Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Givors Canal, also known as the canal of the two seas, was designed to connect the Loire to the Rhône via a 15.5 km route between Givors and Rive-de-Gier, extended later to La Grand-Croix. Initiated by François Zacharie, a Lyon merchant, the project aimed to facilitate the transport of goods, including coal and manufactured goods from Saint-Étienne. The canal consisted of 29 locks, 5 water bridges, and a 171-metre river tunnel, the "Drilled Rock". Its gauge allowed the passage of 22.5 m long vessels, with annual traffic reaching 3,000 boats and 140,000 tons of cargo at its peak.

The construction, begun in 1763, was marked by financial difficulties after the death of Zacharias in 1768, leaving his son Guillaume with a legacy of debts. The architect Guillaume Marie Delorme was hired to complete the works, and a private company, the "Company of Interests of the Givors Canal", was created in 1774 to finance the project. Despite an initial success — with dividends exceeding 11 million francs — the canal declined in the face of competition from rail in the 1830s. It was bought by the state in 1886 and was finally filled in the 1960s to give way to the A47 motorway, leaving only a few remains.

Among the key figures, François Zacharie was supported by influential figures such as architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot or Lieutenant General Gabriel de Sartine. The canal played a major economic role, serving notably the glassworks of Michel Robichon and the coal mines of La Grand-Croix. Its headquarters, built between 1792 and 1796, became the city hall of Rive-de-Gier. Today, only scattered traces of its historical importance in the Gier Valley remain.

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