Barzan (Charente-Maritime)
| Barzan | ||
|---|---|---|
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| region | Nouvelle-Aquitaine | |
| Department | Charente-Maritime | |
| Arrondissement | Saintes | |
| Canton | Saintonge Estuaire | |
| Community association | Royan Atlantique | |
| Coordinates | 45 ° 32 ′ N , 0 ° 51 ′ W | |
| height | 0-47 m | |
| surface | 8.07 km 2 | |
| Residents | 470 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 58 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 17120 | |
| INSEE code | 17034 | |
 Barzan - town view |
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Barzan is a western French municipality with 470 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the Charente-Maritime department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region .
location
Barzan is not far from the Gironde estuary in the old cultural landscape of the Saintonge, about 33 kilometers (driving distance) southwest of Saintes and about 25 kilometers southeast of Royan . The rock of Talmont with its imposing Romanesque church of Sainte-Radegonde is only about 5.5 kilometers to the north-west.
Population development
| year | 1968 | 1975 | 1982 | 1990 | 1999 | 2007 | 2016 |
| Residents | 431 | 378 | 344 | 371 | 410 | 451 | 471 |
Barzan consistently had between 550 and 650 inhabitants in the 19th century. Due to the mechanization of agriculture , the population decreased more and more in the first half of the 20th century; since 1975 the trend has reversed slightly.
economy
Agriculture and viticulture have determined the economic life of the place for centuries; Barzan is one of the Bons Bois of the Cognac wine-growing region . Since the 1980s tourism (rental of holiday homes) has been added as a source of income; Barzan-Plage was built on the banks of the Gironde .
history
Barzan's history goes back a long way; Prehistoric stone axes , arrowheads and ceramic shards were found in the municipality and traces of settlement areas were discovered through aerial photographs. Since the 7th century BC Celts from the Santonen tribe settled in the area, which - like the rest of Gaul - was subjugated by Caesar in the Gallic War (58–51 BC). Probably under the Flavian emperors (69–96), the Roman town of Novioregum was built in the municipality of Barzan and there was once a port on the Gironde bank, not far from today's Barzan-Plage . The Roman city experienced its heyday in the 2nd century; a large thermal baths and a theater were built . After the end of the Roman Empire , i.e. in Gallo-Roman times, the city continued to be inhabited. It was not until the Middle Ages that the stones of the Roman city began to be removed and removed for the purpose of building a (not preserved) Romanesque church and some houses in the new place ( called Barlan or Balzan in documents ), which however never regained its former importance and continued to exist as a farming village .
Attractions
See also: List of Monuments historiques in Barzan (Charente-Maritime)
- The excavation site of the Roman city of Novioregum is about a kilometer north of Barzan by the Fâ windmill ; it has only been open to tourists since 2005. The excavation and restoration work is still in progress: So far, the ruins of a thermal bath, a theater, a round temple and storage buildings can be seen. An aqueduct about three kilometers long , which was fed by a spring near what is now Chenac-Saint-Seurin-d'Uzet , supplied the city's residents with fresh water. A museum on site shows models of the temple and the thermal baths as well as finds (see web link).
- The neo-Gothic parish church of Saint-Pierre is a building from the end of the 19th century, which replaced a dilapidated Romanesque church, which the local council had decided to demolish.
- In the 19th century, the town hall ( mairie ) and school ( école ) were often built right next to each other - in Barzan such an ensemble has survived.
literature
- Le Patrimoine des Communes de la Charente-Maritime. Flohic Editions, Volume 1, Paris 2002, ISBN 2-84234-129-5 , pp. 218-219.
- Gérard Nicolini: BARZAN (“Tamnum”) Charente Maritime, France . In: Richard Stillwell et al. a. (Ed.): The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 1976, ISBN 0-691-03542-3 .
Web links
