chemicals. It was known for trade in wine and cattle and in wood and charcoal, which was conveyed principally to Paris, by way of the Yonne. Most of this industry mentioned came to an end in the first two decades of the 20th century. Apart from a few modern industrial units on the edge of town and the remnants of a small acetone production facility, little remains. Considerable investment by successive local administrations has seen the transformation of the town from a logging centre into a pretty, medieval tourist attraction and favourite tie-up for leisure users of the Canal du Nivernais, which runs from Auxerre to Decize. The modern economy of Clamecy (and the surrounding countryside), is derived from tourism and agriculture, with a high proportion of inhabitants commuting to larger towns such as Auxerre and Paris. Demographics People Jean Rouvet (16th century), responsible for dramatic increase in the prosperity of Clamecy when he launched the first 'rafts' of Morvan timber to be floated down the Yonne river to Paris Éléonore de Grandmaison (1620–1692), pioneer in Nouvelle France Roger de Piles (1635–1709), painter, writer, influential art critic, diplomat, spy (allegedly) and painting buyer to Louis XIV Jean Née de la Rochelle (1692–1772), historian André Giroud de Villette (1752–1787), One of a duo, who were the first men to 'fly' - in a montgolfier (hot air balloon), paris, 1783. Louis Antoine François de Marchangy (1782–1826), writer Claude Tillier (1801–1844), political pamphleteer and novelist Édouard Séguin (1812–1880), chemist Hippolyte Marié-Davy (1820–1893), scientist and inventor Théodore Tenaille-Saligny (1830–1889), lawyer, civil servant and politician Gabriel Alapetite (1854–1932), prefect, ambassador and minister Romain Rolland (1866–1944), writer and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1915 Alain Colas (1943–1978), yachtsman Arnaud Montebourg (b. 1962), politician Twin towns Gelnhausen, Germany Grandes-Piles, Quebec, Canada Institutions The public institutions include the sub-prefecture, tribunals of first instance and of commerce and a communal college. See also Communes of the Nièvre department References External links Views of the Town Views of the protected Sector Tourist information (in French) Picture of the church of St. Martin Picture of the castle Communes of Nièvre Subprefectures in France Nivernais