Boutenac-Touvent
| Boutenac-Touvent | ||
|---|---|---|
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| region | Nouvelle-Aquitaine | |
| Department | Charente-Maritime | |
| Arrondissement | Saintes | |
| Canton | Saintonge Estuaire | |
| Community association | Royan Atlantique | |
| Coordinates | 45 ° 33 ′ N , 0 ° 51 ′ W | |
| height | 6-64 m | |
| surface | 3.11 km 2 | |
| Residents | 224 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 72 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 17120 | |
| INSEE code | 17060 | |
 Boutenac - view of town with church |
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Boutenac-Touvent is a western French community with 224 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) in the department of Charente-Maritime in the region Nouvelle-Aquitaine .
location
Boutenac-Touvent is located on the northeast bank of the Gironde in the historic cultural landscape of the Saintonge, about 25 kilometers (driving distance) in a southeastern direction from Royan . The town of Pons is about 23 kilometers to the northeast.
Population development
| year | 1962 | 1968 | 1975 | 1982 | 1990 | 1999 | 2006 | 2016 |
| Residents | 278 | 246 | 227 | 231 | 219 | 218 | 195 | 223 |
In the 19th century Boutenac-Touvent consistently had between 250 and 450 inhabitants. In the second half of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century, the phylloxera crisis in viticulture and the mechanization of agriculture led to a population decline to just over 200 inhabitants.
economy
Agriculture has played a dominant role in the municipality's economic life for centuries. This is one of the Bons Bois of the Cognac wine-growing region , but because of the sales crisis for expensive brandies, hardly any wine is grown any more; the farmers in the area have returned to 'normal' agriculture. Some vacant houses have been converted into holiday apartments ( gîtes ).
history
The presence of an early Gothic church suggests settlement in medieval times.
Attractions
- The small Catholic parish church of Notre-Dame de l'Assomption dates from the beginning of the 13th century; it is - a rarity in the Saintonge, which suffered severe devastation both during the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) and in the Wars of Religion - largely in its original state. The west facade of the towerless structure shows the apparent three-portals that can often be seen in the Saintonge, whereby the two outer 'portals' are only designed as decorative glare portals . An eight-pass window is set in the middle of the otherwise undivided facade ; the gable is raised by a two-arched bell gable. The single-nave interior is spanned by a rib vault, although only the vaults in the area of the apse are original - they were added to the nave in the 19th century. The neo-Gothic sacristy on the south side of the apse is also a work of the late 19th century. The outer walls of the building were cleaned and repaired at the end of the 20th century, so that the light sandstone of the Saintonge shines again in its original splendor.
- A little away from the village there is a wash house ( lavoir ) from the 19th century, whose three stone basins may also have often served as cattle troughs ( abreuvoir ).
literature
- Le Patrimoine des Communes de la Charente-Maritime. Flohic Editions, Volume 1, Paris 2002, ISBN 2-84234-129-5 , p. 220.
