CLAMECY, a town of central France, capital of an arron dissement in the department of Nievre, at the confluence of the Yonne and Beuvron and on the Canal du Nivernais, 36 m. N.N.E. of Nevers. Pop. 5,434. In the early middle ages Clamecy belonged to the abbey of St. Julian at Auxerre ; in the 11th cen tury it passed to the counts of Nevers. After the capture of Jerusalem by Saladin in 1188, Clamecy became the seat of the bishops of Bethlehem, who till the Revolution resided in the hos pital of Panthenor, bequeathed by William IV., count of Nevers. The town figured in the coup d'etat of 1851.
The church of St. Martin, dates chiefly from the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries. The tower and facade are of the 16th century. The chevet, surrounded by an aisle, is rectangular—a feature found in few French churches. Of the old castle of the counts of Nevers, vaulted cellars alone remain. There are a sub-prefecture and tribunals of first instance and of commerce. The town has fulling and flour mills, with a small leather and chemical trade. Wine and cattle and timber are important.