Yonne in the context of "Vézelay Abbey"

Georges-Eugène Haussmann (French: [ʒɔʁʒøʒɛn osman]; 27 March 1809 – 11 January 1891), known as Baron Haussmann ([baʁɔ̃ osman]), was a French official who supervised a radical urban renewal programme of new boulevards, parks, and public works in Paris, referred to as Haussmann's renovation of Paris, aimed at introducing grandeur in the city. First a prefect in Var (1849–1850), Yonne (1850–1851), and Gironde (1851–1853), his skills as an administrator led to his appointment in Paris by Emperor Napoleon III in 1853.

The signature architectural landmark of his works was the Paris Opera, the largest theatre in the world, designed by Charles Garnier, crowning the centre of Napoleon III's new Paris. Haussmann completely rebuilt Paris above and below ground; on his own estimation by 1870 one in five streets in central Paris were his creation, while revamped sewers now ran alongside miles of pipes to distribute gas for thousands of new streetlights. With his right-hand Adolphe Alphand and at the Emperor's direction, a plan was laid out for four major parks at the cardinal points of the compass around the city: the Bois de Boulogne to the west, Bois de Vincennes to the east, Parc des Buttes Chaumont to the north, and Parc Montsouris to the south. The major parks and their smaller counterparts in the city were an immediate success with all classes of Parisians.

The Concours des villes et villages fleuris (French pronunciation: [kɔ̃kuʁ de vil e vilaʒ flœʁi], 'Competition of cities and villages in bloom') is an annual French contest. It aims to encourage communes to adopt and implement policies improving the quality of life of their inhabitants and enhancing their attractiveness to visitors through the provision and maintenance of green spaces and the enhancement of their natural environments. Successful communes are awarded the right to display a badge (one to four flowers) on road signs and in other local promotional material.

The competition was created in 1959 by the French state and it is administered by a distinct national committee since 1972. This committee is still linked to the Ministry of Tourism. All the French communes can take part and there are no application fees. There is not any limitation to the number of awarded communes, so they are not in competition between each other.

Vézelay (French: [vez(ə)lɛ]) is a commune in the department of Yonne in the north-central French region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. It is a defensible hill town famous for Vézelay Abbey. The town and its 11th-century Romanesque Basilica of St Magdalene are designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Sens (French pronunciation: [sɑ̃s] ) is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France, 120 km southeast from Paris.

Sens is a sub-prefecture and the second largest city of the department, the sixth largest in the region. It is crossed by the Yonne and the Vanne, which empties into the Yonne here. At the last census of 2021, the municipality had 27,034 inhabitants. Its inhabitants are called les Senonese in French.

Nièvre (French: [njɛvʁ] ) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, central-east France. Named after the river Nièvre, it had a population of 204,452 in 2019. Its prefecture is Nevers.

Covering an area 6,817 square kilometres (2,632 sq mi), Nièvre is landlocked between six other departments: Yonne to the north, Côte-d'Or to the east, Saône-et-Loire to the southeast, Allier to the south, Cher to the west and Loiret to the northwest.

The Archdiocese of Sens and Auxerre (Latin: Archidioecesis Senonensis et Antissiodorensis; French: Archidiocèse de Sens et Auxerre) is a Latin archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. The archdiocese comprises the department of Yonne, which is in the region of Burgundy.

Established in sub-apostolic times, according to late local legends, the diocese, as metropolis of the province of Quarta Lugdunensis, achieved ecclesiastical metropolitical status in the 7th century. For a time, the archbishop of Sens held the title "primate of the Gauls and Germania". The title was transferred to Lyon in the latter part of the 11th century.

The Yonne (French: [jɔn] ) is a river in France, a left-bank tributary of the Seine. It is 292 km (181 mi) long. The river gives its name to the Yonne département. It rises in the Nièvre département, in the Morvan hills near Château-Chinon. It flows into the river Seine at Montereau-Fault-Yonne.

The Yonne flows through the following départements and towns:

Auxerre (/oʊˈsɛər/ oh-SAIR, French: [osɛʁ] , Burgundian: Auchoirre) is the capital (prefecture) of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Paris. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000; the urban area (aire d'attraction) comprises roughly 111,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are referred to as Auxerrois.

Auxerre is a commercial and industrial centre, with industries including food production, woodworking and batteries. Nearby areas are also noted for the production of Burgundy wine, including Chablis. In 1995 Auxerre was named a "Town of Art and History".