Migennes is a French commune located in Yonne, the northernmost department of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. Its inhabitants are called the Migennois.
Located in the heart of Yonne, Migennes is 21 km from
Auxerre, 40 km from Sens, 66 km from Troyes and 75 km from
Montargis. It is located almost equidistant between Paris (160 km)
and Dijon (169 km).
Capital of the canton of Migennes, it has
a little over 7,000 inhabitants. It is the fourth city of the Yonne
in terms of population (behind Auxerre, Sens, Joigny). It is part of
the urban area of Migennes which has 11,887 inhabitants.
It
is also the center town of the Communauté de Communes de
l'Agglomération Migennoise (CCAM), which brings together 8
municipalities and nearly 15,000 inhabitants.
Its main
districts are: the Cités de l'Armançon, Ville Haute (or Mignottes),
Vieux-Migennes and Cœur de Ville.
The town is located at the
confluence of the rivers of Armançon and Yonne. It is the starting
point of the Burgundy Canal which ends its course in
Saint-Jean-de-Losne, 242 km away.
Migennes is decorated by
the committee of towns and villages in bloom to the tune of three
flowers.
Road transport
The City is
crossed right through by the Departmental Road 943 (westbound:
Laroche-Saint-Cydroine - Joigny - Paris and eastbound:
Brienon-sur-Armançon - Saint-Florentin - Troyes).
It is
located about 3 km from the Departmental Route 606 and about 20 km
from the A6 motorway (Paris-Lyon).
Rail transport
The town
hosts the Laroche-Migennes station on its territory (in the city
center).
It connects the Parisian stations of Bercy and Lyon
(in respectively 1h25 and 1h35 or 1h50). Timing is normally provided
every hour. To go to Dijon, Paris or Lyon, it is a must for
passengers coming from Auxerre (from which it is about ten minutes
away by TER). It also connects Avallon and Clamecy. Laroche-Migennes
station is also a freight station. Three times a year, the Migennois
Tourist Office organizes guided tours of the Laroche-Migennes
railway site for groups.
River transport and goods
Migennes has a river port, managed by a private company, the Boat,
from which it is possible to rent pleasure boats to navigate in
particular on the Burgundy Canal. The Gravières lock is located on
the municipal territory.
The port is used for the transport
of goods since it is located half an hour from the port of Gron.
Other means of transport
There is an inter-district shuttle
in Migennes.
Branches-Auxerre Airport is approximately 18 km
away.
Excavations carried out in 2004 proved that in the
fourteenth century BC there were inhabitants during the Bronze Age.
During Gallo-Roman Antiquity, the presence of villae is attested
by aerial photography. Mosaics and other objects dating from the
Gallo-Roman period were also found on the site. Migennes was called
Mitigana (middle of the marshes) under the Roman Empire.
This
city owes its fame to its station called Laroche-Migennes in 1918
and also for having been mocked by a talented songwriter, Jean
Raymond “Laroche Mimi, Laroche Migennes etc. In the era of steam. As
Marc Abélès says in his work "Tranquil Days in 89. Political
Ethnology of a French Department": "There are names that still
resonate in us, long after we have heard them: Laroche-Migennes is
one of those Reminiscent of a train journey to the south of France,
this composite word evokes not a place, but a station, an obligatory
passage, the last step to be taken to get away from the Paris
region. Laroche-Migennes is synonymous with railroad ". He specifies
that "Laroche and Migennes are in fact two contiguous
municipalities. The station is located in the territory of
Migennes".
The bourgeoisie of Joigny (10 km north-west) and
Auxerre (20 km to the south) did not wish to have the noise and
dusty nuisances of locomotives waiting in the yards at the time of
the steam. Under pressure, they gave off fumes loaded with carbon
particles. Equidistant from Dijon and Paris to allow the exchange of
these locomotives, the decision was made: the depot was therefore
ideally located in Migennes. In the past, international trains such
as 217, 218 or 219 quickly linked Laroche-Migennes station to all
the major cities in the South, the Alps or Italy without requiring a
change of train. The Laroche-Migennes station was served from 1999
to 2011 by the TGV Yonne Méditerranée (which linked Melun to
Marseille). Since that date, it is still the origin or terminus of
TER trains for Auxerre, Dijon or Paris Gare de Lyon and Gare de
Bercy.