Ansignan

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ansignan
Ansinhan
Ansignan Coat of Arms
Ansignan (France)
Ansignan
region Occitania
Department Pyrénées-Orientales
Arrondissement Prades
Canton La Vallée de l'Agly
Community association Agly Fenouillèdes
Coordinates 42 ° 46 ′  N , 2 ° 31 ′  E Coordinates: 42 ° 46 ′  N , 2 ° 31 ′  E
height 155-583 m
surface 7.84 km 2
Residents 166 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 21 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 66220
INSEE code 66006

Ansignan

Ansignan ( Occitan : Ansinhan ) is a southern French municipality with 166 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in the Occitania region .

geography

Ansignan is located on a hill about 250 meters high in the geographic center of Fenouillèdes in northern Catalonia , about 43 kilometers (driving distance) to the west of Perpignan . The canton capital of Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet is about nine kilometers to the north. The Desix flows into the Agly in the municipality .

Population development

year 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2006
Residents 259 225 194 212 198 181

In the 19th century the place had between 250 and 300 inhabitants. The phylloxera crisis in viticulture and the mechanization of agriculture have since led to a decline in the population.

economy

In the wooded area of ​​the Fenouillèdes, agriculture, forestry and viticulture are practiced to a small extent. The wines are for personal use or are marketed through the Côtes du Roussillon appellation. In addition, hiking and holiday tourism as well as the rental of holiday homes ( gîtes ) also play an important role in the economic life of the place.

history

Today's Ansignan was certainly not the end point of the Roman aqueduct, because hardly any finds from Roman times were made in the vicinity. Until 870, the Fenouillèdes still belonged to the historic County of Razès , after which it came into the possession of the Counts of Cerdagne . In the 11th century it belonged to the Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa Abbey . Ansignan is first mentioned in 1012 ( villa ansiniano ); At that time the small church - now a bit remote from the village - already existed. From the 15th century until the French Revolution , the place belonged to the lordship of the Vivier family.

Attractions

  • The remains of a dolmen from the time of the megalithic cultures ( Dolmen de la Rouyre ) can be found about 500 meters west of the village; Two kilometers to the west are the remains of two more dolmens. One to two kilometers south of Ansignan, north of the village of Trilla , there are two other prehistoric stone tombs.
Ansignan Aqueduct
  • The most important attraction of Ansignan is the Roman aqueduct , which crosses the small river Agly about 500 meters north of the village , which, however, can swell enormously and briefly reach a width of 20 to 30 meters after a heavy thunderstorm or after continuous rain for days. For this reason, but above all to save material, the Romans in the 3rd century placed the approximately 170 meter long water pipe on a multitude of supporting arches - there are 29 in total. The low arch height of a maximum of 12 meters made horizontal cross connections - like those on the well-known Roman aqueducts ( Pont du Gard , Segovia , Mérida, etc.) - superfluous. Traces of medieval restorations show that the aqueduct was built in the 13th and 14th centuries. Century was used. Even today, water sometimes collects in the channel, which was sealed by sintered lime and was previously covered by stone slabs, but is now open. To this day there is no ancient city in the area that could have supplied the water pipe; perhaps this place was still to be built, but this was not done in the late ancient times of crisis.
  • Ansignan's church ( Oratoire Notre-Dame ) dates from 10/11. Century.
  • The new Saint-Nazaire church was probably built in the 18th century. In the single-nave interior there is a simple baptismal font from the 12th century, a beautiful stucco pulpit in Renaissance style with depictions of the four evangelists (probably from the abbey church of Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet, which was dissolved during the revolutionary years) and several statues of plaster of paris the 19th century.

Web links

Commons : Ansignan  - collection of images, videos and audio files