Concept

Vichy

Summary
Vichy (ˈvɪʃi,_ˈviːʃi , viʃi; Vichèi viˈtʃɛj) is a city in the Allier department, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, central France, in the historic province of Bourbonnais. It is a spa and resort town and in World War II was the capital of Vichy France from 1940 to 1944. The term Vichyste indicated collaboration with the Vichy regime, often carrying a pejorative connotation. In 2021, the town became part of the transnational UNESCO World Heritage Site under the name "Great Spa Towns of Europe" because of its famous baths and its architectural testimony to the popularity of spa towns in Europe from the 18th through 20th centuries. Vichy is the French form of the Occitan name of the town, Vichèi, of uncertain etymology. Dauzat & al. have proposed that it derived from an unattested Latin name (Vippiacus) referencing the most important regional landowner (presumably a "Vippius") during the time of the Roman emperor Diocletian's administrative reorganizations and land surveys at the end of the 3rd century AD. The name Vichy may be pronounced ˈvɪʃi or ˈviːʃi in either American or British English; its usual French pronunciation is viʃi. The pronunciation of the Occitan name Vichèi is viˈʃe. In French, the present-day demonym for a female resident or native of Vichy is Vichyssoise, f sg (Vichyssoises, f pl) and Vichyssois, m sg for a male, and Vichyssois m pl for a mixed group of both sexes. Until the 18th century, it was also common to use Vichois(e), which derived from the Occitan name of the town. Vichy lies on the banks of the river Allier. The source of the Allier is in the nearby Massif Central plateau which lies only a few miles to the south, near the region's capital, Clermont-Ferrand. The historical existence of volcanic activity in the Massif Central is somewhat visually evident. Volcanic eruptions have happened for at least 150,000 years, but all volcanoes there have been dormant for at least 112 years. Volcanic activity in the area is the direct cause of the many thermal springs that exist in and around Vichy.
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