Givors

Sister cities

• Orvieto
• Beit Sahour
• Döbeln

History

Before Roman times the Segusiavi occupied the territory where the present city of Givors is found. The fishing community lay on the Roman Via Aquitania. The Tour de Varissan was a Roman post of some importance. In 1032 the province came under rule of the emperor Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor, and was German until 1157, when Frederick Barbarossa officially recognizes that the province belonged to the Kingdom of France. In the 12th century the current city of Givors came into the possession of the Archbishop of Lyon, who was both temporal and spiritual leader of the region. In 1208 the archbishop of Lyon, Renaud de Forez, decided to build a stone castle halfway up the Saint Gerald hill. The Castle of Saint Gerald was the residence of the canons representing the archbishop in Givors. The castle was destroyed in 1591 when Givors was stormed by the troops of Lesdiguières, and was never rebuilt. Today, the ruins of the castle of Saint-Gerald may still be detected. From the 17th to the 19th century the city was noted for the presence of corporations of watermen for whom the church of Saint-Nicolas was the religious center. The second church of Saint Nicholas was built in 1646 to replace the chapel that the sailors had formerly dedicated to Saint Nicholas, patron of the inland waterways. Coal mining increased significantly in the 18th century, so much that it was carried on mules to Lyon and Vienna. On 10 May 1749 King Louis XV authorised Sieurs Esnard and Robichon to build a glass works at Givors with furnaces heated by coal from Rive-de-Gier. Until then these glass makers had operated in Franche-Comté and in Alsace, but were experiencing a shortage of wood for fuel. Givors became well known as a glass making center during the later part of the 18th century. On 6…

Most-observed species

• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,584
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,354
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,117
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,897
• Species 2494422

  Species 2494422
  1,805
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,613
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  1,438
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,427

Most recent

• M 3.3 — 2025-05-06
  8 km W of Chapareillan, France
• M 2.5 — 2008-02-25
  1 km ESE of Domène, France
• M 2.6 — 2008-01-24
  7 km S of Le Cheylard, France
• M 2.5 — 2008-01-22
  4 km NW of Cruas, France
• M 3 — 2008-01-05
  2 km N of Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, France
• M 2.5 — 2007-10-18
  3 km SE of Arlanc, France