NEVERS, a town of France, capital of the department of Nievre, 159 m. S.S.E. of Paris by the P.L.M. railway to Nimes. Pop. (1931) 29,463. N oviodunum, the early name of Nevers, was later altered to Nebirnum. Many medals and Roman antiquities found there show its importance when Caesar chose it as a military depot. In 52 B.C. it was the first place seized by the revolting Aedui. It became the seat of a bishopric at the end of the 5th century.
Having formed part of the duchy of Burgundy, the county of Nevers (Nivernais) was given by Duke Henry I. in 987 to his stepson, Otto William, afterwards count of Macon, from whom it passed to his son-in-law Landri. The first house of the hereditary counts of Nevers originated in Landri, and was brought to an end in by the death of Agnes, countess of Nevers, wife of Pierre de Courtenay (d. 1217). The county subsequently passed into the houses of Donzy, Chatillon and Bourbon. Nevers is on the Loire where it joins the Nievre. Narrow winding streets lead from the quay through the town, with many old houses (14th to the 17th centuries). The cathedral of St. Cyr is a
combination of two churches, one Romanesque (I 1th century), the other Gothic (14th century). There is a fine square (I 6th century) tower on the south side. The church of St. Etienne is th century Romanesque. The ducal palace at Nevers (now occupied by the courts of justice and an important ceramic museum) was built in the 15th and 16th centuries and is one of the chief feudal buildings in central France. An octagonal middle tower contains the great staircase, and its windows are adorned by sculptures relating to the history of the house of Cleves. The Porte du Croux, a square tower, with corner turrets (14th cen tury), is among the remnants of the old fortifications. Nevers is the seat of a bishopric under the archbishop of Sens, of tribunals of first instance and of commerce and of a court of assizes and has a chamber of commerce.