Chermignac

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Chermignac
Chermignac (France)
Chermignac
region Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department Charente-Maritime
Arrondissement Saintes
Canton Thénac
Community association Saintes
Coordinates 45 ° 41 ′  N , 0 ° 40 ′  W Coordinates: 45 ° 41 ′  N , 0 ° 40 ′  W
height 25-68 m
surface 13.43 km 2
Residents 1,247 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 93 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 17460
INSEE code 17102

Chermignac - Saint-Quentin Church

Chermignac is a commune in the west of France with 1,247 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) and is part of the Charente-Maritime in the region Nouvelle-Aquitaine .

location

The place is in the Saintonge about eight kilometers (driving distance) southwest of Saintes and about 35 kilometers west of Cognac . The neighboring parishes of Rioux and Rétaud with their impressive priory churches are only about seven kilometers to the west and south-west, respectively.

Population development

year 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2006 2016
Residents 556 587 862 968 1014 1128 1251

economy

For the surrounding rural communities, Chermignac was important as a central market and handicraft location as early as the Middle Ages . Agriculture and viticulture are still an integral part of the town's economic life: Chermignac is located on the western edge of the Fins Bois of the Cognac wine-growing region . Since the 1970s and 1980s tourism (rental of holiday apartments) has been added as a source of income.

history

Small finds from prehistoric times have been made in the area around Chermignac. In ancient times, the place was not far from a Roman road . In the Middle Ages, several priory churches were built in the area - it is not known whether the church of Chermignac belonged to it or was conceived from the outset as an elaborately designed parish church. In the middle to the end of the 19th century, during the phylloxera crisis, Adolphe Ménudier made experiments on his estate near Chermignac by grafting traditional European saplings onto phylloxera- resistant American rhizomes.

Attractions

Saint-Quentin Church

See also: List of Monuments historiques in Chermignac

  • The single-nave late Romanesque church of Saint-Quentin dates largely from the end of the 11th century; however, the structure was changed again and again in the following centuries. The bell tower attached to the north side of the church - square below, octagonal above - with its eight sound openings with fitted Gothic tracery is accompanied by a smaller stair tower and probably dates from the 14th century. The brickwork, which looks almost windowless to the outside, with its mighty buttresses - certainly added later - gives the building the appearance of a fortified church - an impression that is reinforced by the missing semicircle of the apse . In the arches ( archivolts ) of the west portal there are vines, purely ornamental and even some figurative representations - including various hybrid creatures ( chimeras ), but also a blacksmith clad in an apron, holding hammer and tongs in his hands. The nave was provided with a rib vault in the 15th century ; However, four impressive Romanesque console figures (lovers, thinkers, acrobats and hornblowers) have been preserved - hidden in the baptistery. The church has been a listed building since 1906 and is registered as a monument historique .
Hosanna cross
  • On the north side of the church there used to be the cemetery - later moved to the outskirts. Here in the 15th century by several horizontal was cornices structured Hosanna Cross ( croix hosannière ) built that stands out for its varied and multiple slightly tapering upward stem design with an octagonal base, round base and two - accompanied by Eckdiensten - square tops differs from most of its kind. At about the height of the middle of the shaft there are four niches crowned by canopies; the figures that were once probably attached there have not been preserved. Also unusual is the Latin cross , the three upper arms of which are tapered and decorated with late Gothic tracery . The Chermignac Hosanna Cross was also recognized as a Monument historique in 1906 .

literature

  • Le Patrimoine des Communes de la Charente-Maritime. Flohic Editions, Volume 2, Paris 2002, ISBN 2-84234-129-5 , pp. 984-986.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Église Saint-Quentin, Chermignac in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  2. ↑ Croix hosannière, Chermignac in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)

Web links

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