] liberated the city on 26 August without bloodshed.<ref name=":0" />

The term "Vichyste", which designates partisans of the Pétain regime, should not be confused with "Vichyssois" which designates the inhabitants of the city. {{Citation needed|date=January 2012}}

=== ''Reine des villes d'eaux'' ===
The 1950s and 1960s would become the most ostentatious period for Vichy, complete with parading personalities, visits from crowned heads ([[Thami El Glaoui]], the Pasha of Marrakech; Prince [[Rainier III, Prince of Monaco|Rainier III]] of [[Principality of Monaco|Monaco]]) and profits from a massive influx of North African French clients who holidayed in Vichy, spending lavishly. There were thirteen cinemas (which sometimes showed special previews), eight dance halls and three theatres. It was at this period that the station would take the title of "''Reine des villes d'eaux''" (Queen of the Spa Towns).

From June to September, so many French-Algerian tourists were arriving that it almost seemed like there was an airlift set up between Vichy-Charmeil and the airports of Algeria. Mayor {{ill|Pierre Coulon|fr}} (1950–1967) decided to create Lake Allier (10 June 1963) and Omnisports Park (1963–68), giving the city its current look.

=== Decline of Vichy ===
The [[Algerian War of Independence|war in Algeria]] (1950s–60s), which led to decolonization, marked once again a halt in the prosperity of Vichy, which from then on had to deal with much less favorable conditions. The need to continue to pay the debts incurred by the considerable investments that had been made in more prosperous times obligated the new mayor, {{ill|Jacques Lacarin|fr}} (1967–1989), the successor of Pierre Coulon, to adopt a much more careful policy of management.

=== Modern revival ===
[[Claude Malhuret]], former Minister of Human Rights, born in [[Strasbourg]] in 1950, was mayor from 1989 to 2017. He and [[Bernard Kouchner]] are the co-founders of [[Médecins Sans Frontières|Doctors Without Borders]] (''Médecins Sans Frontières''). The city and its economic partners have concluded an important program of restoration and modernization. These projects include:
* creation of a vast [[pedestrian zone]] in the city center
* a program of modernization
* upgrading of hotels to the sector standards
* rebuilding and restoration of the thermal baths
* organization of a [[balneotherapy]] center dedicated to well-being
* development of the architectural heritage
* construction of a congress center within the old Casino, and
* restoration of the Opera
* rebuilding of the covered market, called "Grand Marché" (2006)
* restoration of the train station and surroundings (2009)
* restoration of the "Rue de Paris", a main street in the city centre (2010)