Rive-de-Gier

Rive de Gier (ʁiv də ʒje, literally Bank of Gier; ) is a commune in the Loire department in central France. In 2020, with a population of 15,086 inhabitants and an area of 7.3 km², the population density is 2,058 inhabitants per km²

It was an important center of Loire coal mining basin, glass making and iron and steel manufacture in the 19th century. In the late 20th century the town lost most of its heavy industries.

Rive de Gier is Located in the Loire department, on the border of the Rhône department, 25 km from Saint Étienne, 38 km from Lyon and 11 km from the town of Saint Chamond. The altitude of the city varies from 227 to 394 meters. The municipal territory is located above the Loire coal basin.

Since the Gier is not navigable, a canal to Givors was opened in 1779 to transport coal. This canal, of which only a few remnants have survived, was replaced by the Saint Étienne–Lyon railway, first passenger railway in France, built in 1828 33. Rive de Gier houses what was probably the first railway tunnel made in France.

In 1837, different mining companies in Rive de Gier joined forces to create the Compagnie Générale des Mines de Rive de Gier to buy the pumps needed for drainage of the underground works. When this company saw its coal reserves were exhausted, it set up in Saint Étienne in 1840. It was the Compagnie Générale des Mines de la Loire before being absorbed by the powerful Compagnie des Mines de la Loire.

For many years glass production was located near the forests that provided the charcoal needed for combustion. In the 18th century glass works were moved closer to coal mines. In 1749 the glass maker Robichon from Franche Comté moved to Givors where it used sand from the Rhone as material and coal from Rive de Gier as fuel. In 1788 there were two glass factories in Rive de Gier making bottles and glasses. At the beginning of the 19th century the Robichon company moved to Rive de Gier by buying other glass works, and introduced the production of flat glass. By 1830 the thirty glass works in the city employed about 1,200 people. The Richarme glass works founded in 1826 in the Egarande neighborhood specialized in the manufacture of bottles. In 1877 Petrus Richarme rebuilt the factory with an area of and introduced into France the gas and continuous melting furnaces of Siemens. The company operated until 1958 before being demolished. The last glass factory, located in the district of Couzon, Duralex, ceased operations in 2006. It had been founded in 1906 by Emile Hémain before merging with Souchon Neuvesel in 1958 to join the Boussois Souchon Neuvesel (BSN) group in 1966.

Sports clubs are organized in associations. The BCR Basket Club de Rive de Gier is a men's basketball team. The Gier Country Rugby Club has a men's and a women's rugby team that participates in the Federal Championship of Women's Rugby. The Athletic Club Rive de Gier is a football club.

The statue Saint Eligius represents the patron saint of goldsmiths and blacksmiths, and stands at the main entrance of the first plant of the Marrel brothers company. The town hall is installed in the old headquarters of the canal company, classified as a historical monument. The canal was to link the Loire and the Rhone, but only the section from Givors to Rive de Gier was completed. The old Couzon tunnel was drilled during construction of the Saint Étienne–Lyon railway, and is the first Europe mainland railway tunnel. It was decommissioned in 1858. It is now classified a historical monument. The Gourd Marin site is witness of mining exploitation in the 19th century. The "Warocquère" tower and the old bathhouse building beside it are historical monuments. The mine was opened at the start of the 19th century. Around 1850 the system for workers to descend was modernized using a mechanism housed in the tower. The bathhouse with a hot pool for miners was the first in the Saint Etienne basin. The headframe of the Combélibert mine was originally located on rue Michelet but was moved to the Gourd Marin site and registered as a historical monument. It is probably the only wooden headframe from the 19th century preserved in Europe.

The Château du Mouillon has a central part that corresponds to the original house and dates back to the 18th century. The complex was acquired in 1850 and developed successively by two families of industrialists. First Lucien Arbel, then in 1894 by Jean Marie Marrel and his son Henri, who had it improved by Parisian designers and artisans. The building, common, garden and some rooms (entrance hall, staircase, old dining room to the north, large oval salon to the south, woodwork and decor of the old library on the ground floor, wood fireplace first floor) are included in the inventory of historical monuments. The house of the Men of Stone (La maison des Hommes de pierre) was built between 1880 and 1883 by Charles and Étienne Marrel near the first plant of the Marrel Brothers company. The main façade is distinguished by its stone balconies decorated with ironwork, carved window lintels and two towering statues of 'men of stone" supporting the balcony of the first floor. To the west is the blacksmith with his leather apron, to the east metallurgy is represented by the tongs. The ground floor is occupied by three interconnecting reception rooms that open onto a hallway decorated with wood paneling decorated in faux marble with a mosaic floor. To the left after the entry there is a small living room decorated with a white fireplace in Louis XV style. The blue ceiling is decorated with trompe l'oeil roses. Two double doors lead to the "Grand Salon" with ornate woodwork and a black fireplace, a painted ceiling with a plaster rosette.

The town is in the Catholic diocese of Saint Étienne, part of the Ecclesiastical Province of Lyon. The parish of St. Mary Magdalene Gier covers ten communes and has fifteen churches. The commune of Rive de Gier has two parish churches. The Church of Our Lady of Gier, built in the early 19th century, is registered in the inventory of historical monuments including its interior. The Evangelical Church of Gier has a place of worship in the city. The Muslim Cultural and Socio cultural Association has a Muslim prayer room in the Grand pont neighborhood.