Département: Cher
Altitude 130m/530ft
Population 69,000
The old ducal city of Bourges, now chief town of the département of Cher, the see of a bishop and a university town, lie at the confluence of the Yèvre and the Aveyron in the fertile province of Berry, which claims to be the heart of France. In addition to its famous
cathedral it preserves many remains of its past, including old palaces and burghers' houses.
The principal industries of Bourges are armaments, engineering, car manufacture and tires.
Bourges, the Gallic town of Avaricum, was conquered by Caesar in 52 BC. In the early Middle Ages it was the chief town of a county, and later it became the residence of the Dukes of Berry, under whom it prospered economically and culturally, acquiring a university at which Jean Calvin, the future Reformer, was a student around 1530. During the wars of religion the town, which was captured by the Protestants in 1562, was largely destroyed.