Saint-Pierre-lès-Nemours
The site of Saint-Pierre-lès-Nemours has been inhabited since the Upper Paleolithic (between 30,000 and 10,000 BC). It was very early on a privileged location, on the edge of the old Bierre forest (today known as the Fontainebleau forest) and the Loing, a real communication route between the Seine and Loire valleys.
Later, its meadows favored livestock breeding, its sunny hillsides the cultivation of vines and the surrounding plateaux, on the edge of the Beauce, the development of agriculture, a set of factors conducive to human settlement and to its flourishing, to which was added the presence of important springs in Chaintréauville.
Sarcophagi probably dating from the Merovingian period, unearthed in 1895 and 1956, show that the site of Saint-Pierre was the origin of the Nemourian agglomeration. Throughout the ages, it has been called by various names, which recall the etymology of the name: Nemausus, Nemus, Nemoracum.
The commune developed around the church and from several hamlets: Foljuif, Puiselet, and Chaintréauville. It is a water-based community. For a long time, the Loing and its canal provided a living for its inhabitants by transporting goods (notably sand, glass industry products, wood, etc.). The Fontaines and Joye springs, located in Chaintréauville, flow in abundance and were purchased at the end of the 19th century by the City of Paris to collect and transport water to the capital.
