Civray (Vienne)

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Civray
Civray Coat of Arms
Civray (France)
Civray
region Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department Vienne
Arrondissement Montmorillon
Canton Civray (main town)
Community association Civraisien en Poitou
Coordinates 46 ° 9 ′  N , 0 ° 18 ′  E Coordinates: 46 ° 9 ′  N , 0 ° 18 ′  E
height 105-157 m
surface 8.7 km 2
Residents 2,658 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 306 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 86400
INSEE code 86078
Website http://www.civray.fr

Civray - Hotel Louis XIII.

Civray is a West French town and commune with 2,658 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) in the department of Vienne in the region Nouvelle-Aquitaine .

location

Civray is located on the Charente River at an altitude of about 114 m above sea level. d. It is about 60 km (driving distance) in a northerly direction to Poitiers ; It is also about 60 km to the northeastern town of Montmorillon . The lovely town of Melle (Deux-Sèvres) is about 40 km to the north-west.

and display information about the image
The Charente at Civray

Population development

year 1800 1851 1901 1954 1999 2013
Residents 1,343 2,260 2,492 2,900 2,638 2,827

At the first French census in 1793, Civray had 1,459 inhabitants; thereafter the population rose largely continuously to the present level.

history

The origin of the former settlement and today's small town was probably a ford, later also a bridge over the Charente. Since around 1030, Civray has been considered one of the best fortified places in the Poitou. After the Peace of Brétigny (1360), the French King John II had to give large parts of Aquitaine to his English conqueror Edward III. resign. However, the peace did not last long and so the French military leader Bertrand du Guesclin was able to recapture many areas - including Civray - from 1369. After that, you don't hear much from Civray. During the French Revolution , the place was considered a stronghold of the new ideals.

Attractions

St Nicolas Priory Church

Former priory church of St Nicolas

Others

  • There is a small archaeological museum ( Musée Archéologique ), in which mainly local small finds from prehistory, antiquity and the Middle Ages can be seen.
  • A 15th century building ( Hôtel Louis XIII. Or Hôtel de la Prévôté ) has a late Gothic portal, a round stair tower and a beautiful Renaissance window . It was added to the list of Monuments historiques in 1927 .
  • Another building in the city center has a late medieval round tower from the 15th century; the tower has been registered as a monument historique since 1935 .
  • Only photos still exist of the old market hall ( hall ), a cast iron construction from the 19th century.
  • A few houses still have Renaissance portals from the 16th and 17th centuries. Century.

  • Renaissance portal rue Louis XIII N ° 8

  • Renaissance portal Rue Louis XIII N ° 4

Surroundings

  • The megalithic dolmen de la Pierre Pèse with a - almost self-supporting - capstone stands in the vicinity of the village .
  • About 10 km to the northwest is the small town of Champagné-le-Sec with a single-nave, beautifully restored Romanesque parish church (12th century) with a roof made of thin natural stone slabs ( lauzes ) and with remains of frescoes (13th / 15th century) inside . In the area in front of the church some unadorned early medieval stone coffins ( sarcophagi ) were exhibited, which were found in the former cemetery in the vicinity of the church.
  • The single-nave village church in Champniers (10 km northeast) also dates in part from the 12th century and still contains the remains of a fresco cycle from the 13th or 14th century (Christ in the mandorla , Last Judgment , scenes from hell, etc.).
  • The pathetic remains ( crossing tower , chapter house ) of the formerly historically and architecturally important Benedictine Abbey of Charroux are about 11 kilometers to the east.

Town twinning

Partnerships exist with the English Downham Market in Norfolk and with Illingen in Saarland .

literature

  • Le Patrimoine des Communes de la Vienne. Volume 1, Flohic Editions, Paris 2002, ISBN 2-84234-128-7 , pp. 179-195.
  • Thorsten Droste : The Poitou. Western France between Poitiers and Angoulême - the Atlantic coast from the Loire to the Gironde. DuMont, Cologne 1999, ISBN 3-7701-4456-2 , p. 153.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Maison Louis XIII., Civray in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  2. ↑ Maison, Civray in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  3. ^ Website of the Communauté de communes du Civraisien