Balzac (Charente)

Balzac
region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department	Charente
Arrondissement	Angoulême
Canton	Gond-Pontouvre
Community association	Grand Angoulême
Coordinates	45 ° 43 '  N , 0 ° 8'  E Coordinates: 45 ° 43 '  N , 0 ° 8'  E
height	30-102 m
surface	9.64 km 2
Residents	1,337 (January 1, 2017)
Population density	139 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code	16430
INSEE code	16026
Website	Balzac
Balzac - castle and church

Balzac is a municipality and a town with 1,337 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) in the western French department of Charente in the region Nouvelle-Aquitaine .

location

The place Balzac lies in a bend in the river Charente in the old cultural landscape of the Angoumois at an altitude of about 70 m above sea level. d. M. and is about 10 km (driving distance) to the north from the city of Angoulême and approx. 48 km to the east from the city of Cognac .

Population development

year	1800	1851	1901	1954	1999	2016
Residents	1016	928	688	644	1237	1338

The population decline in the first half of the 20th century is mainly due to the loss of jobs due to the phylloxera crisis and the mechanization of agriculture . Due to the proximity to the city of Angoulême and comparatively cheap property prices, the population of the municipality has increased again since the 1960s.

economy

While the inhabitants of the village lived for centuries on the yields of their fields and gardens, viticulture was promoted in the late Middle Ages and early modern times , which - after the interruption caused by the phylloxera crisis in the late 19th and early 20th centuries - still continues today the most important source of income for the community. Tourism in the form of renting holiday apartments ( gîtes ) also plays a not insignificant role in the economic life of the municipality.

history

In the municipal area was made using the aerial photography a neolithische Wallanlage discovered; a megalithic dolmen also existed until 1760 .

In the Middle Ages, the place had a castle ( château ) and was on a branch route of the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela ( Via Turonensis ). In the 16th century the castle was torn down and converted into a princely residence; it hosted guests such as Maria de Medici , Richelieu or the Cardinal de La Rochefoucauld in the following years .

Attractions

Saint Martin Church

• The Romanesque parish church of Saint-Martin is a single-nave and largely unadorned building from the middle of the 12th century, but which was rebuilt repeatedly in the following years. The most important structural element is the choir with the apse and the crossing tower, which was renewed in 1760 . The nave is stabilized by buttresses ; the west facade is except for a badly damaged figure relief of St. Martin above the portal completely unadorned. Inside, the original stone barrel vault has been replaced by a wooden one; only the crossing and the apse still have their original vaults.
• The Château de Balzac dates from around 1600; however, it was modernized and expanded in the 18th century. The two-, and in the newer parts also three-storey building is privately owned and has been recognized as a monument historique since 2007 .

Personalities

• Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac (1597–1654), writer, lived temporarily in the castle built by his father and is considered to be the “innovator of the French language”.

Web links

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

• Balzac, church - photo + information (French)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Balzac - Viticulture
2. ↑ Château de Balzac, Balzac in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)