| CENTRAL FRANCE - NERIS LES BAINS, ALLIER (03) | ||
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Information on the town of Neris-les-Bains - ancient spa town of Central France |
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QUICK FACTS: NERIS-LES-BAINS, ALLIER (03):
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QUICK LINKS ON THIS PAGE: The Thermal Springs of Neris le Bains More coming soon
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Néris-les-Bains (south east of Montlucon) is a tourist resort and a spa town with an amazing history. It is one of the oldest Thermal resorts in all of France. The town and surrounding area has a history spanning 2000 years from the Gallo-Roman period right through to the 1950’s which saw the end of the coal mining industry at the nearby coal mines of Ferrières.The first stop, when in search of its local history, should be the Maison du Patrimoine (The House of Heritage), where many of the artefacts have been gathered together under one roof. However, there are still many original still in-situ, such as at the amphitheatre, the Roman spas and the necropolis.Moving into the more recent past, you can visit the old railway station (now called "Le Pavillon du lac" which houses the Tropical Aquarium), or the 1898 Napoleon III style theatre.Modern day facilities include: a Casino, (as every good spa town in France does), an indoor pool, tennis courts, golf cinema, and even bungee jumping for the completely insane! These are usually available April to October.THE THERMAL SPRINGS OF NERIS-LES-BAINS The Gauls, it is believed, were the first peoples to discover and exploit the thermal waters of Neris. It appears that they used the hot waters for bathing and religious purposes. Then came the Romans, as usual, who took over and built steam rooms, bath-houses and hot and cold swimming pools. Neris was now an important city due to its central location and facilities. Then for many centuries, the spa went into decline only to be revived over a long period of time and resulting in major reconstruction works in the early 19th century and hotels were built around the springs to cater for the influx of visitors. AT this time the springs were owned by the state, but in 1925 the Community of Neris became the owners and then in 1992 the management of the springs was taken over by la Société d'Economie Mixte d'Exploitation du Thermalisme et du Tourisme. The water at the point of emergence is approximately 53o C. The Néris les Bains waters have a sedative and muscle-relaxing effect and also help balance the nervous system so have therefore been used as a medical treatment for psychosomatic and neurological disorders as well as rheumatism.
THE OLD RAILWAY & STATION Now here is a sad tale of forward thinking and backward planning. Way back in 1878, the City Council saw the need for a railway connection from Montlucon to cope with the travel demands of the masses wanting to visit these wonderful Thermal Baths. It took until 1913 for the French Parliament to vote in a bill to sanction the building of the railway. But because of the First World War, the surveys and subsequent commencement of work was delayed until 1919. Several bridges, five viaducts and a railway station later the work was finally complete in 1931 - only about 50 years - about 40 years too late and it was closed to passenger traffic in 1939, In 1974 the last rail was removed and has left a 4 mile long footpath (with access to three of the viaducts) to Montlucon. The Station, designed by the architect Louis Brachet, is constructed of pink granite with patterned roof tiles. It is now home to the Tropical Aquarium which has 22 aquariums with fish from America, Asia, Africa and Australia (one day they'll have some fish from some where beginning with B and C!) which is open every day except Mondays from from 2.30 to 6.30pm.
I will be visiting Neris with my camera in the spring to illustrate this page. If there is anyone who has photos and would like to send them in, please do.
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