Vichy

Vichy stands on the Allier, beside mineral springs known since antiquity. The waters attracted renewed attention in the sixteenth century, when Catherine de Médicis commissioned Nicolas de Nicolay to study them; his account appeared in 1567. Visitors came to drink the waters, and the little town grew around its springs. In 1812 Napoleon ordered improvements to their surroundings and a promenade connecting the sources and the bathing establishment.