Berneuil (Charente)
| Berneuil | ||
|---|---|---|
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| region | Nouvelle-Aquitaine | |
| Department | Charente | |
| Arrondissement | cognac | |
| Canton | Charente Sud | |
| Community association | 4B Sud Charente | |
| Coordinates | 45 ° 24 ' N , 0 ° 4' E | |
| height | 74-166 m | |
| surface | 16.55 km 2 | |
| Residents | 316 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 19 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 16480 | |
| INSEE code | 16040 | |
 Townscape with Church of the Birth of Mary and vineyard |
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Berneuil is a commune with 316 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the Charente department in western France in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region .
location
Berneuil is located about 45 kilometers (driving distance) southeast of Cognac and southwest of Angoulême in the old cultural landscape of the Angoumois at an altitude of about 130 meters above sea level. d. The two rivers Beau and Maury flow through the municipality .
Population development
| year | 1962 | 1968 | 1975 | 1982 | 1990 | 1999 | 2006 | 2017 |
| Residents | 464 | 386 | 354 | 340 | 326 | 317 | 328 | 316 |
In the first half of the 19th century the community usually had over 1000 inhabitants. As a result of the phylloxera crisis in viticulture and the mechanization of agriculture , the population has been declining since then.
economy
For centuries the people of Berneuil lived from agriculture; the soils of the municipality belong to the Bons Bois of the Cognac wine-growing region , but sales of expensive brandies have tended to decline in recent decades, so that viticulture no longer plays a dominant role. Income from tourism, especially the rental of holiday flats ( gîtes ), has played a not insignificant role in the income of the municipal treasury since the 1960s.
history
The Romanesque church indicates a place that already existed in the Middle Ages. Due to the presence of a transept with two lateral apses and a separate entrance, as well as the unusually rich architectural decor, it seems to have been a former priory church .
Attractions
The Romanesque parish church of Notre-Dame was built in the 12th century. The architectural structure of the west facade corresponds to the Charentesian type: the portal zone is designed according to a triumphal arch scheme with two side glare portals; A five-part blind arcade row with profiled pilasters and set columns is located above a console frieze ; a stone roof with imitation shingles forms the transition to the unadorned gable field with a late Gothic niche, in which there may have been a statue of the Virgin Mary. The will to create a decorative design, which can be seen in almost every component, is extraordinary: there were figures in the two tympana of the side blind portals, as well as in the arched gussets between the (false) portals. The outer arches of the archivolts were adorned with a jagged rod and even the front of the console frieze was profiled. As early as the 14th or 15th century, the building received mighty buttresses in the corners of the facade and on the long sides; the arcade arches were partially overlapped. The stone roofs can also be found on the buttresses, so that it can be assumed that the stone roof transition to the gable field was also added at this time. The squat looking crossing tower is divided into rectangular fields by simple pillars. The transept apses and central apsis are divided by half-column templates; the middle apse has a surrounding console frieze, the transept apses have round arch friezes as upper ends. The single nave nave of the church has a pointed barrel vault ; in the transept there is one on Pendentifs aufruhende dome . The semicircle of the apse is structured by blind arcades and arched by a dome . The drifting apart of the outer walls together with their half-column templates caused by the arching movement can be clearly seen , which made it necessary to stabilize them with thick buttresses. At the same time, the outer walls were raised and new vaults were probably drawn in. The church building has been recognized as a monument historique since 1914 .
Some windmill stumps , barns etc. in the village are also recognized as worthy of protection.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Église Notre-Dame, Berneuil in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
- ↑ IA00041399 Église Nore-Dame, Berneuil in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)